In
the days before the great Victorian railway network was built people
had to travel around by coach or on horseback. As journeys took a lot
longer this meant that travellers needed somewhere
to stay over night.
All across Britain there were a great number of inns which gave people food and accommodation. Pigot's Directory of South Wales lists the inns in the Builth area in the early years of Queen Victoria's reign. The inns which put up travellers by stage coach (like the Crown below) needed to employ a lot of local people to run the inn.
Servants
were needed to clean the rooms and look after the guests. There would
be boot boys to clean the travellers' boots and shoes, and grooms to look
after the horses. A cook and her assistants would be busy in the kitchen
cooking for the guests. From this you can see that the inns of the area
would be an important source of employment for
local people in Victorian times.