Despite the fact that the landscape around Brecon was quite mountainous, the town had good coach links with other towns. The improved turnpike roads made coach travel easier.
Even so, a long journey on the open top of a stage coach could be an unpleasant experience in bad weather !

The Nimrod, the Paul Pry, the Collegian, the Fusileer, the Cambrian, the Red Rover, the Dart, the Imperial and the Cambrian. These are the colourful names of the coaches which made regular stops at Brecon in early Victorian times. The list shown here is from Pigot's Directory of South Wales and it shows the coach services at the very beginning of Queen Victoria's reign.
In the town itself were several coaching inns which offered travellers hot food and accommodation for the night. In the yards behind the inns were stables where the coach drivers could exchange their tired horses for fresh ones. The Wellington Hotel, the Castle, the Bell, and the Golden Lion were coaching inns in the town.
Travel on the coaches could have its dangerous side. Accidents were not unknown in Victorian times. In 1835 the Gloucester and Carmarthen mail coach came off the road near Trecastle and ended up in the river, but luckily no-one was killed.
Some of the coaches listed here would travel on mountainous and exposed roads. In winter these could be damaged by floods or hidden in thick fog.
As you can see, the coaches were often travelling in the dark by the dim light of coach lamps. The driver would certainly need to keep his wits about him. Although some coach services carried on until much later in Victoria's reign they were largely replaced by the railways.

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