John Bunyan, author of the "Pilgrim's Progress," was co-pastor in a Baptist
Meeting House, in Mill-lane, from 1671 until his death in 1688. The chair in
which he used to sit is still preserved in the vestry as a relic.

A few miles from Bletchley, is a forgotten, but once celebrated spot, Denbigh
Hall, over which the traveller whirls without notice, yet worthy of
remembrance, because it affords a name and date for tracing the march of
railway enterprise.

In 1838, a gap in the intended railway from London to Birmingham extended
from an obscure public-house, called Denbigh Hall, to Rugby. At either point
travellers had to exchange the rail for the coach or chaise.

On June 28, 1838, when Queen Victoria was crowned, for days before the
coronation, the coaches for the intermediate space were crammed; the chaises
and post horses were monopolised, and at length, to cover thirty odd miles,
every gig, standing waggon, cart, and donkey cart that could be obtained in
the district, was engaged, and yet many were disappointed of their journey to
London.

On this London and Birmingham line, in addition to, and without disturbing
the ordinary traffic, 2,000 souls have been conveyed in one train, at the
rate of thirty miles an hour.

Truly Queen Victoria can set the railway conquests of her reign against the
glories of the war victories of Queen Anne and her grandfather, King George.

[DENBIGH HALL BRIDGE: ill7.jpg]