A journal of a tour of parts of England and North and West Wales, July-August 1791, containing descriptions of towns, castles, inns and scenery and of incidents along the way.
The unnamed author, possibly a member of the Wilson family of Broomhead, Sheffield (based on contextual materials filed seperately), travelled with two companions, starting from Cambridge on 11 July 1791. The English itinerary included Oxford, Birmingham, Coalbrookdale and Shrewsbury (ff. 1-8, rectos only). In Wales they visited Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant, Llangollen, Bala, Conwy, Bangor, Caernarfon, Beddgelert, Dolgellau, Machynlleth, Aberystwyth, Devil's Bridge, Cardigan and Carmarthen (ff. 9-25, rectos only, 24 verso). The journal includes an eyewitness account of the Priestley Riots in Birmingham on 14 July (ff. 6-7), and of an altercation between [?Richard Tavistock] Price and three apothecaries in Bala, 21 July (f. 12). A recurring theme is their difficulty in hiring appropriate transport from various landlords (ff. 19, 20, 25). The volume includes three pencil sketches of scenery (ff. 26 verso, 27 verso, 28 verso) and rough accounts (f. 29 verso, inside back cover, front and back covers). The bill, [16] July 1791, for their stay at the Tontine Inn, opposite the Iron Bridge, Coalbrookdale, has been tipped in on f. 26.