turnpike trusts were individually run, there was the possibility for greatly differing road conditions, especially over the London Clay basin of Kensington, Brentford, Hounslow and Slough, where winter conditions left the way muddy and uneven. This was not always the case with the Bath Road, as many of the wealthy landowners along the route co-operated informally and exercised a large amount of control over feeder roads. As a result, control of the Bath Road was easy to maintain and many inns and towns became prosperous. Tollhouses were established at Colnbrook, Maidenhead, Twyford, Castle Street Reading, Thatcham and Benham. During the 1820s, the employment of good surveyors improved the condition of the road and aided an increased flow of wealthy travellers. The tolls raised from such clientele ensured that when the turnpike trusts handed over the route to local highway boards, they had no financial liabilities. Justices of the Peace were empowered by the 1862 Rural Highways Act to combine turnpike trusts into Highways Districts. This meant that by the late 1860s trusts were either not renewing their powers or were being terminated by General Acts of Parliament. For example, most turnpikes in Berkshire, including the Bath Road, were officially wound up by 1878 when legislation transferred responsibility for dis-enturnpiked roads to the new county councils. The tollgate on the Bath Road west of Reading was removed in 1864 as the outward pressure of urban development made rates a more acceptable way of financing the maintenance of what was now a suburban road. Postal service and coaching With the improvement being made to the road systems, the business of moving mail became easier and thus more profitable as volumes were able to increase. In Bristol, a postal office had been well established by the 1670s. The journey time to London at this period was about 16 and three quarter hours. A letter from Bath in 1684 took about 3 days going via a postal office in Marshfield on the Bristol Road. (The route to Bristol did not yet go through Bath at this time). Journey times during the Turnpike era fell with the improvements from 2 days in 1752 to 38 hours in 1782 and 18 hours by 1836. Royal Mail coaches in 1836 were able to do the trip in 12 to 13 hours. Further improvements to regional post services were made between 1719 and 1763 due to contracts with