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With John Telfer and John Macadam and the improvements in road building came the turnpike trusts with their tolls and gates. And that is what this book is about - the tollgates.
I was very glad to get this book because I have not been able to find many books about the turnpike trusts. True, there is Children of the Turnpike by Geraldine Kaye but, sadly, it is now out of print.
A Shilling for the Gate is set in Wales in the 1840's. Beti Roberts is a kitchen maid in the Big House. One night, when she is going home a voice behind her tells her not to look round and then gives her a message for her father.
"Tell him to meet Rebecca by the valley gate, at sunset this night, with axe and torch."
This is the message the whole Roberts family has been dreading. The tolls at the turnpike gates have been raised and some of the Welsh peasants have rebelled and formed themselves into the "Daughters of Rebecca." They dress as women and march on the gates at night and destroy them. Beti's stepmother does not want her husband to go because, if caught, he could be transported to Australia and she herself and her children would h have to go to the workhouse. But the call of Rebecca cannot be ignored.
That night Beti sneaks out of the house and watches the gate being hacked down and burnt on a bonfire. But that is not the end of it. Gwilym Roberts, a carter, is still expected to pay the toll but he is told that if he does he will pay more to Rebecca. Beti's stepmother gives her a shilling to take to the court but on the way she is caught by the followers of Rebecca and imprisoned.
I had a great deal of sympathy for Gwilym Roberts caught as he was between the authorities and Rebecca.
A well told, interesting story about a facet of history which often does not get the attention it deserves.
I saw a toll house a few years ago - in the Avoncroft Museum of Buildings outside Birmingham.
This story may have a special message for all of us today as the idea of road tolls is again being mooted.
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OUT OF PRINT
This book is about conflict and prejudice. It is the age old story of two completely different communities both believing the worst of each other and of ignorance and lack of understanding leading to hatred and violence. And what is the position of someone who belongs to both sides - or to neither?
It is set in the early part of the nineteenth century - at the time of the wars against Bonaparte. Twelve year old Polly lives in the turnpike house - and does all the work. She has the turnpike to watch, the bread to bake, the pig, hens and geese to feed, and all the washing to do for herself, her brother and her father. There is also the garden to be dug and the cabbages to be planted. Her brother Tom is supposed to do that but he prefers wandering about snaring rabbits. As for her father he is usually getting drunk in the local inn.
Then one night the gypsies come. Always a chatterbox, Polly tells them what they want to know. She also allows herself to be tricked into writing the squire's name on a piece of paper. The gypsies use that on a forged letter which says that they have permission to camp on the squire's lawn.
The villagers say the gypsies are witches and blame them for children falling sick, horses going lame, the hens not laying, pigs dying and the milk going sour. Even worse they claim that the gypsies steal children and are cannibals. For their part the gypsies say the Gauje are cruel. They cut off the Romany's ears and burn their tents. There is a kind of uneasy quiet until the villagers finally march on the Romany camp.
But there are two characters who do not fit into the general picture - Polly herself and the gypsy boy Diamond. Diamond is only half Romany. His mother is a gauje. Diamond is not accepted by the old woman who rules the Gypsies. This book also shows Diamond's struggle with himself to discover his true identity and decide whether he wants to belong with the gypsies or the villagers.
Polly is also trying to decide where she really belongs. At first she wants to leave the village. Later she wants to tame Diamond and make him a member of her family and replace Jamey, her brother who had died.
But by the end both Polly and Diamond are quite clear about the society in which they want to live.
Gypsies apart, this book gives a good picture of an English village at the time of the Napoleonic Wars. There is also the question of the enclosure of the common land. And the fact that Polly has to watch the turnpike and collect the money from all traavellers highlights a feature of the times which is all too often neglected.
A thought provoking story with an authentic background.
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