Action stations
Until the middle of the19th century, the remoteness of Scotland from England was keenly felt by the hardy few who braved the arduous, expensive and often hazardous journey north by stagecoach in the pursuit of their sport. At this time, for most, a day’s sport was largely limited to what could be found on the doorstep or within reasonable hacking distance from home, and it wasn’t until the 1830s that the dawn of the railway age ushered in a new era of comfort, speed and convenience which had never before been possible. An extensive railway network sprung up almost overnight and by the 1860s, trains regularly travelled at speeds of up to 60 miles per hour. It seemed the possibilities for travel were suddenly limitless. The sporting community embraced this revolution with gusto.
To put this into context, in the era immediately preceding the railways, to travel by coach from Glasgow to London took 42 hours, with 28 changes, and required 112 horses to service the whole route. A
