Great North Road (Great Britain) not compete with the new railways. The last coach from London to Newcastle left in 1842 and the last from Newcastle to Edinburgh in July 1847. The highwayman Dick Turpin's flight from London to York in less than 15 hours on his mare Black Bess is the most famous legend of the Great North Road. Various inns along the route claim Turpin ate a meal or stopped for respite for his horse. Harrison Ainsworth, in his 1834 romance "Rookwood", immortalised the ride. Historians argue that Turpin never made the journey, claiming that the ride was by John Nevison, "Swift Nick",
Dick Turpin (TV series) be saved from Glutton's Dungeon by Dick. This makes Nick an outlaw and Turpin takes him under his wing, giving him the name "Swiftnick". There were two series, both of 13 episodes, made by Gatetarn, Seacastle productions for LWT and a feature-length episode made in-association with RKO pictures in the US called "Dick Turpin's Greatest Adventure", which was shown in US cinemas. In the UK, Series one was screened as thirteen episodes in 1979, the first seven episodes of series two were shown in 1980, the remaining six episodes were shown in 1982 after a five-part version of "Dick Turpin's