The Horse: Enemy of Speed

Friday 7th August 1936

There was no let-up in the crusade by Transport Minister, Leslie Hore-Belisha, to drag Britain's road system into the mid twentieth century. After the system of national long-distance roads, he turned his attention to the notoriously clogged streets of the capital. Horse-drawn buses and cabs had almost vanished, but many commercial deliveries were made by horse and cart, in particular doorstep delivery of milk and brewers' drays taking beer to pubs.

Under the new regulations, horse-drawn vehicles were to be banned from certain streets of the busiest during the working day, unless making a delivery there. Contravention would be punished by a hefty fine of £5. Like all such measures, it was quite futile and London surface traffic still moves no faster than in victoria's reign.