$PO Blisworth


Blisworth played an important part in postal history. Towards the end of the 19th century postal communication extended throughout the county. The ancient routes such as Watling Street running through Towcester came fully into use. In 1794 horse-drawn Royal Mail coaches were brought into operation. The London to Chester coach passed through Towcester, which became a post staging place. Here the mails for Northampton and up to Thrapston were transferred by post boys on horseback and later by postal carts passing through Blioworth. Retracing our story back to 1793 when work on digging the Grand Junction Canal began at Blisworth, as if anticipating the need for an improved road from Toweester to Northampton for the movement of merchandise arriving at the canal wharfs, in 1796 the length of road became a Turnpike Road complete with toll gates and milestones, two of which are within our parish and are the only survivors between Towcester and Northampton. The new Turnpike was called the “Oxford to Cotton End’ road and, incidently was moved west of the Easton Neston “estate” by influence of a proud family who preferred isolation. A new ‘Grafton Arms’ coaching inn was built near West Bridge (now Grafton House). During the following years the running of the Royal Mail coaches reached the peak of their efficiency, A rapid decline followed as railways were introduced, for the speed of the steam train was double that of the horse-drawn coaches. Thus with the coming of the London to

blisworth-2
Birmingham line through Blisworth in 1838, not only were local mails carried by train but the mails for Northampton and district were also handled at Blisworth. At first, owing to the slowness of the early trains, the mails were virtually man-handled to and from the train while in motion, but as speeds improved mail bags were ejected from the mail coach into a large capturing net cage and the outgoing mail bags were hung from a kind of gibbet and collected as the train rushed by. Occasionally accidents occurred with the transfer of the bags. Local lore mentions they were torn open and the contents strewn over the lines and embankment but the account by Mr Ayres plays all that down. Mails were carried to and from Towcester and Northampton by mail messengers. There was bag catching apparatus on both sides of the track thought to be some short distance south of the bridge over the canal. Mr. Clark of Bugbrooke has told us that road access was near to the apparatus and therefore it is much more likely that the apparatus was near the Arch. Expresses fell into two categories apparently, one which treated Blisworth as the first stop out of London for which the 4 minute wait was plenty long enough to deposit mailbags on the platform, and the through expresses, more usually at night, which employed the catching apparatus.