Until the opening of the Church Fenton to Harrogate Line which brought the railway to Wetherby, the nearest station was at Bolton Percy to which a daily coach operated from the Angel public house.

[2] The opening of these North-South railways caused Wetherby economic harm as it took much traffic off the Great North Road; the 1839 toll income from the Ferrybridge-Wetherby-Boroughbridge turnpike was £2,400, but within a few years it had fallen to £1,400.

To compensate for the distance from the town by the 1850s every train arriving in Wetherby was met by a coach from the Angel.

[5] The introduction of the rail service further eroded the towns main coaching inns (the Swan and Talbot and the Angel) as local transport centres.

[5] Despite this, many innkeepers were forced to seek supplementary incomes including an agricultural machinist (Blacksmiths Arms), carrier (Crown Inn), wheelwright (Fox Inn), purveyor of wines and spirits (Red Lion), farmer (White Hart) and a blacksmith (White Horse).