Stagecoach

A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon used to carry passengers and goods inside. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers. The business of running stagecoaches or the act of journeying in them was known as staging.

Originating in England, familiar images of the stagecoach are that of a Royal Mail coach passing through a turnpike gate, a Dickensian passenger coach covered in snow pulling up at a coaching inn, and a highwayman demanding a coach to "stand and deliver". The yard of ale drinking glass is associated by legend with stagecoach drivers, though was mainly used for drinking feats and special toasts.

Description

The stagecoach was a four-wheeled vehicle pulled by horses or mules. The primary requirement was that it was used as a public conveyance, running on an established route and schedule. Vehicles that were used included buckboards and dead axle wagons, surplus Army ambulances and celerity (or mud) coaches. Selection of the vehicle was made by the owner of the stage line, and he would choose the most efficient vehicle based upon the load to be carried, the road conditions, and the weather; and used a two, four or six-horse team based upon those factors and the type of car.

Stagecoach (band)

Stagecoach is a five piece alternative rock band from Surrey

History

The band formed in Dorking, Surrey in November 2003. Originally starting out as a two-piece country band Stagecoach progressed their sound with the addition of each new member, to become the rock band they are today.

Stagecoach signed to Alcopop! Records in 2009 after sending the 'We Got Tazers' EP to label boss Jack Clothier. The EP was recorded by Harvey Birrel known for his work with Johnny Foreigner and Dananananaykroyd at Southern Studios in Wood Green. The studio is located below the famous Southern Records Prior to this the band recorded a self funded EP at Iguana Studios in Brixton titled School Day. 1000 copies were pressed and distributed to record labels, press and also sold at shows. The first ever recordings were produced in the home studio of Alex Miles in Dorking, Surrey and included Small Town, Cut Throat and Textbook Answers.

They played at the Reading and Leeds Festivals in 2010, the End Of The Road Festival, and The Great Escape amongst others in 2010.

Stagecoach (1939 film)

Stagecoach is a 1939 American Western film directed by John Ford, starring Claire Trevor and John Wayne in his breakthrough role. The screenplay, written by Dudley Nichols, is an adaptation of "The Stage to Lordsburg", a 1937 short story by Ernest Haycox. The film follows a group of strangers riding on a stagecoach through dangerous Apache territory.

Stagecoach was the first of many Westerns that Ford shot using Monument Valley, in the American south-west on the Arizona–Utah border, as a location, many of which also starred John Wayne. Scenes from Stagecoach, including a famous sequence introducing John Wayne's character the Ringo Kid, blended shots of Monument Valley with shots filmed on the Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, California, and other locations.

In 1995, this film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in their National Film Registry.

Plot

In 1880, a motley group of strangers boards the east-bound stagecoach from Tonto, Arizona Territory to Lordsburg, New Mexico Territory. These travelers are unremarkable and ordinary at first glance. Among them are Dallas (Claire Trevor), a prostitute who is being driven out of town by the members of the "Law and Order League"; an alcoholic doctor, Doc Boone (Thomas Mitchell); pregnant Lucy Mallory (Louise Platt), who is traveling to see her cavalry officer husband; and whiskey salesman Samuel Peacock (Donald Meek).