Journal

of the

Railway & Canal

Historical Society

Volume 34 Part 6

No 186 November 2003

The Railway & Canal Historical Society

President: David Joy Vice-Presidents: Dr A L Barnett, G J Biddle, G A Boyes, R Christiansen,

J V Gough, A A Jackson, Dr M J T Lewis, K P Seaward

Chairman (Managing Committee): Roger Davies Hon Secretary: M Searle, 3 West Court, West Street, Oxford 0X2 ONP Hon Treasurer: R 0 Welton, Wynch House, Ashton-u-Hill, Evesham WR11 7SW Membership Secretary: R J Taylor, 16 Priory Court, Berkhamsted HP4 2PD

Local Group Secretaries East Midlands: S Birch, 34 Cotes Road, Barrow-on-Soar, Loughborough LE12 8JS London: M Thomson, Flat 5, 28 Blakesley Avenue, London W5 2DW North East: D B Slater, 8 Grainger Avenue, Acomb, York Y02 5LF North West: G Leach, 5 Tabley Close, Knutsford, Cheshire WA18 ONP South West (acting): A Richardson, 25 Boscombe Crescent, Downend, Bristol BS16 6QR West Midlands: R M Shill, 100 Frederick Road, Stechford, Birmingham B33 8AE

Co-ordinators of Special Interest Groups Air Transport: [vacant] Railway Chronology: E C Cheers, 7 Wealden Hatch, Bushbury, Wolverhampton WV10 8TY Road Transport: P L Scowcroft, 8 Rowan Mount, Doncaster DN2 5PJ Tramroads: Dr M J T Lewis, 60 Hardwick Street, Hull HU5 3PJ Waterways History Research (including Docks & Shipping):

D I Foster, 34 rue du Gue, 40120 Roquefort, France

The Railway & Canal Historical Society was founded in 1954 and incorporated in 1967. It is a company (no 922300) limited by guarantee and registered in England as a charity (no 256047)

Registered office: 3 West Court, West Street, Oxford, 0X2 ONP

RCHS Journal

Editor:

Peter Brown, 34 Waterside Drive, Market Drayton TF9 1HU E-mail: p@peter—quita.demon.co.uk

Reviews Editor:

Dr M Barnes, Cornbrash House, Kirtlington, Oxfordshire OX5 3HF E-mail: cornbrash@aol.com (to whom all books etc for review should be sent)

Distribution Officers:

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The Editor welcomes the submission of interesting relevant articles. Potential contributors should contact him for a copy of the Guidance on writing for the Journal, including the style sheet.

Statements in the Journal reflect the views of the authors, and not necessarily those of the Society or Editor. Copyright is vested jointly in the author and the RCHS. No article may be reproduced in whole or in part without the express permission in writing of both the author and the RCHS.

Requests to reproduce articles should be addressed to the Editor.

Printed by Counter Print, 3 Tipping Street, Stafford ST16 2LL

ISSN 0033 8834

341

Journal

of the

Railway & Canal Historical Society

Volume 34 Part 6 No 186 November 2003

Contents

Bullbridge Aqueduct: the Cromford Canal and the North Midland Railway — John Rapley 342

The Mersey Ferry Terminals — Alasdair Munro 346

Databases and Transport History — Nick Billingham 353

The Caen Hill Horse Railway — Bill Crosbie-Hill 358

‘Small Profits on a Large Trade’: James Morrison MP [part 1] — Robert S Sephton 364

The Tutbury Tramroad — Hugh Compton 366

Was Gilbert’s Railway song Inspired by the Third Duke of Sutherland ? — Alan A Jackson 370

Canals and Waterways in British Crime Fiction — Philip Scowcroft 372

Correspondence 375

Reviews 378

From the RCHS Photographic Collection 396

Supplement: Bibliography 2002 398

342

The Cromford Canal, designed and constructed underthe supervision of William Jessop (1745–1814),assisted by Benjamin Outram (1764–1805), wasopened in 1794. The main purpose was to link Ark-wright’s textile mills at Cromford to the Nottinghamcoalfield, and it ran fifteen miles from a junction withthe Erewash Canal at Langley Mill, which in turnprovided access to the Trent and the rest of thewaterways system. The completion in 1831 of theCromford & High Peak Railway, linking the Crom-ford Canal to the Peak Forest Canal at WhaleyBridge, brought much extra traffic.

The collapse of part of the long tunnel (2,966yds)under the Butterley ridge in 1900, due to mining sub-sidence, led to much reduced traffic on the remainingisolated sections, and in 1944 the canal was finallyabandoned. Since then some of the five mile sectionsouth of Cromford has been restored for recreationaluse by its present owner, Derbyshire County Council.

There were two main aqueducts on the originalcanal, one over the River Derwent near Cromfordwith a fine stone arch, and a longer one over the RiverAmber at the hamlet of Bullbridge, near Ambergate.Unfortunately the Bullbridge aqueduct was sweptaway some fifty years ago after the closure andabandonment. The story of how the North MidlandRailway was carried under the aqueduct withoutclosing the canal to traffic is of considerable interestand great ingenuity was used by the engineers.

The North Midland Railway from Derby to Leedswas part of the grand scheme of George Hudson, the‘Railway King’, to develop a network of railwayscentred on the City of York, where he had startedout in life not so many years before as a draper’sassistant. Beyond Leeds Hudson’s York & NorthMidland Railway completed a through route fromLondon to York.

The North Midland Railway was started in 1836and opened in 1840. The engineer-in-chief wasGeorge Stephenson, and his former pupil and secre-tary, Joseph Swanwick (1810–85), was the super-vising engineer for the whole line. Robert Stephen-son was appointed joint engineer with his father, buthis ongoing commitments to the London & Birming-

Bullbridge Aqueduct: the Cromford Canaland the North Midland Railway

By John Rapley

ham Railway precluded his playing an active part inthe North Midland other than as a consultant. Theresident engineer for the section from Derby toBullbridge and beyond was a young Scotsman,Alexander McKenzie Ross (1806–62), who latersprang into prominence as resident engineer for theConwy Tubular Bridge, and afterwards as jointengineer with Robert Stephenson for the vast VictoriaTubular Bridge at Montreal, built for the Grand TrunkRailway of Canada, of which Ross was engineer-in-chief.

The aqueduct at Bullbridge presented a majorobstacle to the railway line, which was planned tofollow the valley of the River Amber north of Amber-gate. At Bullbridge the valley of the Amber becomesquite narrow, and the river together with a mill streamand the carriage road occupied much of the levelground on the eastern bank.

At Bullbridge the Cromford Canal swung sharplyto the southeast in the direction of Butterley, andcrossed the valley on an embankment some 200 yardsin length and 30 feet high at its maximum. Near thenorthern end it was pierced by an arch for the accom-modation road to the extensive lime works lying tothe north of the village. Near the centre of the valleythe River Amber was carried under the canal by anextensive culvert. Nearby a much smaller culvertcarried a millstream (or goyt in the local parlance)which supplied power to a corn mill, and finally,almost at the southern end, an arch was provided forthe road from Ambergate to Ripley.

The aqueduct had given cause for concern evenbefore the canal was completed early in 1794, andone of the arches had been damaged by a major earthslip. Water penetration or the use of unsuitablematerial may have been the cause, but minor slip-pages continued for many years. The arch whichcarried the Ripley road had been built with a distinctlypointed top, but over the years this became almostsemicircular. Somehow Stephenson had to penetratethis unstable obstacle which blocked all progresstowards Chesterfield. Normal methods of timberingduring excavation would have invited disaster, andthe Canal Company was uncompromising in its

343

attitude — they were there first and the railwayupstarts could make the best of it! In the longer termthe railway interests prevailed, and by 1852 water-borne traffic had declined so much that the MidlandRailway bought out the canal interest.

Closure of the canal to allow the railway to be builtwas most vigorously opposed by the canal proprietorsand local users, who threatened heavy claims forcompensation should the canal traffic be stopped,even for one day. In those days canal proprietorswere still a power in the land, and while the NorthMidland’s Act of Parliament gave them power todrive beneath the canal, it could only be done on thecanal owners’ terms.

Although the credit for finding a solution has beengiven to George Stephenson by no less an authoritythan Samuel Smiles, both the old man and Robertwere unable to devise a safe method. However, a

copy of a lengthy letter from a George Tate, writtenin immaculate copperplate, was recently receivedfrom Canada by Mike Chrimes, Head Librarian ofthe Institution of Civil Engineers. Tate was the con-tractor’s engineer on the job, and unhesitatinglycredits Alexander Ross with proposing the meansby which the problem could be overcome, and seeingit through to a successful conclusion. RobertStephenson was much impressed with Ross’s capa-bility, and later invited him to take up a post ofresident engineer on the Chester & Holyhead Rail-way, making him responsible for the section fromChester to Conwy, including the Conwy TubularBridge.

According to Tate, a wrought iron trough, 150 feetlong, was fabricated by the Butterley Iron Company,and delivered to the site at Bullbridge in sections.Some reports say three sections and others five, but

The Bullbridge area as depicted on the Ordnance Survey 1:10,560 map surveyed in 1879 (enlarged)

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344

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345

they must have been partly assembled at Butterleyand then floated to the site. Tate’s account confusesthe issue somewhat by writing of ‘wrought’ iron,though had it been available it would have been idealfor the purpose. At that date iron plates even as muchas two feet in width would not have been available,and photographs taken when the trough was beingdemolished clearly show that cast iron was used.1

Tate’s claim that the trough was a forerunner of thelater tubular girders does not bear examination, butthis is no discredit to Ross who achieved his purposewith the materials available to him.

Just to the north of the aqueduct the Butterley Com-pany had a wharf for coal and lime which served theadjacent lime kilns. This cut was long enough fortwo 70 feet narrow boats. By arrangement with theCompany the open end to the canal was stopped offand the water pumped out, which provided a dry dockin which the sections of the trough could be joinedtogether and made ready for floating out. The troughwas made slightly narrower than the aqueduct, butwas 9 feet in width internally, which would comfort-ably pass a standard narrow boat. As a special con-cession the Cromford Canal Company allowed thewaterway to be closed from midnight on a Saturdayuntil midnight 24 hours later, a time when in anycase there was no traffic.

The bed of the canal over the aqueduct wasprepared with well puddled clay. The ends of thetrough were stopped off, so that when water was letinto the dry dock the trough floated. The trough was

drawn out into the channel, then back over theaqueduct. When the water was let in, the trough sankonto its clay bed, and the ends were made watertightat the abutments. Within the twenty four hours canaltraffic could be resumed with no need for furtherinterruption. Now the embankment below could bedug away, supporting the trough with timbering asthey went, and the new stone arch and abutmentsfollowed, leaving the trough buried within thehandsome new arch. A new culvert was built belowthe rails for the millstream, and a stone arch carriedthe railway over the Amber just beyond the aqueduct.Samuel Smiles was much impressed and wrote:

Water, bridge, railway, and canal, were thus piled oneupon the other, four stories high; such another curiouscomplication probably not existing.

The official architect for the North MidlandRailway was Francis Thompson. He was appointedin January 1839 when work on part of the railwaywas far advanced. His remit covered a large numberof stations and railway buildings, including the firstBritish roundhouse built at Derby in 1840. It seemslikely that the fine stone arch at Bullbridge wasdesigned by Ross, who had received his early trainingin the office of the eminent architect John Nash.

George Stephenson was of course awarded thecredit, which might equally have gone to Robert oreven Swanwick, so the discovery of Tate’s letter hasensured that credit is now given where due. Ross’swork in Canada, where he became something of ahero, is better recorded and better valued.

Notes and references

The principal sources used are: • L Popplewell, Gazetteer of Railway Contractors and

Engineers of Central England, 1986 • Letter from George Tate to Hugh Ross, 10 Woburn

Square, London; Institution of Civil Engineers • G Smith, The Bygone Days of Crich and District,

1995 • R B Schofield, ‘The Design and Construction of the

Cromford Canal, 1788–94’, Journal of the NewcomenSociety, Vol 57, 101–123

• Website of the Friends of the Cromford Canal:www.cromfordcanal.org.uk

The Ordnance Survey map reference for the site of theaqueduct is SK359522.

1. Prior to about 1840 the terminology was somewhatconfused. Iron straight from the blast furnace was‘pig iron’, and was cast into moulds in the floorresembling a sow and piglets. If this iron was remeltedand cast into moulds it then became ‘wrought iron’,that is, iron that had been subject to working.(‘Wrought’ is an archaic past tense and past participleof the verb ‘work’.) What we now refer to as ‘wroughtiron’ was produced in a puddling furnace and thensubjected to hammering or rolling into shape, givinga metal with very different properties. In those daysit was generally referred to a ‘malleable iron’.

346

In the Benedictine tradition of hospitality totravellers, the abbey at Chester in 1150 established apriory at Birkenhead for the needs of those makingthe river crossing by boats plying for hire to Liver-pool. Although travellers were frequently detainedby adverse weather, this was an important link onthe route from Chester and the South. In 1318 thiswas regularised by Edward II’s charter permittingthe priory to erect houses to accommodate suchtravellers. In 1330 Edward III granted the prior andhis successors the legal right to operate the ferry(from approximately the site of the present WoodsideFerry).1

After the dissolution of the monasteries, the manor,lordship and estates including the ferry rights passedeventually to the Price family2 and subsequently tothe Birkenhead Commissioners and their successor,Birkenhead Corporation.

In 1796 a guidebook to Liverpool referred tonumerous ferries across the river to ‘Seacomb [sic];Woodside; Rock House; New Ferry; Eastham; andthe Chester Canal boathouse’ (at Ince) where it‘communicates with Chester by an elegant Packeton the Canal’. The Eastham and Whitby (EllesmerePort) services were ‘navigated by large covered boatsthat are very commodious’, the others by open boats.Individual boatmen still appear to have plied for hirebut passengers were advised ‘to make an agreementbeforehand and not pay till their return’.

Seacombe Ferry connected with a chaise to thehotel at Highlake (Hoylake); Woodside, Rock House,New Ferry and Eastham with post chaises to Chester,Eastham also having a double stage coach to Chester.3

Gore’s Directory of 1810 mentions a ferry to Tran-mere too.

There were several sailings from Liverpool toconnect with canal packets. A timetable of 1823advertises the daily service of the Ellesmere CanalPacket from Chester to Ellesmere Port (presumablyInce, already referred to) where it meets the recentlyintroduced steam packets to Liverpool ‘which givesa decided superiority to’ the sailing packet.4

In the 18th century there were daily sailings fromLiverpool to Runcorn to connect with packets on theBridgewater Canal to Manchester — a service which

The Mersey Ferry Terminals

By Alasdair Munro

was still advertised in 1860.5

In 1810, Gore’s Directory refers to a ferry fromLiverpool to Weston Point (to connect with boats onthe Weaver).

In the 1830s there was a short-lived unsuccessfulattempt to operate a direct service between theHerculaneum area (south Liverpool) and Rock Ferry.In the 1860s a proposed service from the same areato New Ferry never materialised.6

Very few people lived in Wirral at the time and themain function of the ferries was to provide a connec-tion with coaches to Chester and beyond.7

Steam-powered ferries

The ferries were still no more reliable than theweather until they were revolutionised by the steamengine. The first steam-powered vessel enteredservice on the Tranmere Ferry on 4 April 1817. TheAetna had twin hulls with the deck and paddlesbetween them.8

Wooden paddle steamers of a more conventionaldesign soon appeared on other ferries which had tofollow Tranmere’s example if they were to compete.The following year Gore advertised daily sailingsby the steamship Princess Charlotte to Eastham toconnect with the Shrewsbury, Chester and Holyheadcoaches.

At Tranmere, a pier ran ‘into the river for nearly aquarter of a mile parallel to the rocky shore ofBirkenhead’ at about a distance of about 300 yardsfrom it, but the ferry appears to have temporarilyceased to operate in the mid-1840s.9

About 1820 a slip was constructed on the northside of Tranmere pool opposite to Tranmere Ferryon land owned by Francis Richard Price who allowedtwo men, Hetherington and Grindod, to build a hoteland operate a new ferry, known as the BirkenheadFerry. Its main aim was to attract day excursionistsfrom Liverpool to the Birkenhead Ferry Hotel, whichhad an assembly room, tea gardens and bowlinggreen. In 1841 the hotel and ferry were bought byLiverpool Corporation who were never reallyinterested in the ferry operation and leased it to

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347

Willoughby Brothers. Its pier was ‘very favourablyadapted for the embarkation of carriages’ and appearsto have been used mainly ‘by travellers having theirown equipages’.10

The year 1822 saw the introduction of steam tothe Woodside Ferry and, in 1835, the lease wasacquired by the Woodside, North Birkenhead &Liverpool Steam Company who rebuilt the slip toallow carriages to use it. Woodside was the terminusfor a number of coaches and Woodside Hotel (stillstanding), a brick-built Georgian building, wasestablished in 1833 as a coaching inn with stablingfor 100 horses.11 A cast iron and wooden floatinglanding stage was installed at Woodside in 1861. Itsbooking hall was approached from the road througha five bay canopy supported on cast iron pillars. Itwas connected to the land by hinged walkways andgirders.12

In the early 1820s the Rock Ferry and a large tractof adjacent land was acquired by Mr ThomasMorecroft of Liverpool who made many improve-ments including a ‘large and excellent pier’ and builtroads. In 1832 steamers were introduced. He hopedto sell land in building lots, but this was less suc-cessful than efforts to create traffic by opening theRoyal Rock Hotel which was enlarged and pleasuregardens added when the ferry and part of the landwas acquired in 1836 by the Rock Ferry Company, ajoint stock company many of whose members nowpurchased land. More commodious vessels were putinto service and a fine park was laid out togetherwith an esplanade towards New Ferry.13 The pieralso gave boats access to a number of training shipssuch as HMS Conway which were moored off RockFerry.14

The New Ferry, which, like most of the others,owned a hotel and pleasure gardens, nevertheless hada chequered history. It was disused for a time andsteam was not introduced until the early 1860s whenit was taken over by R A Macfie who constructed along iron pier and floating stage.15

In December 1836 a joint stock company — theMonks’ Ferry Company — was formed. Despite itsapparently historic name, it was a totally new servicefrom a point between Woodside and BirkenheadFerries which commenced in August 1837. A legaldecision forced its closure after two years. TheWoodside Ferry Company claimed successfully that,as lessees of Mr Price, they had sole rights to operatea ferry in that area. It was then sold to the Birkenhead& Chester Railway which was allowed to use it to

348

convey its passengers on to Liverpool when the linewas extended through a tunnel from the old Birken-head Town station to Monks’ Ferry in 1844.16

The steam ferries, no longer subject to the vagariesof the weather, played a major part in the initialgrowth of Birkenhead and the Wirral generally asdormitory suburbs for commuters to Liverpool.Between 1821 and 1831 Birkenhead’s populationgrew from 200 to 2,500.

However other improved forms of transport weredeveloping. As early as 1833 Thomas Brassey’s NewChester Road which ran closer to the Mersey shorethan Old Chester Road diverted much passengertraffic from the south end ferries17 and this declinecontinued with the opening of the Wirral TramwaysCompany’s line from Woodside to New Ferry as eventhe horse trams gave a faster service to Liverpoolvia Woodside. Then all the ferries were adverselyaffected by the opening of the Mersey Railway in1886 and, particularly, after its electrification in 1903.

Developments at Birkenhead

In 1842 Woodside Ferry had been acquired by theBirkenhead Commissioners who constructed a float-ing stage in 1862. After 1860 street tramways werebuilt throughout Birkenhead, all converging onWoodside. With such a superabundance of ferries,it was hardly surprising that the most convenientlysited, Woodside, should soon eclipse the others.

In 1870 Birkenhead Ferry and Hotel closed whenLaird’s shipyard moved from its original site on EastFloat to Tranmere Pool and in 1904 Tranmere Ferryclosed too.18 Its site is now covered by the extensionsto Laird’s yard.

Meanwhile in 1878 Monks’ Ferry had closed afterthe railway (now the LNWR/GWR Joint line) hadbuilt a new line from Birkenhead Town to a terminaladjacent to Woodside19. The Monks’ Ferry lineremained in use for coal traffic until 1967 and theremains of the passenger station could be seen untilthen.

Today nothing remains of the very fine Woodsidestation which closed when the old Birkenhead &Chester line was cut back to Rock Ferry to connectwith electric trains to Liverpool on the old MerseyRailway.20 In 1895 Birkenhead Corporation tookover New Ferry and Rock Ferry which were bothowned by the same proprietor who refused to sellone without the other. The Corporation had a legalobligation to operate both ferries until 1927 although

Parliament sanctioned the closure of New Ferry in1922 when it was damaged by a vessel colliding withit.21 Nothing of the stage remains.

Rock Ferry closed on 30 June 1939.22

Eastham

The Eastham Ferry was particularly popular withday trippers and the immediate area was less acces-sible than other ferries to other forms of transport —the nearest railway station was some distance awayand the trams terminated well short of it. A little tothe north, almost hidden by trees, is a reminder ofthe ferry’s past importance — a post with the sign‘STAND FOR 5 CABS’ where horse-drawn vehicles onceplied for hire. As well as Eastham Woods visitorswere attracted to the Eastham Ferry Hotel (stillstanding), a magnificent three storey edifice built in1864 by Sir William Stanley, the owner of the ferry.This provided entertainment for the gentility, whilsttheir servants and the more plebeian took refreshmentat the nearby Pier Bar (or Tap Bar). Refreshmentswere also provided at the Vienna Café andGreenwood Tea Rooms, a sandstone buildings whichis still standing on the left of Ferry Road going upfrom the ferry, though now a private house.

The gardens were entered through the ‘JubileeArch’ built in 1897 (the year of the Diamond Jubilee)and contained a variety of entertainments includinga ‘loop-the-loop’ switchback and water chute, aboating lake, a bear pit and zoo, an open air stageand a ‘Victorian Palace’ (a concert hall and ball-room).23

In 1912 the ‘New Liverpool, Eastham Ferry &Hotel Company’ was formed24 but the ferry wassuspended in 1929 and the landing stage removed in1935.25

Wallasey

Meanwhile steam ferries had also developed northof Wallasey Pool — to Seacombe in 1823, Egremontin 1829 and New Brighton soon afterwards. Theseferries were operated by various proprietors and —like Birkenhead, Eastham and Rock Ferry — triedto create their own excursion traffic by establishinghotels and pleasure gardens. The hotel at Egremontstill exists. James Atherton of Liverpool acquiredland on the sand hills at New Brighton, hoping itwould become a fashionable resort. This was not tobe but until well after the Second World War, it was

Eastham Woods

River Mersey

349

a very popular venue for day trippers from Liver-pool.26

At Seacombe the tides made landing difficult andin the early days a stage worked by ‘a moveable steamengine upon a railway’ was built although it doesnot appear to have been capable of running out farenough at exceptionally low tides.27 Seacombe Ferryand the Hotel was owned by Mr Richard Smith, lordof the manor, but was leased to Thomas Parry. TheHotel had a ‘bowling green, billiard room and everyaccommodation’ and ‘obtained a high reputationamong ... the gourmands of Liverpool’.28

New Brighton Ferry was owned by Coulbourn &Co and the Egremont Ferry and Hotel first by JohnAskew’s Egremont Steam Ferry Company, passingto a succession of proprietors. In 1860/61 all threeferries were acquired by the Wallasey Commissionerswho provided improved landing facilities — floatingstages — at New Brighton (1865) and Seacombe(1880). Access to the New Brighton Ferry wasoriginally by a ‘run out pier’. The new long highlevel pier and stage ran alongside a pleasure pier. In1875 a retractable pier (rather more satisfactory thanSeacombe’s) was built at Egremont, being replacedby a floating stage in 1909.29 Egremont Ferry was

discontinued in 1940 and never restored after a vesselcollided with the floating bridge.30

Seacombe Ferry was once a major transport inter-change. Wallasey’s electric trams all commenced atthe ferry and operated by four different routes to NewBrighton. After trams were abandoned (1929–33),31

most bus routes terminated at Seacombe and a fewminutes after the arrival of each ferry there was aspectacular sight as a convoy of buses in the distinc-tive ‘Sea Green’ livery left together. Few buses areseen on the approach road today.

From 1895 the Wirral Railway’s small Seacombe& Egremont station (of which no trace remains) stoodat the top of the ferry approach with services to NewBrighton (until 1911), West Kirby (until 1938),Chester and Wrexham (until closure in 1960) but fewferry passengers used it as these lines connected moredirectly with Liverpool at Bidston.32

In 1972 Merseyside Passenger Transport Execu-tive (now the owner of the three remaining ferries)decided to close New Brighton’s. The resort wasdeclining in popularity and the former Mersey Rail-way gave better access. The stage and pleasure pierwere demolished in 1978.33

Eastham: from the 1911Ordnance Survey map

1 — visitors’ centre 2 — Tap Bar 3 — [landing stage] 4 — ticket office 5 — [Vienna Café] 6 — Ferry road 7 — Greenwood Tea Room 8 — Ferry Hotel 9 — [Jubilee arch]10 — [open air stage]11 — bear pit12 — pleasure gardens13 —ballroom14 — boating lake wall15 — [loop the loop]16 — water chute17 — Green Lane

350

Seacombe ferry terminal

Above: The site of the Monks Ferry terminalBelow left: Eastham Ferry — sign for cab standBelow right: Eastham Ferry — the Ferry Hotel

351

Liverpool

Until the mid-18th century most ferry boats fromLiverpool left from a slip at the foot of Water Street.When George’s Dock was created outside the formershore line with a parade in front of it, vessels landedat stairs in the dock wall34 until George’s floatinglanding stage was opened on 1 June 1847. In 1856Prince’s stage was opened for ocean liners and in1876 improvement to George’s stage were completedand the two stages joined.35

In 1984 a special service ran between Birkenhead,Liverpool Landing Stage and Otterspool, the site ofthe International Garden Festival.36

Vehicle ferries

In the late 1870s vehicular ferries were introducedby both Birkenhead (to Woodside) and Wallasey (toSeacombe) Corporations. The design of the luggageboats, as they were known, changed very little overthe years. The vessels were iron double screwsteamers and had large open decks with a centralisland containing the funnel and ticket office, faresbeing collected on board rather than at terminals.(Since the Wirral local authorities had the rights oftoll, passenger fares have always been collected onthe Wirral side for travellers in both directions.37)

Access to the landing stages at Birkenhead, Sea-combe and Liverpool was by floating roadwayswhich present steep gradients at very low tides.Originally vehicle traffic from the Seacombe stagewas handled by an hydraulic lift.

The opening of the Mersey road tunnel in 1935resulted in a very serious decline in traffic althoughhorse-drawn vehicles, which were not permitted touse the tunnel, were still common and so the luggageservice did not cease immediately. The Birkenheadservice continued until the outbreak of war andSeacombe’s until 1947 when its contract with theGreat Western Railway expired.38

The visible remains

Woodside and Seacombe Ferries still operate andtheir terminals survive. Seacombe’s present terminal(SJ325908) dates from the 1930s. It is an attractivebrick and stone building with two three-baycolonnades and a central brick tower.39 It has beenused as a film set, becoming, for example, the NewYork ocean liner terminal.

At Woodside Ferry (SJ330892) the floatingroadway was removed in 1958 and although it hasbeen modernised with catering facilities the bookinghall is protected by its listed status and has beendeveloped as part of a heritage area. One of theoriginal turnstiles and a Starbuck horse tram (builtin Birkenhead) are displayed and immediatelyoutside, old style double deck trams again connectwith the ferry.40

Birkenhead Priory, associated with the mediaevalcrossing, is still standing and is probably one of thebest preserved small monastic houses in the country.The slip of the (19th century) Monks’ Ferry can stillbe seen in front of it (SJ330888).

Royal Rock Hotel was still standing in 1971 andwas described by Pevsner as ‘stucco with a threestorey block at the east end ... almost certainly the1836 extension’.41 It is now demolished.

Sandstone piers at Rock Ferry (SJ334868) andlandward abutments at Egremont (SJ320919) andNew Ferry jetties (SJ338861) remain.

At Eastham the landing stage abutment (SJ364818)and ferry ticket office, a single storey sandstonebuilding with the inscription ‘Eastham Ferry 1856’,survive although the covered walkway which linkedit to the pier has gone. The original slip (known asJob’s Ferry) about 200 yards north of the pier canalso be seen.42 Green Lane, which begins at theVisitor Information Centre, is an ancient bridle waywhich ran from the ferry to Bromborough.43 Thegardens and Eastham Woods are now part of EasthamCountry Park though few signs of the attractionssurvive. The Arch was considered unsafe anddemolished in the 1930s, the bear pit can still be seen,and the base of the water chute is now a wildlifepond. Of the boating lake only the enclosing wallsurvives.

Notes and references

The photograophs were taken by the author.

1. William Williams Mortimer, History of the Hundredof Wirral, 1847, 309; David Charters, Ferries Forever,1984, 41

2. Mortimer, op cit, 3213. W Moss, The Liverpool Guide, 1796, 7–94. Leaflet in Liverpool Packet No 3: Liverpool Transport

through the Ages, undated5. D D Gladwin, Passenger Boats on Inland Waterways,

1979, 12–13, 40

352

6. Philip Sulley, The Hundred of Wirral, 1993 (firstpublished 1889), 332; T B Maund, Mersey Ferries,Vol 1, Woodside to Eastham, 1991, 58 & 59

7. Gore’s Directory, 18108. Leaflet in Liverpool Packet No 3: Liverpool Transport

through the Ages, undated9. Mortimer, op cit, 19910. Ibid, 350; Sulley, op cit, 37711. Carol E Bidston, Birkenhead of Yesteryear, 1935, 4;

Owen Ashmore, The Industrial Archaeology of NorthWest England, 1982, 153

12. Adrian Jarvis et al, A Guide to the Industrial Heritageof Merseyside, 1974, 5–6

13. Mortimer, op cit, 186; Sulley, op cit, 322–314. Bidston, op cit, 3815. Sulley, op cit, 30316. Mortimer, op cit, 346–917. Peter Miller, Eastham Ferry Hotel and Pleasure

Gardens, undated18. A Guide to the Mersey Ferries, undated, 28–9;

Bidston, op cit, 419. M D Greville, Chronology of the Railways of

Cheshire, 1973, 1320. Merseyside Railway History Group, Railway Stations

of Wirral, undated, 6–921. A Guide to the Mersey Ferries, 2922. Bidston, op cit, 3823. Peter Miller, Eastham Country Park, undated

24. A Guide to the Mersey Ferries, 2825. Paul Rees, A Guide to Merseyside’s Industrial Past,

3526. Trevor Lloyd-Jones, 101 Views of Edwardian Liver-

pool and New Brighton, 1972, notes 90 & 9127. E Cuthbert Woods & P Culverwell Brown, The Rise

and Progress of Wallasey, 1929, 116; Sulley, op cit,283

28. Mortimer, op cit, 29829. Woods & Brown, op cit, 112–3, 116; A Guide to the

Mersey Ferries, 28; Sulley, op cit, 28430. William T Palmer, The River Mersey, 1944, 21631. T B Maund & M Jenkins, The Tramways of Birken-

head and Wallasey, 1987, 111–3, 121, 136, 139, 14132. Merseyside Railway History Group, op cit, 5033. Charters, op cit, 26–734. A Guide to the Mersey Ferries, 26–735. An Everyday History of Liverpool, Vol 1, undated36. Charters, op cit, 3237. Palmer, op cit, 21638. Sulley, op cit, 283; Maund, op cit, 11739. Ashmore, op cit, 17440. A Guide to the Mersey Ferries, 27–841. Nikolaus Pevsner & Edward Hubbard, The Buildings

of England: Cheshire, 1971, 10342. Rees, op cit, 3543. Miller, op cit

Eastham: ferry ticket office (1856)

353

One of the handicaps of historical research is thediversity of primary sources. At a local level muchsource material will be found in our County RecordOffices, but as anyone who has tried researchingtransport history will testify, the transport field is atruly national one. Sources range from countyarchives, the Public Record Office at Kew and insti-tutions like British Waterways; the result is that evena short book about the history of a canal can takeyears to complete.

Computer and internet technology can provide apartial answer to a few of the bottlenecks by enablingthe researcher to access indices and databases fromthe comfort of their home. Internet technology iswell established and extensively used by researchersworld-wide. Web sites such as A2A have provedtheir worth and provide us with an ever-expandingresource. A2A is the PRO’s catalogue of indicesboth in its own archive and also many others in theUK. For those unfamiliar with research via the Webit is an excellent starting place.

Databases are a more complicated business butwith a massive potential that is only just beginningto be explored. A computer database is far morecapable than the old-fashioned card system and canspeed up research a thousand fold. They have aflexibility that enables statistics and trends to be iden-tified with comparative ease. However commerciallyavailable databases are not designed for use byhistorians and need to be considered carefully beforeuse. Many people use spreadsheet programs such asMicrosoft Excel or Lotus 1-2-3 in preference todatabases since they appear to be simpler to use. Inpractice this is not the case: spreadsheets are idealfor juggling numbers whereas databases are designedfor text entries. There are a considerable number ofelements common to both, and anyone familiar withone can soon pick up the basics of the other. It mustbe said that neither program type is simple to useand some training is essential to get the best fromthem.

Historical source material exists in text form forthe most part. Inscriptions on memorial stones,letters, diaries; these all devolve down to text.Account books may appear to be numerical data at

first, but almost invariably contain names and datesas well. It is important to remember that the physicalstructure of a canal or railway is not an historicalsource but an artefact from which we subsequentlyderive historical knowledge. This text reflects theideas and thought of those that created it, and it isthose ideas that we hope to recreate in order toappreciate our subject.1 Naturally this text reflects avariety of purposes, and needs to be treated appro-priately. Ledgers can be translated into a numericalspreadsheet, diaries into documents, and items suchas shareholder lists or censuses into databases. Thesemodern electronic formats are simpler to search,quicker to copy and disseminate and, if correctlycompiled, maintain the original idea of their creator.The caveat here is in the correct compilation andtranslation of the data; if an error occurs at this stageall subsequent copies and interpretation will beflawed.

Creating the database

The initial stage of the creation of a database mustbe the accurate analysis of the data involved and itsinternal relationships. I will consider a typicaldatabase, the Listing of the Shareholders of theStratford upon Avon Canal at its launch in 1793.2

This is a large ledger book to be found in the PROarchive at Kew. Physically it is liable to degrade themore it is used and transferring its contents into anelectronic database will help ensure its survival. Thelist was created at the inaugural meeting of the CanalCompany, on 28 March 1793 at the White Lion inHenley Street, Stratford. At this meeting virtuallyall the 1,200 £100 shares were subscribed. Each sub-scription is itemised as to the purchaser, his or heraddress, his or her occupation and the number ofshares subscribed.

This list is a late 18th century database. We cantranslate it into a modern format by entering eachitem of data onto a data table. First we need to definewhat is an item of data. These can then be arrangedinto fields. In this case our principal item of datawill need to be the individual subscriber and relatedto this will be some dependent items such as his orher address, occupation and quantity of shares

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354

subscribed. Thus William Southam, the peruke-maker noticed by Charles Hadfield in his Waterwaysto Stratford3, is an entity with the attributes ofoccupation peruke-maker, address, Stratford, andshare subscription of five. Another entity is IsaacPratt whose attributes are an address, Worcester, andshare subscription of five. From this point the data-table apparently has one primary field and threeothers, but careful examination of the rest of the listshows that some expansion will be required. Firstlythe name William Southam can be divided into twofields, given name and surname, and severalsubscribers use three names so three fields for thename should suffice. We do not want to omit anydata that is in the original document unless the data-table is only being created for a single and specificpurpose. If we are creating a database for general

use by transport historians we must include absolutelyeverything since the database compiler cannot knowthe questions that researchers will want to pose.

Our first two examples have no honorific attachedto their names in the original list, but there are plentyof Earls, Sirs and Reverends, and this information isessential if we are to gain any idea of the socialspectrum of the canal promoters. Another field istherefore justified, and another one for notes by thedatabase compiler. We may want to enter an assort-ment of notes, such as a peruke is the 18th centuryname for a wig or that Peter Holford was elected tothe Board at the meeting. We may also need to makedistinction between duplicated names.

This duplication of names can be a real stumblingblock for this type of database. In Henley in Ardenin 1793 there were at least three William James’s:one was an Innholder who bought one share andanother was noted as a Gent who bought five. Thislatter entry was not the brilliant and farsightedpromoter of the next transport revolution, but hisfather. William James junior did not becomeinvolved with the Stratford Canal for a few moreyears, possibly because he was busy raising his ownson ... William H James. This is one type ofduplication, another is that of multiple entries.Henley again offers an example; Isaac Court boughttwo shares for himself and also two shares ‘in theinterest of the poor of Henley’. This shows that thename, even the entire name, is not adequate as aunique identifier for each entry and this problem is

Table 1: Draft Data Table for Stratford Canal Proprietors

ID FirstName LastName Address1 address2 Shares Notes Occupation

1 Abergaveney 10 Earl of Landlord

2 Richard Allen Stratford 10 Grocer

3 John Allen London 5

4 Samuel Aylworth Halford 10

5 Fernando Babbington Hockley House 2 Innholder

6 Elizabeth Barren Stratford 3 widow

7 Elizabeth Barke Stratford 3 widow

8 William Barke Stratford 5 Innholder

9 John Barnhurst Stratford 5 Gent

10 Phoebe Ball 5

11 Thomas Beach Birmingham 3 Steelmaker

12 John Berry Birmingham 3 Steelmaker

13 Sarah Belamy Hockley Heath 1 widow

Share Certificate of the Stratford Canal

(Warwickshire CRO, CR1886 / Box 473)

WILIAM., JAMAS

355

usually overcome by assigning a number to everyentry.

The modern database thus reflects the original onein format. The original clerk of the company prob-ably paid no attention to the distinction between anentry ‘Earl of Abergaveney, 10 shares’ and ‘FrancisBrookes, Yeoman of Aston Cantlow, 1 share’ in termsof data fields, but these fields were inherent in hisoriginal thought and it is this thought that we mustrecreate in our own minds. The modern electronicdatabase allows us to do this without constantrecourse to the original document (which is only thederivation of his original thought). Not only do wethus preserve the document but also we can explorethat original thought in greater detail. In somerespects we can deconstruct that thought to provideus with a greater insight into his social and economicenvironment than the clerk had intended.

The Stratford Canal may well have been a typical

rural canal venture of the late eighteenth century, butits technology, and the labour force and even thecapital required, had probably been available sincethe Roman invasion of Britain. The technology wasa constant, requiring only the smallest of innovationsto create a summit level canal; the Romans hadalready built contour canals in Britain such as FossDyke, and the capital required only the will ofwhichever emperor, governor or king to change frombuilding roads or castles to canals. A demographichistory of the nation shows that the population wasaround 4–5 million apart from the period followingthe collapse of the Roman Empire and the centuryfollowing the Black Death of 1349. The existenceof the canal, and this list, shows that a change hadoccurred in the mentality of the population.4 Therewas now both the ability and the will to invest in thisproject. A symptom of this change is containedwithin the list but requires perspective to becomeapparent.

Using the database

Initially the database can be used to show the ratiosof share ownership by social class. This is a fairlytypical query of a data-table and one that historiansuse regularly. We can identify how many Earls orGents bought how many shares, what proportion ofthe whole this represents, how the yeomanry wererepresented and even how many wigmakers wereinvolved (one). The geographical extent of the share-holders can provide us with a rough idea of thesurplus income available for speculative investmentwithin grain-growing districts as opposed to wood-land or industrial areas. A single data-table containsinternal relationships that can transform an apparentlydull document into a mirror of its environment.

Although a single data-table such as the list ofshareholders can provide a fascinating insight intothe creation of a canal, there is another reason for itscreation. A modern electronic database can importdata-tables from a variety of sources. Assuming thatthese are in a common format we can then expandour knowledge exponentially. If we look at the share-holder list for the Worcester & Birmingham Canalwe will find that Isaac Pratt also bought shares inthat canal.5 In fact by comparing several canals wecan identify speculators, institutional types ofinvestment are represented by the great estates ofvarious Earls and Lords, and characters from Londonappear regularly. All this enhances our conceptionof the year of canal mania — and we have only just

The most famous of the William James’sto be found in Henley in 1793:the ‘Father of the Railways’

356

started to exploit the power of a database.

Table 2:Extract from 1793 Trade Directory for Stratford

ID Name Surname Trade

1 John Bree Doctor

2 John Gamble Surgeon

3 Edward Goate Surgeon

4 Thomas Nott Surgeon

5 Charles Pestle Surgeon

6 Thomas Creswell Attorney

7 Thomas Hunt Attorney

8 Robert Wheler Attorney

9 Richard Wyatt Attorney

10 Thomas Allcock Smith

11 Samuel Allcock Plumber

12 Richard Allen Grocer

There is a tendency to stick to researching the fieldone knows best, but beyond the world of transportlife went on regardless. Our keen investors of 1793paid their Poor Law Rates, got married, had children,survived epidemics and carried on running theirbusinesses. All these activities were recorded at thetime and these records can be converted into compat-ible data-tables. Comparison of the tables can thenbe used to gain a fuller insight into the societysurrounding our period and topic of interest.

William Southam is listed as a ‘peruke-maker’ inthe Canal list and yet in the town’s trade directoryfor the same year he is called a ‘hair dresser’. RichardEast is simply described as ‘Esquire’ in the share-holder list, but from the trade directory we discoverthat he is also a miller. This is particularly relevantconsidering the relationship between millers usingthe waters of the navigable river Avon and theirtransport requirements. The town’s Poor Law Ratebook not only provides addresses for these charactersthat we first observe investing in the canal; it alsoshows the value of their properties. Over a period oftime the Rate Books provide an indicator of thegrowth of the whole town as new properties are builtand then rated. Rateable values remained constantfor the whole of the industrial revolution giving us asimple way to visualise the growth in prosperitycreated by that first investment in transport infra

structure.6

A set of data tables provides more than the sum oftheir parts for the researcher. These tables can belinked to each other to automate the process, but thisprocedure will highlight all the problems inherent inhistorical research. Duplication of names andmultiple entries will throw the system into confusion.The further back one researches, the more vague anduncertain is the spelling. The data table links needto be monitored very closely to ensure that the logicof the computer is not confounded by the vagariesof historical data.

Practical issues

Hopefully the points above will have provided an

Robert Bell Wheler. A local lawyer and author,always keen to promote the town. He climbedover his fellow passengers to sit on the bows ofthe first boat to enter the Avon from the canaland thus be the first person to unite canal and

river (obviously the workmen building the lockdidn’t count!). This was at tea-time on 24 June1816. We need to remember the human story

behind what are apparently dry and dull statistics. (By permission of Shakespeare Birthplace Trust

Records Office)

357

introduction to the value of databases in historicalresearch. There are several practical points that needto be covered before I close. Until one becomesfamiliar with database programming the process isremarkably frustrating and perseverance is essential.There are a variety of programs available, the mostcommon of which is Microsoft Access. Lotus andCorel also make them, and they are substantiallycheaper to buy; there are also plenty appearing asfree offers with computer magazines. Cheaperversions of databases store their information in aformat that only they can understand; a process thatdefeats our object of making the data accessible toany researcher. The file sharing capability of Micro-soft products is the chief reason for their success;although this advantage has been largely eroded bytheir competitors. Microsoft Access can provide acommon format whereby database files can be storedon a web site, accessible to any researcher. The filesare fairly small and a typical personal web-site wouldbe able to store virtually all the canal shareholderlists.

Data entry is a time consuming task. Most databaseprograms provide the facility to be able to enterinformation via forms rather than wading around atable. This may not be relevant to experienced users,but if you are planning to get someone else to do thiswork it is very helpful. When all is complete thework becomes very worthwhile; not only can onestore large amounts of data in an accessible format,but one can include extra items such as portraits orlinks to other archives. Once complete a databasecan then be interrogated, and this list of questions isas wide as the researcher’s imagination. How manysurgeons invested in the canal? How many of thetown’s surgeons? Why did a Stratford surgeon investin the Warwick canal but not the Stratford? Thecapital subscribed by the local Anglican clergy isnearly equal to that of the aristocracy for the StratfordCanal, but is this true for canals built in regions thatwere predominantly Low Church? Can we see a shiftin the social pattern of investment between the firstgeneration of canals and the last? For anyone con-

templating writing up their researches a commonformat database will allow their peers to gain a moredetailed appreciation of the research and be able tofurther their own researches as well. Currently thedissemination of such data-tables still has to rely onhard copies contained within other historical works.7

If each person researching their favourite canalcompiles a data-table of the shareholders and anyother relevant information, and some worthy insti-tution (RCHS perhaps) hosts a web site to store thesetables, our understanding of a vital era of the indus-

The Reverend Davenport. Analysis of the Strat-ford shareholders shows that the clergy werestrongly represented in the venture. Reverend

Davenport also served on the Committee.

(By permission of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Records Office)

trial revolution would be utterly transformed.

Notes

1. R G Collingwood, The Idea of History, 1946

2 Records of the Stratford upon Avon Canal; PublicRecord Office, RAIL 875

3 C Hadfield, Waterways to Stratford, 19644 John Tosh, The Pursuit of History, 2nd edition, 19915 Records of the Worcester & Birmingham Canal;

358

Some time during 1943, aged 10, I walked up theKennet & Avon Canal towpath at Devizes to justbeyond Brickham Bridge to see the building of whatis known as the pumphouse on the north bank of thecanal. I have since read that W E Chivers of Devizesbuilt many wartime structures along the canal usingbarges to transport materials but this builder laid atemporary railway along the canal bank so thatexcavated material could be taken away by road atBrickham Bridge and materials for concrete, bricks,etc delivered to site. The builders pushed small, side-tipping wagons along the track to give one small boy,at least, hours of free, open air entertainment.

Although I was quite unaware at the time, this wasnot the first temporary railway to be laid alongsidethe canal at Devizes, but I had to wait nearly thirtyyears before I could read Ken Clew’s book on theKennet & Avon to learn about John Rennie’s CaenHill horse railway.

The construction of the horse railway

The Kennet & Avon had been started under JohnRennie’s direction in October 1794 at both Bradfordand Newbury. Capital became increasingly difficultto raise and Ken Clew relates how the Kennet & Avoncommittee ordered that no new work should com-mence from March 1799 ‘other than the constructionof a railroad from Foxhangers, at the foot of CaenHill, to Devizes to link that town with the canal,pending the completion of the Caen Hill locks’. The1803 report to Kennet & Avon shareholders statedthat the canal was open from Bath to Foxhangersfrom which point a ‘double track iron railway onwooden sleepers linked the canal with Devizes, thewagons on the railway being horse drawn’.

This railway was one and a half miles long andextended from the pound below the bridge whichcarries the Rowde to Potterne road at Upper Fox-hangers to Devizes. When the canal was routed viaDevizes the line of the cut was kept outside the townboundary. The canal company had given Devizesthe right to build a wharf to serve the town. Landwas acquired for the canal and wharf by the Round-way Severalty Act, a kind of early compulsory

The Caen Hill Horse Railway

By Bill Crosbie-Hill

purchase arrangement. The Corporation of Devizesfinding they could not afford to build themselves,then leased the site to a wharf company, what weshould call a ‘PFI scheme’! The present wharfbuildings which now incorporate the shop andmuseum terminate their south end against the oldborough boundary. This requirement to keep thewharf outside Devizes explains the curve above Lock49 which is gradually corrected by a reverse curveabove Lock 50. The dead straight line east of Fox-hangers is similarly broken by a curve above Lock47 to keep the cut and railway outside the fence ofthe Old Deer Park. If we start at the wharf, the railwaywas level to Lock 50 and level between locks downto Lock 44 with short stretches of steep gradient atthe lower end of each lock. From Lock 44 to thepound below 29 the line dropped continuously at agradient of 192 feet per mile, or 1 in 27. Threetunnels were constructed either before or in associa-tion with adjacent over-bridges.

The Caen Hill horse railway was not completedby the time the Kennet & Avon was navigable fromBath to Foxhangers on 1 May 1801, the track beinglaid in late 1802, but there was no further progressto report on the canal by 1803. Rennie anticipatedthe delay in building the Caen Hill locks when heincluded the railway in his scheme. What he couldnot have foreseen was the lengthy hiatus in canalworks and the delay in constructing the canal fromNewbury through to Devizes. Only from 1806 wasthe railway useful in transhipping goods from thewest for carrying to and from Wilcot. The long poundfrom Devizes was competed before the WoottonRivers flight and was kept sufficiently full for navi-gation by windmills strategically placed along theVale of Pewsey. In 1807 it was reported to share-holders that work had actually started on the CaenHill locks, so for nearly five years the railway ranthrough open fields for much of its length.

The canal was navigable from Newbury and theThames to Devizes in January 1810 and the CaenHill flight finally opened to Devizes in December1810. The horse railway operated for a full eightyears but only for the final eleven months was it aland link on a true two-way navigation from Londonto Bath and, from 10 November 1810, to Bristol.

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A description of the horse railway

What was the railway like? The 1884 OrdnanceSurvey map published to a scale of 1:2500 showsthe course of the railway as parallel dotted lines. Thecourse so indicated is a trackway 8ft wide, not thatof a towpath which would have been shown as asingle broken line. When I learnt land surveying, over50 years ago, I found once a linear item was iden-tified it was not always necessary to measure andplot its position along the entire length if by eye itscourse and width did not appear to vary. Even so,although abandoned in 1810, the imprint of the wholerailway was clearly visible to the surveyors 74 yearslater.

When I first heard about the horse railway, I imag-ined it to have been double track but reduced fromtwo tracks to single track through the tunnels whichare quite short and any attempts at passing inside atunnel could easily have been avoided. The 1884survey makes me think the railway was single trackthroughout, probably built to a 3ft 6in gauge. A pass-ing place just above the site of Lock 44 (ST988615)would have given good visibility right down to theterminus at Foxhangers.

John Rennie’s reports on schemes which were

never built may shed some light on the constructionof the railway. On 13 December 1802, he reportedon a proposal to build an iron railway from LondonDocks to Paddington comparing the economics ofthe railway with an alternative canal, or a canal withiron railways on each bank. Rennie’s method of tram-road construction was to use 3ft 0in long iron platerails weighing 60 lb each, fixed to stone blocks laidon stones with a gravel surface for the horses. Therewere no cross-ties or sleepers to prevent gauge spreadand when Rennie talked about a ‘double cast ironrailway’ he meant what we would call a single trackrailway. Rennie compared two types of rail in generaluse: the flanched (or flanged) rail for wagons withround edge wheels and the circular top rail for wagonswith grooved wheels. He favoured the former asstones falling from wagons or disturbed from thetrack bed could become wedged in grooved wheelsbut would be thrown off by flanged rails.

We may, therefore, assume flanged rails 3ft 0inlong laid on timber sleepers at Caen Hill. The railswere obtained from Barnes of Merthyr Tydfil, who,in 1802, was also making rails for the MerthyrTramroad, the first line to use a steam locomotive. Ithink sleepers were preferred to blocks as this was atemporary line, the formation being used as a towpath

360

as soon as the track was lifted.Rennie also considered the likely traffic and gradi-

ents when recommending the size of wagon. For theLondon Iron Railway he envisaged one horse pullingthree wagons each carrying two tons. The horse coulddrag this load on a gradient of ‘1/

13 of an inch per

yard’, or 1 in 460, for an eight hour day at an averagespeed of 2 mph inclusive of the ‘normal stops’.

Rennie’s report, dated 18 April 1801, on theproposed Caldon Low Tramway along the ChurnetValley in Staffordshire, described a tramroad inseveral sections between chain operated inclinedplanes to take limestone down to the main line canaland the potteries. A line 1,914 yards long from thequarry could be worked by a single horse taking tenwagons, each wagon carrying 1½ tons. So on shortstretches a horse could pull a heavier load and Rennieseemed always to have favoured the use of smallwagons. The Caen Hill line was short but half of itslength climbed steeply.

I imagine that at Caen Hill five or six wagons in atrain would be hauled by a horse yoked and chainedto a coupling on the leading wagon. When reachingthe end of the line, the horse would be detached,walked around and coupled at the other end of thetrain. The horses walked on the sleepers and gravelbetween the sleepers.

I think two trains only would suffice with horsesdeployed as follows. A continuous gradient of 1 in27 for more than five furlongs is hard work for onehorse even with the advantage of iron wheels on iron

rails. A second horse could have been added up tothe passing place at Lock 44 where it would havebeen detached to await tying on to a descending trainback to Foxhangers. Such horses were known as‘cock horses’ and would have been a common sighton road transport up Caen Hill or Dunkirk Hill intoDevizes. A second horse would also have addeduseful braking power when descending fully laden.I expect all the horses were stabled at Devizes Wharf.

Barges would have been unloaded, predominantlyat Foxhangers only until 1806, the coal or stone beingplaced by grab into the wagons which would beparked on the line. As the boats carried 60 tons ofcargo, 30 two-ton wagons might be needed to dis-patch a full load, perhaps six trips per barge. As thewharfing facilities at Foxhangers were not large, Idoubt if more than one barge was in port for unload-ing at any one time. Periods of activity might befollowed by longer spells of quietness. I have oftenwondered why the railway was carried west of thePotterne to Rowde road bridge, and why the thirdtunnel? Why not load and unload in the pound aboveLock 28 which was built to give access to the windinghole necessary to serve boats turning to go back west.The original plan must have been a railway to serveas a link between completed sections of navigationso that boats could, say, unload above Lock 28 and,once turned, load for the westward voyage belowthe bridge. The delay in building the canal meantthat at least until 1806 loaded boats came from thewest as little in the way of goods produced byDevizes’ manufacturers were for export.

Foxhangers Tunnel from the west: This appears to be a separate structure up to road level with thebrick wall above built as one with the canal bridge of slightly later date. Was the tunnel started in

stonework and changed to brickwork at the level of the arch springing to economise?The canal bridge and the pier are in brickwork throughout.

361

What remains of the horse railway today?

The principal remains of this railway are the threetunnels. Foxhangers tunnel (ST977615) has wallsof rough stone and is vaulted in two rings of brick.The west portal is built to a present day height of 5ft6in above ground level in stonework. From the westit is easy to see that the railway tunnel is a separatestructure from the canal bridge. I suspect the tunnelwas built in 1799 to start the horse railway. Thewidth of this tunnel is only 7ft for westbound trainscarrying cargo for loading in the pound below thebridge. I expect Lock 28 and the winding hole werecomplete in time for navigation to commence in May1801. So if the tunnel was built before the bridge itwas not built much before. East of the tunnel thereis a stone retaining wall to the lock probably builtwith the Lock 28 early in 1801, even though the rail-way was not completed until the end of 1802.

The Prison Bridge tunnel under the Devizes to Bathturnpike road (ST994615) again has walls of roughstone and vaulted in two rings of brickwork. Fromthe west it is easy to see the tunnel as an earlier struc-ture completed long before the canal bridge which

could date from 1806. The good state of the brick-work pointing and general cleanliness of the masonrysince restoration gives the impression of a singleharmonious structure but the pier and change ofalignment in the western face between railway tunneland canal bridge clearly show otherwise. This tunnelis 8ft wide, the tunnel at Foxhangers probably foundto be a little cramped.

The Town Bridge tunnel (SU001618) is altogethera more splendid affair, lined and vaulted in stoneashlar in a style somewhat reminiscent to the SydneyGardens area in Bath. The tunnel mouth from thewest makes an architectural composition with thecanal bridge with which it was surely built as a singlestructure. The canal arch may have been boardedup for some years pending the resumption of canalwork at Devizes wharf. The tunnel appears to berestored to the original height, 6ft 6in to the archspringing and 7ft 6in to the crown of the arch. As aboy in the 1940s it seemed somewhat lower. Again,it is 8ft wide. Remember, the 1884 survey showed atrackway 8ft wide.

Other remains are scant, but there is a low stone

Prison Bridge Tunnel from the west. The portal is in stone, which is carried through the tunnel up to springing level. The arch of the canal bridge is brick throughout.

362

wall opposite Lock 37 (ST983615) which seems topass the southern edge of the railway. The stoneworkis similar to the rough stone tunnel linings. Beforethe locks were started here in 1807, the railway prob-ably lay in a straight and even cutting only openedout on its north edge for the canal. The even gradientof 1 in 27 makes no recognition of a series of stepsformed for the locks a few years later. The civil engi-neering involved considerable earth-works, whichpartly explains the time taken to build the railway.

What happened to the horse railway?

Charles Hadfied relates how Telford, writing in 1800,said that the tramroads, whether in conjunction withcanals or not, were a ‘useful contrivance’ which ‘incase of a change in the working of mines or manu-factures, the rails may be taken up and put down againin a new situation. at moderate expense’.

One solution to my question was, quite simply, totake the rails and sleepers and to use them as anothertemporary railway during canal constructionelsewhere. The problem with this is that all the othercomparable temporary tracks had already been dis-mantled by 1810. Shipment of railway materialsdown the canal to the North Somerset coalfield seemsa strong possibility as that enterprise already usedtramways — plates and blocks. I cannot believe thatso well designed a thing as the Caen Hill horserailway was scrapped for fences and railings back in1811.

One possible solution to this mystery lay close toDevizes Wharf. Back in 1942, I had a friend whoseparents rented a cottage in Belle Vue Terrace. Weused to explore the strip of woodland on LordRoundway’s estate, which we entered nearby. Icannot remember being told that this strip of treeswas the route of an old railway but, armed with MrsMerrett’s hand shovel for feeding the fire (the cottagehad neither electricity nor running water), I set outto clear the path through the trees to the abutmentsof an old bridge which used to span Dyehouse Lane.I think this task took half a day and I can still remem-ber the blister my endeavour raised at the base of myright thumb. It was my first attempt at manual labour,and for many years after, my only attempt! The pathcleared was so level as to appear graded and thesurvey bench marks indicate a level route. What ap-peared to us to be a ‘railway’ may, in fact, have beena railway. But who made it and why?

Thomas Estcourt, owner of Roundway Park in

1810, would have been familiar with the Caen HillHorse railway and how it worked. Knowing that itwould become available once the locks were com-pleted, he could have seen the use for a track on hisown estate. There would be rails and sleepers enoughto build a line from the top of Dunkirk Hill bend inthe Bath Road, on a level route to Roundway Parkentirely on his own land and, in the like of John Pearsea local army contractor, someone capable of layingthe track. In 1820 Thomas Estcourt and John Pearsewere the two members of Parliament for Devizes.John Pearse was mentioned by Ken Clew as beingnoted as the first user of the canal in 1798 betweenNewbury and Hungerford. The complete route ofthe line leaves the Bath Road just inside RoundwayPark alongside the right of way to Conscience Lanethen curves northeast over land later sold off to StPeter’s Vicarage over the bridge to Dyehouse Lane,inside the boundary fence of the Deer Park to reachthe house then known as Roundway Park, a distanceof a mile and a furlong.

Why might the owner of Roundway Park want sucha railway? Most visitors to Roundway in 1810 wouldhave come from Bath, then the most fashionable cityoutside London, or from Bristol. Guests arrivingcould miss the journey through Devizes, then nonetoo fragrant a place in summer, and of little con-sequence to city folks visiting the country. Trans-ferring from coach to a horse drawn conveyance onrails they could be whisked along through Belle Vueand Belvedere with outstanding views of the Round-way Downs and, of course, of the estate. What away to arrive! Did any other squire have such awonderful thing?

The ‘new’ railway was, of course, all of JohnRennie’s original design. The sleepers were perhaps6ft 0in long to carry a single track 3ft 6in gaugesufficient for a road coach sitting two-a-side drawnby a single liveried horse. This carriage would haveshafts at each end, those out of use being chained inthe vertical position. The horse would walk roundbefore guests boarded or as required.

The Caen Hill railway needed little transport fromits original location. ‘Curved’ sections would beadded or formed by jointing straight rails. Adaptation,as Telford says, ‘at a moderate expense’. I doubt ifballast was used for such loads at modest speed butgravel laid between the sleepers. In the event theamount of use the passenger only railway would havehad is open to question. If the line had remained inuse until 1841, when the Great Western Railway was

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opened from Bristol and Bath to Chippenham, a lessarduous road journey was available via Dunkirk Hill.In the event Roundway Park was sold to the Colstonfamily with strong Bristol connections sometime inthe 1840s, and in 1857 the Great Western Railwayopened their branch from Holt Junction to Devizes.Guests of Roundway Park would then travel by trainto be met at Devizes station by carriage for convey-ance over Park Bridge giving the merest glimpse ofthe Kennet & Avon, then up Quaker’s Walk toRoundway Park. With the sale of land in 1866 forSt Peter’s vicarage, the route of the old railway hadno outlet to Bath Road, but as a footpath would givea fine country walk for the Colston family and theirfriends. It may have been used to link RoundwayPark with the summer house.

What evidence do we have that such a railway everexisted at Roundway? The 1889 Ordnance Survey,based on the survey of 1885, shows levelling benchmarks, usually cut in masonry, at 420.0 on what weknew as the ‘summerhouse’ and 420.8 at the end ofthe parapet on the bridge over Dyehouse Lane,presumably on a brick panel. The 1923 revision ofthis map shows this bridge still standing. These levelsindicate the very level line we found in 1942 at whichtime the bridge abutments were protected by railingsand barbed wire. Reference to the map also showsanother bench mark 417.1 which must have been cutin a similar brick panel of a bridge which crossed

the old lane to Belvedere which was demolished fol-lowing the laying out of the cemetery in about 1880.All three bench marks lie on the route of what I taketo be the railway and they are the only benchmarkson the estate. Surely not a coincidence. The routeof the line keeping to the escarpment can be followedon the 1889 map right up to Roundway Park.

What evidence remains today? The abutments tothe old bridge in Dyehouse Lane (SU003620) appearto be early 19th century brickwork to a decorativedesign. They were built for a bridge 8ft wide andbridge span of 27ft between abutments. The bridgewas probably a single straight span of iron and timber(with the end panels in brick for the bench markposition to be selected) sufficient for a 3ft 6in gaugerailway, too substantial for a footpath, but too narrowfor a carriage drive which was usually 12ft wide.Most of the route is heavily overgrown but in oneplace it is possible to see indentations of old sleeperslaid without ballast. There is no sign of the stonepitching or other hardcore which could be evidenceof a carriage drive.

I have been unable to find any written evidence byway of record or any contemporary account that JohnRennie’s horse railway was dismantled and laid outin the nearby, almost adjacent, Roundway Park, sucha long forgotten enterprise to test the most ardent ofhistorians.

Notes and sources

This article is a revised and expanded version of one thatappeared in The Butty, the magazine of the Kennet & AvonCanal Society.I should like to express my thanks to Dr Michael Lewisfor his guidance on the early history of tramroads and inparticular the building of the Caen Hill railway.The photographs were taken by the author.

Sources used include:• Kenneth R Clew, The Kennet & Avon Canal, 1969• Charles Hadfield, British Canals: an illustrated

history, 1959• Nicholas Hammond, The Kennet & Avon Waterway:

the complete chart, 1969

• Cunningham, Some Annals of The Borough ofDevizes, volume 3

• Ordnance Survey 1889 Edition, Wiltshire sheetXXXIV

• Ordnance Survey 1923 Revision Edition, Wiltshiresheet XXXIV, part 14

• John Rennie’s reports on the London Iron Railwayand the Caldon Low Tramway; Institution of CivilEngineers

• Arthur Elton, ‘The Pre-History of Railways’,Proceedings of the Somerset Archaelogical & NaturalHistory Society, 1963

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James Morrison (1789–1857) has received scantattention from recent historians of the railway,although John A Francis, author of A history of theEnglish railway (1851), rightly credited him with thefirst attempt to legislate by means of a general billfor state intervention in the running of railways.1

William Galt in his Railway reform, first publishedin 1843 and reissued in 1865 to support the work ofthe Royal Commission on Railways, also creditedMorrison with the first attempt at legislation tocontrol railways.2 Galt gave evidence before theCommission whose report was published in 1867;his own ideas, if not derived from Morrison, were inagreement with them.

A later writer, Edward Cleveland Stevens, re-marked in 1915 on Morrison ‘having seen withremarkable prescience the chief problems that mustrise as the railway system extends’.3

In the course of his parliamentary career, Morrisonmade three attempts to increase the extent of stateregulation of railways, principally with regard tocharges. The first was a proposal made in 1836 that

in all Bills for Railways or other public works of thatdescription, it be made a condition, with a view tothe protection of the public interests which mightotherwise be seriously compromised, that thedividends be limited to a certain rate, or that powerbe reserved to Parliament of revising and fixing atthe end of every twenty years, the tolls chargeable onpassengers and goods conveyed. 4

It will be seen that, in the short term, the proposa1would involve a high level of state intervention bylimiting dividends and, after a period of years an evenmore thorough control approaching close to nation-alisation, by fixing charges.

Morrison’s background

What is perhaps surprising is that Morrison was nosocialist but a moderate Whig/Liberal. In fact, itseems that at the time, political colour gave no

‘Small Profits on a Large Trade’:James Morrison MP [part 1]

By Robert S Sephton

‘The surest mode of ensuring large profits on capital on railroads is to establish low charges;thus ... gaining a large aggregate return, in small profits upon a large trade.’

— James Morrison, House of Commons, 20 March 1845

indication of attitude to the subject.5

He was the son of an inn keeper in Middle Wallop(Hampshire) and became wealthy through his entre-preneurial skills: his estate was valued at over £3million on his death. He commenced work as a shopassistant to a London haberdasher, Joseph Todd, ofFore Street, London, and rose by his skill andenterprise to become a partner in the firm — assisted,no doubt, by marriage to his employer’s daughter.On Todd’s death he became joint owner of the firmof Morrison, Dillon & Co, of Foregate Street,Cripplegate. The firm benefited from restrictionson imported goods during the blockade of the Frenchwars. Later it developed a trade in silk, via France,and invested in the USA in textile goods and banking.

He first entered Parliament in 1830, representingSt Ives and then Ipswich (1832–37) and the InvernessBurghs from 1840 until his retirement to BasildonPark in Berkshire — one of the several houses hepurchased — on health grounds in 1847.

The only shares Morrison bought in a Britishrailway were in the unsuccessful Perth, Nairn andInverness line in 1846. Even these were purchasedonly because he had been criticised for chairing ameeting at Basingstoke in 1836 to promote a SouthWestern line from Exeter to join the Southampton toLondon Railway without being a shareholder. Thisline was also rejected. But he invested in USArailways including one linking Philadelphia, Wil-mington and Baltimore and, with Sir John Easthope,in the Paris to Rouen line. The reason for his reluc-tance to invest in railways may have been that he didnot want to add to the number of members of bothhouses who had a financial interest in them and whosevotes could be based on self-interest.

1836 speech and proposals

Morrison owed much of his success in business tofollowing a principle of being satisfied with small

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profits because they would bring quick returns froma greater number of cash-ready customers. It is notknown whether he ever entertained the idea that sucha policy could be applied directly to the developmentof the railways in Great Britain. The difference wasthat in most businesses his method benefited thepublic by keeping charges low while driving off anycompetitors and compelling any newcomers toundercut him, if they could. But, in a long andimpressive speech which introduced his 1836proposals, he explained why this was neitheradvisable nor practicable.7

Building competing lines, he said, would be a wasteof capital on a large scale and, as other contempo-raries also pointed out when alarmed by the firstrailway mania of 1835–37, the amount of capitalrequired for railways was so great that there wasconcern that other businesses, from the small localshop to the large factory, were suffering because theirowners, hoping to get a high return, were riskingmoney in promoting railways that often were neverbuilt. They were also occupying much of the labourof the country, both skilled and unskilled, and affectedthe business of the country in many surprising ways.(F S Williams stated that at the height of the secondrailway mania in 1846, for example, it was said thatit was difficult to find even an engraver who was notfully occupied producing railway scrip.8)

The railway that first obtained legislation for thebest route would have the advantage over anypossible rival and, even if competing lines were built,they would be likely to reach agreement to maintainfares and freight charges. For example, he said, noline was likely to be built to compete with theLiverpool & Manchester Railway.

Railway companies would inevitably emerge asmonopolies. Further, there would no longer be anycompetition from alternative forms of transport sinceroads and canals would be easily superseded byrailways. The economic prosperity of the countrydepended on cheap transport which wou1d not beavailable if the monopolies were allowed completefreedom over charges. As evidence of what couldhappen, he instanced the excessive profits beingmade by some of the canal companies which raisedthe price to the consumer of such commodities ascoal.

Morrison’s solution was for Parliament to reserveto itself the right to make periodic reviews of thecharges being made in order that the consumer couldbenefit from lower fares as well as the capitalist from

high dividends. His philosophy of ‘small profits andquick returns’ would then be seen to be operating inthat more use would be made of the railways for bothfreight and passengers. Of course, he had a directinterest himself in transport costs since his own busi-ness involved moving goods around the country andtravelling to talk to customers; but he was also con-scious of the importance of railways in providingthe working man with the opportunity for travel forpleasure and education.

His business affairs led him to travel Europe andthe USA and to hold up as a possible model therailway linking Boston and Providence which hadbeen built out of private capital but the dividendswere restricted to 10% — a generous allowance andfar more than most British railways were paying.After 21 years the railway would become the propertyof the state with shareholders being compensated forany years in which the dividends had fallen below10%.

However, not even small step towards this was tobe taken until, ironically, the Tories were in power.One of those initially opposed to such legislation wasRobert Peel although he was to change his views: in1836 he presented a petition against Morrison’sproposals on behalf of the Birmingham & DerbyJunction Railway which went through his Tamworthconstituency. Morrison had the support of severalother Liberals and, although his party was in power(under Lord Melbourne), he was persuaded to with-draw his Bill having got the feel of the House thatthe Government might introduce something alongsimilar lines.

But Morrison, as an entrepreneur himself, mayhave had some doubts over his approach to theproblem in attempting to combine private investmentwith state control. As Francis reported, the proposalwas not followed up because ‘doubts were enter-tained in high quarters as to advisableness of inter-fering with new undertakings, by which capitalistsmight be deterred from embarking in them; and hecould look for no support where support wasnecessary to success’.9

1840–44

Morrison was out of Parliament from 1837 unti11840. But Peel must have been persuaded that somecontrol over railways was needed and in 1839(although still in opposition), chaired a selectcommittee to investigate all aspects of the railways

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including financial, competition and labour prob-lems.10 Its reports accepted that monopoly of routeswas inevitable and that it was important that the stateshould exercise some control over them to as to‘secure the public as far as possible from any abusewhich might arise from irresponsible authority’. Itled to the Railway Regulation Act of 1840 whichestablished the Railway Department of the Board ofTrade. The following year there was another selectCommittee on Railway Communication whichpresented five reports during the year.11

The Tories came into power in 1841 and in 1844yet another Select Committee on Railways producedfive reports — the last included the ‘Effect ofRailways on the Poorer Classes’, one of the PoorLaw Commissioners papers.12 They were followedby Gladstone’s Act of 1844, introduced when he wasPresident of the Board of Trade and which attemptedto impose some central control over railways charges.

But the railway directors were now becomingorganised to resist any changes affecting theirinterests and, under pressure from them, Peel andGladstone had dropped nearly half of the 48 measuresin the bill intended ‘to attach certain conditions tothe construction of future railways’. The state wouldhave the power to purchase a railway only after 21years and not 15 as originally proposed; and thiswould apply only to those built after 1845. Tollswould be revised only if they exceeded an averageof 10% over three years. However, some cheaperfares were introduced, including those for ‘Parlia-mentary trains’. Although it was a step in the rightdirection, Gladstone himself was disappointed withthe outcome. Morrison, back in Parliament as a mem-ber of the opposition, criticised the Government forits timidity in watering down the proposed legislation.It would have been better for both the proprietorsand the public if such measures as Gladstoneproposed had been taken some years ago. But nowthe only way in which the public would be benefitedwould be by competition which would be harmful toexisting lines. He anticipated continued improve-ments in the construction of railways and Brunel musthave been interested in his comment that he ‘had greatfaith in the atmospheric principle supersedinglocomotives’.13

1845 speech and proposals

Morrison continued to press for more state interven-tion and, prompted by the onset of another outbreak

of railway mania, in which many of the linespromoted were never built, made another long speechon 20 March 1845 reiterating the importance ofrailways to the manufacturer, the trader and thefarmer and for the general prosperity of the country.14

He also dwelt again on the value of travel for pleas-ure, in helping different communities to get to knoweach other and in overcoming prejudices. He washappy to observe that, following the introduction ofthe third class penny per mile rate, not only were thenumbers of passengers augmented but the revenuesof the companies were increased. At the same timehe complained of the treatment of third class passen-gers who were restricted to trains ill-suited to theirneeds and making frequent stops. There should betwo cheap trains per day on each line without theneed to run separate trains. He conceded that thosewho had taken the financial risks in the early railwaysdeserved to be adequately rewarded; but the riskscould now be foreseen more easily. There were alsobenefits arising from improved construction methodsfor track and rolling stock from which users as wellas shareholders ought to benefit in the way of cheapertransport. He now thought 7% was an adequate returnfor shareholders.

He recalled that charges were originally fixed onthe supposition that the railway companies wouldonly lay down the tracks and that it would be open toanyone to use them on payment of a toll, as was thecase with the canals. The public were beginning tounderstand the system as it had developed in givingthe companies a monopoly of the use of the railways.

Having learnt from his experience of 1836, hemoved a number of proposals which dealt only withrailway charges and did not imply the extensive stateintervention of his earlier proposal. In the course ofmoving them, he used the argument quoted at thehead of this article, that small profits produced quickreturns, hoping to show that the kind of control heproposed was still compatible with good dividends.He proposed that:1 Parliament should sanction the best and safest

accommodation at the lowest rate.2 Since previous attempts to fix charges had proved

ineffective, in future, maximum charges should befixed in railway bills.

3 Every committee for a bill should present a tableof fees and charges which should be the lowest togive a fair return.

4 Competing projects should state their maximumcharges.

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Unfortunately his speech was made to an almostempty House in the evening of the last day beforethe adjournment for the Easter vacation. Perhapsthis was the only opportunity he had been able toseize. He got some support from Lord Granville ofSomerset but who admitted that there was clearly nochance of even a debate during the present session.Peel made a long but ambiguous speech saying that,before sanctioning maximum charges, the mattershould be considered more fully. There was someopposition from a member who argued that, ifmaximum charges were to be laid down, the share-holders should be guaranteed a minimum dividend.

1846 speech and proposals

The following year, he was successful in obtainingthe appointment of a Select Committee on RailwaysActs Enactments which came to be referred to as the‘Morrison Committee’.15 He had thought his casethrough more thoroughly in the hope of gaining addi-tional support and was now presenting the fosteringof enterprise as something which should be preservedat the same time as protecting the interests of thepublic. In this way he was hoping to gain the supportof both providers and users of the service.

He moved the appointment of a select committee:to consider whether, without discouraging legitimateenterprise, conditions may not be embodied inRailway Acts better fitted then those hitherto inserted

in them to promote and secure the interests of thepublic.

Such a committee, he hoped, would show that asystem of cheap fares as observed by him in othercountries, Belgium in particular, had been the mostadvantageous to the public. He had found that, inthis country, rates fixed for passengers varied from1d to 4d per mile. It was desirable that the stateshould obtain control of the more expensive lines assoon as possible. Incidentally, he optimistically as-sumed that railways taken over by the state and leasedout would provide the Exchequer with a regularsource of income:

If we adopt the system of leases which have been sosuccessfully introduced into France, every railwaywould have the effect of a conversion of so much ofour national debt into annuities terminable with theexpiration of the leases, without sacrifice of oneshilling by the state.

Needless to say, George Hudson, MP for Sunder-land, was opposed to the idea, saying that Gladstone’sAct had gone as far as desirable in the direction ofcontrolling fares. In spite of these objections, theSelect Committee was set up under Morrison but itincluded Hudson who was thus able to questionwitnesses as well as give evidence. The proceedingsincluded several exchanges between Hudson and thechairman, although the former was only one of manywitnesses with a financial interest in the railways andanxious to preserve the status quo.16

Notes and references

1. J A Francis, A history of the English railway: its socialrelations and revelations 1820–45, 1851, Book I, 274

2. William Galt, Railway reform: its importance andpracticability, second edition, 1865

3. E C Stevens, English railways: their development andtheir relation to the state, 1915, 66

4. Hansard, Parliamentary debates, 17 May 18365. Soon after Morrison made his proposal in the

Commons, the Tory Duke of Wellington, possiblyinfluenced by Morrison’s speech, opposed in theLords the third reading of the bill for the Birmingham,Bristol & Thames Railway, saying that ‘some planought to be devised in order to bring these railwaysunder supervision of Parliament at some futureperiod’. He hoped that railways would be successfulbut there should be no monopolies.

6. Geoffrey Alderman, Railway interest, 1973, 25–6

7. Hansard, 17 May 18368. F S Williams, Our iron roads, second edn, 1883, 529. J A Francis, op cit, Book II, 27910. State of communication by railway, Reports of Select

Committee, 1839 (222) and (517) x11. Reports of Select Committee, 1840 (50), (92), (299),

(437), and (474) x12. Reports of Select Committee, 1844 (37), (79), (166),

(283) and (318) xi13. Hansard, 22 July 1844; J A Francis, op cit, Book II,

120–414. Hansard, 20 March 184515. Hansard, 19 March 184616. E C Stevens, op cit, 41ff, gives some details of the

exchanges between Hudson and Morrison.

[Part 2 will be published in the next issue of the Journal.]

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The Tutbury

By Hugh

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The honourable keeper of Bertram Baxter’stramroad collection of photographs is in thehabit of looking through items on display inantique shops which might produce somethingof interest to transport historians.

A recent case concerns a visit to the littlevillage of Shere in Surrey where was displayedthis print by H Warren RA. The print ‘TutburyCastle’ shows the results of slighting carriedout by Oliver Cromwell’s men after the CivilWar and thus makes it possible to locate thescene as being on the Staffordshire–Derbyshireborder between Uttoxeter and Burton on Trent.

Of more importance is the bridge in theforeground over the river Dove and the strangelooking horse-drawn vehicle thereon.

The Chairman of the Tramroad Group — DrMichael Lewis — has kindly done someresearch on the matter and found that thistramroad was about a third of a mile long run-ning between Tutbury cotton mill and Tutburystation on the North Staffordshire Railway. Atbest it had a forty year life from 1848 to 1888and would seem to be a rare example of a horse-drawn tramroad being used for the conveyanceof cotton. The horse is finding his task easy asthe towline is slack. As to gauge this isuncertain, but after 1890 the line was relaid forheavier traffic to permit use of locomotives asthe mill was converted to dealing with gypsum.

For further reading see Allan C Baker’sIndustrial Locomotives of North Staffordshire,published by the Industrial Railway Society in1997.

The artist was probably H Clifford Warren, who isknown to have been active during the period 1860–85. Although London based, he depicted a numberof Dovedale scenes in 1872–73, which is consistentwith the date for the tramroad.[Based, with thanks, on information provided by theRoyal Academy of Arts]

y Tramroad

Compton

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Was Gilbert’s Railway Song Inspired bythe Third Duke of Sutherland?

By Alan A Jackson

Philip Scowcroft’s article ‘Music and Railways’ in the March Journal referred to a song about a railway director in the first G&S collaboration

Thespis; or, The Gods Grown Old, the very firstcollaboration between (Sir) William Gilbert and (Sir)Arthur Sullivan, was staged by John Hollingshead,manager/producer at the original Gaiety Theatre inthe Strand, London, in 1871–72. It was a light-hearted Christmas season entertainment based on thesupposition that the bored Olympian Gods hadagreed to exchange places with a troupe of actors.Mercury, the Olympian messenger boy, played bythe diminutive Nellie Farren displaying her legs intights, is left behind in charge but fails to prevent theThespians from making a complete mess of things.

The part of Thespis, the actor-manager, replacingZeus, was given to the comedian J L Toole. At onepoint Nicemis (Constance Loseby) takes his armaffectionately, having announced she intends toconsole herself with the society of her manager. Hisresponse is one of alarm: ‘... this won’t do, you know— I can’t allow it — at least before my company’and then asks, ‘Don’t you know the story of thegentleman who undermined his influence by associ-ating with his inferiors?’. All the company exceptPreposteros agree they do but Thespis decides Pre-posteros shall hear it and begins to sing:

I once knew a chap who discharged a functionOn the North South East West Diddlesex Junction,He was conspicuous exceeding,For his affable ways and easy breeding.Although a Chairman of Directors,He was hand in glove with the ticket inspectors,He tipped the guards with bran-new fivers,And sang little songs to the engine drivers.Chorus:’Twas told to (me) (him), with great compunctionBy one who had discharged with unction,A Chairman of Directors’ function,On the North South East West Diddlesex Junction,Fol diddle, lol diddle, lol lol lay.Each Christmas Day he gave each stokerA silver shovel and a golden poker.He’d button-hole flowers for the ticket sorters,And rich Bath-buns for the outside porters.He’d mount the clerks on his first-class hunters,

And he built little villas for the roadside shunters,And if any were fond of pigeon shooting,He’d ask then down to his place at Tooting.Chorus ’Twas told etc.In course of time there spread a rumourThat he did all this from a sense of humour,So instead of signalling and stoking,They gave themselves up to a course of joking,Whenever they knew that he was riding,They shunted his train on a lonely siding,Or stopped all night in the middle of a tunnel,On a plea that the boiler was a-coming through thefunnel.Chorus ’Twas told etc.If he wished to go to Perth or Stirling,His train through several counties whirling,Would set him down in a fit of larking,At four a.m. in the wilds of Barking.This pleased his whim and seemed to strike it,But the general Public did not like it,The receipts fell after a few repeatings,And he got it hot at the annual meetings.Chorus ’Twas told etc.He followed out his whim with vigour,The shares went down to a nominal figure,These are the sad results proceedingFrom his affable ways and easy breeding!The line, with its rails and guards and porters,Was sold for a song to marine store dealers,The shareholders are all in the work’us,And he sells pipe-lights in the Regent Circus.Chorus ’Twas told etc.

Sullivan’s piano score for this is lost, although it isknown that the accompaniment included whistles,gongs, bells and the sound of escaping steam! Atthe time, the British railway system was still expand-ing and railways were certainly a topical subject1,but also topical in 1870–71 were the unusual activ-ities of the third Duke of Sutherland, George Gran-ville William Leveson Gower KG (1828–92) who,uniquely among the aristocracy of the period, was aqualified locomotive fitter and driver and from May1865 a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers.He had trained at Wolverton, serving as a pupil under

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J E McConnell, Locomotive Superintendent of theSouthern Division of the London & North WesternRailway, a company of which he became a directorin 18522.

As a railway enthusiast with ample means, techni-cal knowledge and practical engineering ability, theDuke was able to indulge his interest by financing,promoting and at times personally working trains onhis very own 17¼ mile railway between Golspie and

Holmesdale which formed part of the national net-work3. He ensured the line included an owner-driverlocomotive with carriages and a private station andengine shed near his Dunrobin castle. This wasopened partially in late 1870 and throughout on 19June 1871. One of the navvies building it is said tohave spoken of him as ‘a real dook ... a-driving hisown engine on his own railway and a-burning hisown blessed coals’.4

It is interesting to speculate whetherGilbert’s jolly libretto, written just afterthe Duke’s Golspie–Holmesdale railwaywas opened5 was in any sense suggestedby reading or gossip about his railwayactivities, behaviour which must haveseemed somewhat eccentric to theVictorian middle class if not to hisaristocratic contemporaries. In the socialclimate of the time it was probablydeemed prudent that any reference madefor purposes of theatrical entertainmentwould best be disguised and tweaked butthe mention of ‘Perth or Stirling’ may havehad more significance than simplyproviding a convenient rhyme. The timingis certainly suggestive of some correla-tion.

Notes and References

I am indebted to my friend Geoffrey Wilson, one timeeditor of Railway World, for drawing my attention to thesong.Thanks are given to Lord Strathnaver for providing the

picture of the Third Duke.

1. Railway mileage was growing steadily year by yearin the 1860s and 1870s but there was a statistical blipin the Board of Trade returns in 1871 ‘owing to anew method of collecting the figures’. See the tableat p276, J Simmons, The Railway in England & Wales,1830–1914, 1978.

2. J D Marshall, A Biographical Dictionary of RailwayEngineers, 1978

3. The Sutherland Railway, authorised in 1865 to builda line between Bonar Bridge (now Ardgay) and Broraand partially financed by the Duke of Sutherland,reached only as far as Golspie (opened on 13 April1868) before funds ran out. The Duke then offeredto build at his own expense northwards through Dun-robin and Brora as far as Holmesdale. Towards the

end of 1870, sufficient progress had been made toallow him to use his own locomotive and carriageson the as yet isolated Dunrobin–Gattymore section.The whole line, then known as the Duke of Suther-land’s Railway, was opened on 19 June 1871 andworked by the Highland Railway, although the Dukecontinued to use his own locomotive and coaches ashe required. His loco did not venture south of Inver-ness, where his private coach would be attached to aregular working. The line eventually became an inte-gral part of the Highland on 28 July 1884.

4. J Thomas & D Turnock, A Regional History of theRailways of Great Britain, volume 15: North ofScotland, 1989, 247, source not given.

5. Gilbert astutely arranged for his text to be printed inadvance, for sale in the theatre, and the wording givenhere is taken from this. Stage direction and what wasspoken or sung in the theatre was however at thistime beyond his control — see M Stewart, ‘Thespis’,Gilbert & Sullivan News, Spring 2002.

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It is now more than 25 years since I began for theJournal my ongoing survey of ‘Railways andDetective Fiction’. In that first article1 and in someof its successors I made (rather perfunctory)references to canals and waterways in relation tofictional crime; in that sphere there are many fewerexamples but, especially in more recent years, thereare a not inconsiderable number of them. Writingthis paper is an attempt to draw these together.

In doing so I confine myself to British authors,though crime writers from other countries have notignored canals. One thinks of that prolific Belgian,Georges Simenon, creator of Inspector Maigret, andthere are doubtless many American examples.

Not that British authors in that direction haveconfined themselves to the British Isles and I havethree examples of this. In that classic Secret Servicenovel The Riddle of the Sands (1903) by ErskineChilders, two amateur yachtsmen (Childers himselfsailed yachts) foil a German plot to invade Englandfrom Friesland by conveying troops in canal lighterstowed by steam tugs. A number of short streams,appropriately widened, improved and canalised,leading back from the coast and fed by a railwayloop, were to provide the means of assembling thelighters and their tugs. Earlier in the book the twoheroes travel along the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal fromHoltenau to Brunsbuttel:

Broad and straight, massively embanked, lit byelectricity at night till it is lighter than many a greatLondon street, traversed by great war vessels, richmerchantmen and humble coasters alike, it is a symbolof the new and mighty force which ... is thrusting the[German] Empire irresistibly forward to the goal ofmaritime greatness.

That was in around 1900; the Kiel Canal has beenimproved several times since, though the GermanEmpire has long since disappeared and Germanynever quite realised ‘maritime greatness’.

Turning to French canals, we can cite FreemanWills Crofts’ The Pit-Prop Syndicate (1922), inwhich a proposed trip by motor-launch fromBordeaux via the river Garonne and the Canal duMidi to the Mediterranean is a ‘cover story’ for twoyoung adventurers (strongly reminiscent of Childers’duo and the likeness may not have been coincidental)

Canals And Waterways in British Crime Fiction

By Philip L Scowcroft

who wish to explore a suspected smuggling operationbased on the river Lesque, near Bordeaux. Its ownersays of the launch that it will ‘go down any of theFrench canals’, though in the event it is not put tothat test.

Much more recently, in Michael Bond, MonsieurPamplemousse Afloat (1998), the ex-SuretéInspector Pamplemousse, now an inspector for agood food guide and his intelligent bloodhound,Pommes Frites (also ex-Sureté) cruise along theCanal de Bourgogne near Dijon, coping along theway with some ill-assorted passengers, including twowomen — one British, one American — who try tolure Pamplemousse into compromising situations,with the fact that the boat sports a notice ‘chiensinterdits’ and, more seriously, with murder. Unfortu-nately there is little canal travel.

Discounting the canal story ‘Three Miles Up’2 asa supernatural, rather than a detective, tale, theearliest British detective (as against Secret Service)story is John Remenham, The Canal Mystery (1928).However if the river Thames is to be counted — andit has always been, and remains, a major navigablewaterway — we can list an impressive array of crimenovels, ranging back to Charles Dickens’ GreatExpectations (1861) and, especially, Our MutualFriend (1865) and also including Arthur ConanDoyle, The Sign of [the] Four (1890), Ronald Knox,The Footsteps at the Lock (1928), Josephine Bell,The Port of London Murders (1938), Peter Lovesey,Swing, Swing Together (1976), J R L Anderson,Death on the Thames (1972) and Death in the City(1976), and Michael Gilbert, The Body of a Girl(1972) and Death of a Favourite Girl (1980: US title,The Killing of Katie Steelstock), which between them(and there are others) cover the whole stretch of thenavigable Thames and around 120 years in publi-cation dates. But a full discussion of them is perhapsbest reserved for a paper devoted to the Thames (orIsis, as it is called through Oxford). Similar sub-studies might be devoted to crime on the Mersey orSevern, for instance.

The Grand Union Canal, which linked the Thamesin Central London to the Midlands, has been noticedseveral times in British detective fiction, briefly in

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Margery Allingham’s More Work for the Undertaker(1948) and Hide My Eyes (1958) and, in much greaterdetail, in Allingham’s Death of a Ghost (1934), whichis largely set adjacent to the canal basin north ofPaddington station loosely known as Little Venice.Allingham, creator of Albert Campion, died in 1966,but very much still alive is Harry Keating, who livesnear the Grand Union’s (once disused, now refur-bished) London terminus and who describes it thusin The Hard Detective (2000):

[Superintendent] Harriet [Martens] went pacing thecanal’s black footpath ... The walls of the long-deserted warehouse at her side glistened with so muchdamp that they seemed to be made as much of wateras of brick. The sluggish green canal itself ... wasgiving off a yet sharper odour, metallic and clinging.

A generation previously, Leslie Thomas, in Dan-gerous Davies, The Last Detective (1976), one of aseries of novels about ‘Dangerous’ (now televisedon ITV), described the Grand Union thus:

Its greenish, unmoving water divided the wholeregion, its modest but still ornate bridges pinned thebanks together.

Leo McNair’s Death in Little Venice (2001) is arecent crime novel to feature the Grand Union inLondon and in Northamptonshire.

The Regent’s Canal, an extension of the GrandUnion, figures in Dead Image (2000) by theappropriately named Joan Lock. The date of this isOctober 1874; a flotilla of narrow boats is travellingpeacefully along the canal when the calm is shatteredby an explosion which wrecks one of the boats. Oninvestigation, four bodies are found, three crewmenand a woman who has died, not from the explosionbut from stab wounds. Two policemen from GreatScotland Yard (no New Scotland Yard then)investigate. This is an attractive mystery withcarefully researched period canal (and other) detail.The explosion was, of course, a real one, though thecrime mystery was not.

Besides Margery Allingham, some of the greatsamong British crime (and other) authors have flirtedwith canals and inland waterways, among them NgaioMarsh, in her Inspector Alleyn mystery Clutch ofConstables (1968), Agatha Christie in By thePricking of my Thumbs (also 1968), in which apainting of a canal scene affords an important clue,Michael Innes, in whose A Connoisseur’s Case(1962) a body is found in a disused canal lock, GladysMitchell, whose The Worsted Viper (1943) finds herseries detective Mrs Bradley on the Norfolk Broadsand, also with a Broads setting, C P Snow’s Death

Under Sail (1932), his first published novel. In thelast-named the murder takes place on a Norfolkwherry, loosely termed a ‘yacht’ at first. This is abook very much of its period with its amateur detec-tive (though the rather bizarre police investigator isnot as boneheaded as he appears at first) and its sketchplans, of the wherry and the (real) places around theBroads in which the action happens. Another river(rather than canal) mystery is the elegantly writtenCrime on the Kennet (1939) by C A Alington,‘Kennet’ being the river, not the Kennet & AvonCanal which itself figures in Peter Lovesey’s Blood-hounds (1996).

The Midlands is classic canal country and this is,to a degree, reflected in crime fiction. Not always isthe background very detailed. In Ivon Baker’s Deathand Variations (1977) the hero begins a Midlandcanal cruise but lack of water in the (unspecified)‘cut’ (this is the drought summer of 1976) causeshim to abandon the idea and as a result he becomesinvolved in a murder. David Armstrong’s Night’sBlack Agents (1993) also has a Midlands canalbackground.

Much more specific is the work of Colin Dexter,creator of Inspector Morse. As many will know,Morse was based in Oxford and Oxford’s waterways,river or canal, are rarely far away in the dozens ofdetective novels set in the city, whether by Dexter ornot. In Dexter’s The Riddle of the Third Mile (1983),the body of a don is pulled out of the Oxford Canal,described thus:

Two miles north of police headquarters in Kidlington... an elbow turn to the right leads ... to the Boat Inn,which, together with about twenty cottages, a farmand a depot of the Inland Waterways Executive,comprises the tiny hamlet of Thrupp. The inn hasserved generations of boatmen, past and present. Butthe working barges of earlier times, which broughtdown coal from the Midlands and shipped up beerfrom the Oxford brewers, have now yielded place tothe privately owned long-boats and pleasure-cruiserswhich ply their way placidly along the presentwaterway.

Six years later Dexter again gave the Oxford Canal(and Thrupp) a starring role, in The Wench is Dead(1989), perhaps his finest novel and certainly afascinating read. The book comes with a map of theCanal and a plot which is certainly different. Themurder — fictitious, but circumstantially presented— took place in 1859, but is ‘investigated’ by Morsewhilst in hospital convalescing from a perforatedulcer. The (apparent) victim was a woman, theaccused the crew of an express, or ‘fly’ boat in which

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she was travelling from Preston Brook to Londonvia the Trent & Mersey, Coventry and Oxford Canalsand the river Thames.3 Morse eventually reaches astartling conclusion.

Dexter’s careful canal research is mirrored in atleast three other Midlands-set novels by others. InAndrew Garve’s The Narrow Search (1957) a babyis kidnapped by her father (who is estranged fromthe mother) and police investigations fail to revealthe baby’s whereabouts. The distraught mother andher new boy-friend take over, armed with the singleclue ‘Llangollen’. This leads them to the eponymousCanal and begins an exciting and ultimately success-ful chase up (or should it be down?) the Llangollenand Shropshire Union Canals. In Marjorie Eccles’Requiem for a Dove (1990) the victim, a wealthywidow, lives a reclusive life in a one-time lock-keeper’s cottage; her body is found in the adjacentcanal which appears to be modelled on the Stour-bridge Navigation. John Gano’s crime novels areinspired by Lincoln which in one of his books isawarded a canal — appropriately enough, as theRoman Foss Dyke, leading eastwards from Lincolnwas England’s first canal. The river Ham in Garo’sInspector Proby’s Weekend (1996) is of course theWitham.

Nor is the North of England to be outdone. Frank

Lean’s Raised in Silence (2002) is set in Manchester’scanal country near the junction of the Rochdale andBridgewater Canals; Sarah Lacey’s File Under:Jeopardy (1995) features the Aire & Calder Naviga-tion. Reginald Hill’s Bones and Silence (1990), setin ‘mid Yorkshire’, introduces a fictitious, or heavilydisguised, canal which is used for the disposal ofdrugs. (Hill lived for many years in Doncaster andwas doubtless familiar with the Sheffield & SouthYorkshire Navigation.) Much more specific isBarbara Whitehead, The Girl with Red Suspenders(also 1990) presenting a navigable river (the Ouse— Whitehead set several books in York) which isused as a channel for the distribution of drugs. Thereare one or two scenes in the (real) Ship Inn at AcasterMalbis near York and the climax is reached on a riverboat.

So there we may leave Waterways and Crime.Although I have not discovered any examples givingstarring roles to waterways in Scotland or Ireland, Ihope I have shown that waterways have often madean interesting setting for crime and that in a numberof cases that background has been particularly wellresearched. And from the point of view of canal andwaterway enthusiasts in our Society it can be no badthing for their enthusiasms to be more widely known.

Notes and references

Some of the material herein has appeared (in a differentform) over the last five years in issues of American Canals,the bulletin of the American Canal Society, to whose editorI am grateful for his encouragement and support. Thesubject was also visited in the RCHS Waterways HistoryResearch Group Occasional Paper No 8.

1. RCHS Journal, November 1977, 87–932. From We Are For the Dark by Robert Aickman and

Elizabeth Jane Howard3. This tale was inspired by the real Christina Collins

case of 1839, where the point of departure was alsoPreston Brook

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Correspondence

RCHS Canal Postcard Collection No 2(RCHS Journal, July 2003, p328)

Neither railway nor canal but, perhaps, of interest?The 1d (one old penny) stamp on this cardindicated foreign postage. At that time the inlandrate for a postcard was ½d and there used to be aSunday delivery.

Once, in early 1930s, I, in Sheffield, received aletter from Leicestershire by first post. I answeredit by 10am and received a reply in the afternoon —same day. Postage for a letter was 1½d and therewas no first and second class mail. Good old days(in some ways!). From one old enough toremember, Arthur Barnett

John Scott Russell(RCHS Journal, July 2003, pp289–293)

I can add a little to the later career of Mr ScottRussell, confirming that he was still interested infast canal boats fifteen years after the Scottishexperiments.

The Glastonbury Canal was a 14 mile waterwayfrom the coast at Highbridge, across the SomersetLevels to Glastonbury; it opened in 1833. In 1848it was purchased by the Bristol & Exeter Railway(B&ER).

On 13th March 1850 the railway’s TrafficCommittee heard a report from their Engineer,Charles Hutton Gregory:

the result of enquiries as to the practicability ofworking a ‘track’ boat on the Glastonbury Canaland expressed his decided opinion that steampower could not be safely employed, but that hehad had an offer from Mr Scott Russell to constructfor about £300 a boat that would carry 60 passen-gers at a speed of 12 miles per hour without makingmore wave than the ordinary boat at 3 mile perhour.Mr Marriott, the Traffic Manager, was to

investigate the use of a flyboat, but the Committeewere not in favour of working boats on the canal.1

It appears that the intention was to operate passen-ger boats to Glastonbury in connection with B&ERtrains at Highbridge.

Scott Russell was involved with I K Brunel atthis time; Brunel had been the B&ER’s engineer

until 1846 and was still, of course, working for theadjacent GWR. He may have been able to putGregory in touch with Scott Russell. One doeswonder how the speed of 12mph was to be attainedin the shallow and silted channel of the canal.

There is no record of any further involvement byScott Russell although the canal manager was stillconsidering running a passenger boat in July 1850.The canal was sold to the Somerset Central Rail-way in September 1852 and was closed in July1854, the new railway being laid alongside it,breaching the course in several places.

Mick Hutson1 Bristol & Exeter Railway Traffic Committee Minutes;

Public Record Office, RAIL75/63

As chairman of the Shropshire Union Fly-boatRestoration Society — restoring the fly-boatSaturn — I found the ‘riding the wave’ at 9 to 10mph conclusion particularly interesting. Thisspeed is confirmed by published timetables forcanal packet boats, an example being the Rednal toNewtown operation of the Wolverhampton SwiftPacket Boat Company’s service of 14 June 1852on the Montgomery Canal. Allowing for themileage, locks and listed stops, the horse-drawnpacket must have travelled at least at these speeds— possibly faster.

Timings we have for the operation of the‘Birmingham Fly’ — the Shropshire Union’spremier fast, long-distance service before WorldWar 1 — also confirm these speeds. The fly didtwo round trips a week from Ellesmere Port toBirmingham, with just one overnight stop — inBirmingham on the Friday night. Horses werechanged at Bunbury, Tyrley, Norbury Junction andAutherley Junction.

A typical November run with skipper Bill Jarvisand his three-man crew and the boat Adonis,with11 tons of goods for export from Liverpool was:

Birmingham, Crescent Wharf depart Saturday 4pmWolverhampton Top Lock 8pmWheaton Aston Lock 12 midnightAudlem Top Lock 9amEllesmere Port arrive Sunday 11 pmThe normal time for the Wolverhampton 21 lock

flight was just 1 hour. Harry Arnold

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The recent article about Scott Russell and his waveof transition reminded me of a research effort Imade some years ago which may be of interest.The main source of information is the lateProfessor George Emmerson’s book1 and Iendeavoured to contact him at the University ofWestern Ontario where he was then ProfessorEmeritus. The article does not explain that thephenomenon only works as described in restrictedchannels and although the Admiralty applied it tonaval vessels, the effect is much less advantageousin open water as JSR explains in one of his papers,although there are still benefits. Emmerson wasthen fairly advanced in years and all theinformation I obtained at the time was from hisdaughter Rosslyn with whom I corresponded forseveral years by e-mail.

My prime interest at that time was to find outmore about JSR’s son Norman, who was involvedin the design and construction of a bridge which Ibelieve to have been the first UK transporterbridge but that is another story.

Many of my discoveries are perhaps known tomembers, but one of the more amusing ones was tofind that Arthur Sullivan of G&S fame, washeavily involved romantically with not just one buttwo of Norman’s sisters, ie JSR’s daughters. Hewas actually engaged to one, Rachel, but mummywouldn’t hear of marriage to a spendthriftmusician as ASS was at the time. Arthur wasrather a cad and quite apart from seducing at leastone of the sisters, kept all their love letters fromwhich a rather soulful book has been written2.Rosslyn’s father knew about this and had written abook of his own, ‘Arthur Darling ...’, I think, but Ihave not seen it.

The Emmerson family view was rather thatBrunel had done the dirty on JSR in several wayswhich is almost totally contradicted by the Roltbiography of Brunel3. However, one of my friendsdiscussed this with Tom Rolt some years after hewrote the book and Tom told him that he wouldnever have written what he had in the light of hiscurrent knowledge. The Noble family who wereinvolved with Brunel’s son, Isambard, acquiredand lost or destroyed a lot of JSR’s papers whichpurported to reflect unfavourably upon Brunel.Lady Noble told Hollingworth who was planning aBrunel biography sometime before the second

world war, that they had been destroyed in the war.Rosslyn thought copies might still exist butwhereabouts are unknown.

Before he was virtually expelled from the ICE,JSR was heavily involved with the GreatExhibition of 1851, and quite friendly with PrinceAlbert. The records of this do exist and are heldby the RSA Archives in five large tomes: EarliestProceedings I, Earliest Proceedings II, RoyalCommission I, Royal Commission II, and RoyalCommission III As I don’t think they would haveanything of interest to me, I have not been to seethem. It is notable that the ICE obituary totallyignores the fact that the Institution effectivelythrew him out — ‘de mortui nil nisi bonum’ Isuppose.

I also traced a living descendant, Peter ScottRussell; I although I am not sure of the genealogysince JSR was the only son of his mother who diedshortly afterwards. Her maiden name was Scott soJohn Russell added it to his own name in theScottish tradition. Peter does have ancestors fromthe right part of Scotland, however, East Kilbride.Ironically, of course, Brunel did the same thing ashis mother’s maiden name was Kingdom.

The statement in JSR’s ICE obituary that he hadfive children could not be substantiated byEmmerson, and the suspicion was that an earlychild was stillborn. Certainly Norman SR is theonly son I have been able to trace. He was also anICE member but resigned in 1914 at the age of75 (!). Ref 2 believes he was alive at 85 in 1925but cites no source. The eldest daughter, Louisewho also had ASS as an admirer, died before JRShimself, and Rachel did not outlive him very long.The youngest sister survived into her 90s, dying in1936, so at least some of the family were evidentlyvery long-lived.

Any information about Norman SR would bewelcomed — he had an American wife and wasinvolved with one or more American civilengineers. A I Stirling1. George S Emmerson, John Scott Russell, 19772. John Wolfson, Sullivan and the Scott Russells, 19843. L T C Rolt, Isambard Kingdom Brunel: a biography,

1957[Mr Stirling’s address is: The Homestead, Blackbrook,High Peak, SK23 0PU; e-mail: stirlnash@aol.com]

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The ‘Penydarren’ Tramroad and thenaming of canals(RCHS Journal, July 2003, pp310–5)This article made me think of how canals havechanged their common names. The first exampleto spring to mind is: how did the Ellesmere Canalbecome the ‘Llangollen Canal’? Also, the GrandJunction Canal officially became part of the GrandUnion Canal, and is still known by that name. Sohow did the ‘Regent’s’ Canal and the ‘Erewash’Canal, also parts of the Grand Union Canal,manage to retain their original names?

Alan Richardson

Dover Town StationI confess to being very much puzzled by GordonBiddle’s letter about the South Eastern Railway’sDover Town station in the last number of theJournal (page 330).

He refers to the illustration of the campanilewhich was planned by the SER for their DoverTown station, and which does not seem to havebeen completed in that form. Mr. Biddle thenrefers to ‘The building on the site of Dover Townstation ...’ but there is no building there at all: allthat remains of the Dover Town station is a plat-form face (not contemporary with the originalbuilding) which served the line later built to rundirectly on to the Admiralty Pier. The buildingwhich does remain in the area — and has a crossbetween a tower and a very large chimney attached— is what is left of the London Chatham & DoverRailway’s Dover Harbour station and is some 220yards north of the site of Dover Town station.

Both buildings are visible in the photographwhich is reproduced as illustration 99 of Mitchell& Smith’s Southern Main lines: Faversham toDover (1992), but there is no tower visible atDover Town station, though that at Dover Harbourstation is very prominent. There is a prominentbuilding near the Town station, in the classicalstyle, but that was never part of the Town station,and in any case has long gone. It is marked on themap which appears between illustrations 89 and 90in Mitchell & Smith, op cit; the line to the Admi-ralty Pier passed underneath it: I have been unableto identify its purpose.

Is it possible that Mr Biddle has mixed up thetwo stations? Frank Andrews

The first railway company and the firstpublic railwayIt must be a matter of major significance toidentify the origin and date of the railway whichgave to the world the ideas of a railway companyand the public railway. C E Lee’s oft-quoted claimthat ‘the first public railway sanctioned by Parlia-ment, independent of a canal, was the Surrey IronRailway’ is doubtless correct in regard to parlia-mentary authority, but the parliamentary authoritymust stand second to the earlier existence ofrailway companies and public usage. Parliamentwas after all only giving the compulsory landpurchase powers which were necessary in thisinstance.

The Lake Lock Rail Road Company’s line nearWakefield in Yorkshire, some four miles in length,was first rated in 1798, the company havingexisted since 1796. It had no partnershipconnection with any inland navigation company,unlike the Trevil Rail Road formed by someshareholders in the Monmouthshire CanalCompany and opened by 1799, or like the CwmDee Rail Road, also opened by 1799 and builtunder the 8-mile clause of the same canalcompany’s Act. As to the Surrey Iron, its Act wasnot passed until May 1801 and it was not openeduntil July 1803; shares in the Lake Lock Companywere advertised for sale in 1801, long before theSurrey Iron’s opening.

It would therefore appear that the Lake LockRail Road was the first to introduce the ideas of apublicly available (via toll payments) railway,owned by an independent railway company —incorporating the twin ideas which led to thespread of railway company building throughout theworld: one of the world’s crucial innovations. Thematter was discussed in my book The Lake LockRail Road (Wakefield, 1977), which was sub-sequently — and favourably — reviewed in thisJournal (Supplement, September 1980).

My purpose in writing this letter is two-fold: toreinforce the apparent significance of the LakeLock line in world railway history, and to ask ifany of your readers have further information whichmight be useful in this matter.

John Goodchild

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Reviews

The Impact of the Railway on Society in Britain: essays in honour of Jack Simmons— edited by A K B Evans & J V Goughxxiv+315pp, 234x154mm, 25 illustrations, 6 maps, hardback, Ashgate Publishing, Gower House, Croft Road, AldershotGU11 3HR, 2003, ISBN 0 7546 0949 9, £20.00

This collection of 21 essays written by colleaguesand friends of Professor Jack Simmons is a worthytribute to this country’s most distinguished railwayhistorian, who did so much to establish railwayhistory as a serious field of study and to broaden ourunderstanding of the impact of the railway on society.His achievements as a railway historian are recordedin the opening essay by Michael Robbins, a friendsince their days together at Westminster School,supplemented at the end of the book by a 24-page

Railway Passenger Stations in England, Scotland and Wales: A Chronology (2nd edition)— M E Quick412pp, A4, 256 diagrams, comb-bound paperback, Railway & Canal Historical Society, 7 Onslow Road, Richmond,Surrey TW10 6QH, 2003, no ISBN, £20 inc. p&p (cheques payable to ‘RCHS’)

[A 48-page supplement of additions and corrections is available to owners of the 1st edition in return for payment of12 second-class stamps.]

This chronology aims to provide opening and closingdates for passenger traffic for every station on theBritish railway network that has served fare-payingpassengers. Minerals, goods and parcels traffics arenot covered. Re-namings of stations are noted andsignificant changes of location are indicated. Entriesrange in length from a couple of lines, as for Corsham,with details of the owning company and the openingand closing dates, each supported by a reference tothe local press, through to a very substantial essay,as for Stockton. Where there is any doubt about theprecision of a date, that fact is clearly noted. Citationin the main body of text of at least one source foreach opening and closing date allows the user tofollow the compiler’s steps for himself should he sowish. A substantial proportion of the information isbased on extensive research into primary sources.

An extended introduction not only sets out theproblems encountered when working on this materialand their consequences for the user of the work butalso provides an evaluative account of the sourcesand a clear statement of the policies followed by thecompiler. Two particularly interesting discussionsdeal with the way in which we cite closure dates and

the problem of ascertaining, in some cases, what the‘official’ name of a station really was and when andhow it changed. In both cases there is a clearexplanation of the policy followed in this work. Thebulk of the work is the main alphabetical list ofstations. This is followed by a section of chronologi-cally organised notes, referring to lines rather thanto individual stations, a section dealing briefly withfour Metro lines which run in part on former railwayroutes, and a section concerned with a number ofrailways that have, in one way or another, carriedpassengers but do not qualify for inclusion in themain body. Two groups of diagrams conclude thework: A to G show route development and 1 to 249show specific locations.

This chronology is a major contribution to thecollection of basic reference works available to thestudent of railway history. Our gratitude is due toMichael Quick (who continues his work on theproject and welcomes notification of corrections oradditional information) for his achievement. Hereis a book that deserves to be an essential purchasefor all railway historians. JOHN GOUGH

bibliography of all Professor Simmons’ publishedwritings.

The remaining contributions are divided into foursections, mirroring Professor Simmons own approachto the subject. ‘The Railway: Origins and Working’comprises articles about the railway itself. The firstthree are useful syntheses of subjects on which muchhas been published previously, setting them in a widerperspective: Marilyn Palmer and Peter Neaversonhave written on the pre-locomotive railways of

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Leicestershire and South Derbyshire; David Turnockon the canal and railway geography of the WiganCoalfield; and Michael Harris on the advances incarriage and wagon design made in response tocompetition and customer complaints. John Gough’s‘Note on Midland Railway operating documents’ isa rare and welcome contribution to our limitedknowledge of railway operating practices in the 19thcentury. P L Cottrell provides the only article on theBritish contribution to overseas railways on theinvolvement in 1902–03 of City bankers and theForeign Office in financing the strategic Ankara–Baghdad railway.

The second section, ‘Spirit, Mind and Eye’, looksat the impact made by the Victorian railway on thelandscape and on spiritual, intellectual and artisticlife. R C Richardson looks at ways in which religiousinstitutions responded to the construction of railwaysand the changes they wrought, while Gordon Biddleassesses the railway’s impact on the environment.J Mordaunt Crook’s summary of John Ruskin’sresponses to the railway as revealed in his writings(‘Ruskin had only one attitude ... he was against it’)is followed by Roger Craik’s analysis of the morepositive observations on train travel in Philip Larkin’spoetry (Larkin was a colleague of Simmons at Leices-ter in 1946–50) and by Norman Scarfe’s musings on

why he doesn’t like railways. There is a short noteby Gwyn Briwnant-Jones on his evocative paintingof Dovey Junction, c1932, which illustrates thebook’s dust jacket.

Section III, ‘The Opening Up of Britain’, examinesthe railway’s impact on the development of London’ssuburbs by Alan A Jackson, on the countryside byAlan Everitt, on Scottish tourism by Alastair J Durie,and on the evolution of Welsh holiday resorts by RoyMillward. It ends with a bio-/biblio-graphical noteon Sir George Samuel Measom and his railwayguides by G H Martin. The final section, ‘Heritageand History’, reflects Jack Simmons interest intransport museums with articles on the history of theNorth Eastern Railway Museum at York by DieterHopkin and on the role of transport museums ineducating public appreciation of the past by ColinDivall and Andrew Scott. Terry Gourvish’s pieceon the writing of his two-volume commissionedhistory of British Railways explores the key issuesthat affected BR, particularly since 1980, and thusforms an important supplement to the second volume.The section ends with George Ottley’s account ofhis pioneering railway ‘bibbling’ work, in which hewas greatly helped and encouraged by Jack Simmons.

In summary, an excellent collection at an attractiveprice. GRAHAME BOYES

Companion to British Road Haulage History— John Armstrong, John Aldridge, Grahame Boyes, Gordon Mustoe & Richard Storey446pp, 104 b&w and 64 colour photographs, hardback, The Science Museum, 2003, ISBN 1 900747 46 4, availablefrom Gazelle Book Services, Falcon House, Queen Square, Lancaster LA1 1RN, £39.95

This is a major work assembled by a group of editorsincluding some of our members and with a largenumber of contributors amongst whom our membersare also well represented. Its coverage is impres-sively wide but not as wide as the title suggests. Thepreface says accurately that it covers goods haulageby motor lorry in the twentieth century.

The pictures include a lot of portraits of lorries.The text is much more comprehensive. Beginningwith ‘A Licence’ and ending with ‘Yorkshire PatentSteam Wagon Company Ltd’, the textual meat of thebook covers every aspect of the traffic, its regulation,its commercial framework, its technical development,its impact and everything else you can think of. It’sall in alphabetical order so there are frequentludicrous juxtapositions. No problem when using

the book for reference and adding to the enjoymentfor the dipper in. There are hundreds of entries allin an amazing detail which must emanate from a hugeamount of basic research.

As a work of history, it comprehensively does theright things including full references to sources.People not previously road transport historyenthusiasts who look at this book could well gethooked. It is also up to date. It explains with apol-ogies why ‘transport’ has recently become ‘logistics’in the fashionable rush for changing the words incase the concept has become widely understood. Theterm ‘reverse logistics’, which illustrates the futilityof the rush, apparently means transporting the emptypackaging and faulty or unsold items whence theycame. MARTIN BARNES

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Railway Object Name Thesaurus— mda Railway Terminology Working Group, editor Stuart Holm313pp, A4, card covers ringbound, mda, Jupiter House, Station Road, Cambridge CB1 2JD, 2002, ISBN 1 900642 12 3,£48.50 including p&p (£51.50 overseas)

Expressly designed to guide non rail-minded museumstaff through what Sam Mullins describes in hisforeword as the ‘minefield’ of railway language, thisis a bold attempt to list and classify some 4,000 termsfor objects found on UK railways or of Britishmanufacture. Where alternatives exist, a ‘preferred’expression is offered and shown ‘structured intovarious hierarchies’. Beyond the museum world, thepublication has value as a reference tool for historiansor journalists writing about railways.

Pursuing their remit, the compilers (a committeeof twelve) have included their very own ‘Glossaryof Thesaurus Terminology’ besides devoting no lessthan 13 double columns of text to introductory eluci-

dation. In this explanation and elsewhere, as is notunusual nowadays in business and professionalmanuals, pretentious jargon is often preferred to plainEnglish. In the 260-page ‘Alphabetical List’, con-veniently signalled by blue paper, the terms receivedefinition as well as classification and, usually, asource. The source is spelt out in full, no matterhow many times the same one is used, a feature whichhas needlessly added to the book’s bulk and cost.Some terms, such as ‘loco coal wagon’ or ‘newspapervan’ may seem self-explanatory, even for those withlittle railway knowledge but all are ponderouslydefined — perhaps from a desire to achieve compre-hensive coverage. ALAN A JACKSON

In his thoughtful preface, David Hodgkins points outthe paucity of biographical studies among works onrailway history. This book fills a significant gap anddoes so on a monumental scale which gives a par-ticular aptness to the subtitle. This volume is of trulyVictorian size and scope, but thoroughly modern inits scholarship and approach.

Watkin’s historical importance is as much due tothe extent of his different interests and the length ofhis career as it is to particular achievements. Thisbiography traces Watkin’s long and very full life fromboyhood in Manchester and his early involvementthere in radical politics, through the start of hisrailway career with the Trent Valley Railway andsubsequently with the nascent LNWR and then duringhis long association with the Manchester Sheffield& Lincolnshire Railway. He first joined the MS&LRas general manager in 1853 and led as chairman from1864 to 1894. The study also details his extensiveparticipation in other English railway boards. Theseculminated in his chairing the Metropolitan and SouthEastern railways, his overseas railway involvements,in particular the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada,and his part in schemes for a Channel tunnel.

However, the book is not confined to Watkin’srailway activities — it also deals with his other busi-ness interests, his political career as an MP, his widerrole in Canadian affairs and his family life. Mr

The Second Railway King: The Life and Times of Sir Edward Watkin — David Hodgkinsxx+713pp, A5, 53 plates, 21 maps, hardback, Merton Priory Press, 67 Merthyr Road, Whitchurch, Cardiff CF14 1DD,2002, ISBN 1 898937 49 4, £40

Hodgkins is objective about Watkin’s weaknesses aswell as his undoubted professional skills. The picturethat emerges is of an ambitious and able but notalways scrupulous tactician who, nevertheless, fre-quently failed to see the bigger picture and who oftenneedlessly alienated those he had to deal with — tothe ultimate detriment of his companies’ strategicinterests.

Some inconsistencies are almost inevitable with astudy of this breadth. Despite the wealth of detailwhich the author has provided, there are instanceswhere perhaps too much is assumed of the reader.For example, Charles Sacré first appears on page178 in a somewhat elliptical reference which doesnot make his role with the MS&LR explicit, whilethose without a detailed knowledge of Canadianpolitical history may struggle with some of thenuances of Watkin’s involvement in the 1860s. In abook which is so well annotated, it is also disappoint-ing that some of the footnote references are undulyabbreviated and are not supported by a bibliography.

But these are minor criticisms compared with thescale of the author’s achievement. This work willbe required reading for any serious student of Victo-rian railway history and, in shedding welcome newlight on his particular subject, David Hodgkins hasproduced a study of much wider relevance.

MALCOLM REED

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Principles of London Underground Operations — John Glover160pp, 230x150mm, 138 photos, 8 diagrams, hardback, Ian Allan, Riverdene Business Park, Hersham, Surrey, KT124RG, 2000, ISBN 0 7110 2739 0, £16.99

If you have been waiting a long time for an updatedversion of J P Thomas’s classic Handling London’sUnderground Traffic this may satisfy your need,though it lacks that work’s official imprimatur. Muchhas changed since 1928, when Thomas boasted ofthe ability to run over 40 trains an hour and carry27,000 passengers an hour past any given point.Today, despite inadequate investment and hardly aday passing without some dislocation in service, theUnderground somehow copes with an annual totalof passengers greater than that carried on all Britain’sother railways.

John Glover writes knowledgeably on operationalmatters, timetabling, safety, station and rolling stockdesign. Capacity, the nub of the problem, is tackled

under six headings and the all but insuperabledifficulties of improving a system which has evolvedover such a long period and is used for differingpurposes by its clientele are stressed.

As is usual with this publisher, the book lacks anindex; the space which could have been used isoccupied by ‘Appendices’ of no great value apartfrom underlining one of the author’s points.

Professionals will discover little here outside theirexperience and existing knowledge. As for the wideraudience, the book might have been made moreinteresting had it been cast in the form of an updatingof Thomas, comparing and contrasting presentpractice and performance with that of 1928.

ALAN A JACKSON

Euston to Harrow & Wealdstone: Midland Main Lines — Keith Scholey96pp, A4, 120 illustrations, 24 maps & plans, hardback, Middleton Press, Easebourne Lane, Midhurst, West SussexGU29 9AZ, 2002, ISBN 1 901706 89 3, £13.95 including p&p

This picture album is the first of a journey down themainline out of Euston, chopped up into easily digest-ed portions. Care has been taken to find unfamiliarillustrations of the ‘new’ suburban line stations andof the last days of old Euston. It is pleasing to seephotos of both by John Gillham, a resolute recorderof the changing transport scene over the past sixtyor more years. The compiler has also contributed

work from his own camera, supplemented by othersattributed to his ‘collection’, even when they arerecognisable as commercial postcards originallypublished by the London & North Western Railwayand others. There is a useful selection of track mapsand portions of large scale Ordnance Survey maps,the latter reproduced with somewhat uneven quality.

ALAN A JACKSON

The Croydon, Oxted & East Grinstead Railway — David Gould208pp, A5, 18 maps, 3 diagrams, 111 photos, paperback, Oakwood Press, PO Box 13, Usk, Monmouthshire NP151YS, 2003, ISBN 0 85361 598 5, £13.95 post free

Printed throughout on art paper, this chunky volumeoffers a thorough account of its subject, one of themost scenic and dramatically-engineered routes inthe Home Counties, long notable for the variety andcomplication of its passenger services. The historicalbackground is adequately set down whilst revealinglittle that is new. Very dense detail is given oflocomotives, rolling stock and train services.Operation (including mishaps and special workings),labour problems, signalling. railway and generaltopography and social history are mostly coveredwith less enthusiasm, in some cases with a verypronounced weighting towards the last sixty yearsor so. Illustration approaches perfection in quality,

quantity and interest, although it is regrettable thatsome pictures are attributed to personal collectionsor ‘Lens of Sutton’ instead of the original copyrightholders. Much use is made of large scale OrdnanceSurvey maps to show track and all the station layouts.

Although the author provides a careful descriptionof the line, there appears to be no mention of thelittle-known Purley Downs Golf Club Halt, locatedand noted in another Oakwood publication by R WKidner, to whom Mr Gould acknowledges muchassistance and dedicates his book.

Altogether, with its useful index, very good valueat a reasonable price. ALAN A JACKSON

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Biographical Dictionary of Railway Engineers (2nd edition) — John Marshall206pp, A5, hardback, Railway & Canal Historical Society, 2003, ISBN 0 901461 22 9, £20.00

The term engineer, even when prefaced by railway,can have a wide meaning and John Marshall allowshimself a liberal interpretation. Most of the chiefmechanical and civil engineers with the variousBritish railway companies plus a generous selectionof foreigners duly receive their pen portraits, althoughGeorge McDonald (who held both positions with theCambrian) is one absentee noticed. There is also awide selection of signal engineers (O’Donnell, Saxby,Sykes and Tyer but not Edwards or Stevens), contrac-tors (Aird, Brassey, Savin, Strachan and Waddell butnot Lindsay Parkinson or Robert McAlpine), pro-moters (Leveson-Gower, George Hudson, RichardMoon, Edward Watkin but not Charles Saunders),inspecting officers (Pringle, Yolland and Yorke butnot Druitt or Von Donop) and even technical jour-nalists (Ahrons, Rosling Bennett, Burtt, J F Gairnsand Rous Marten but not C J Allen, Nock or Tuplin).How does one classify institutions like Bradshaw andEdmondson? Both thankfully are included, but theauthor had to omit some names for lack of informa-tion. These are not criticisms but do indicate the

extent of coverage. Any further increase over the725 entries or inclusion of unnecessary illustrationswould both increase the cost and delay publication.

The first edition, with 249 slightly narrower pages,came out as long ago as 1978 and contained 600mini-biographies. The 20% increase in this revisededition has been achieved in fewer pages by usingwider columns and a smaller typeface, about the sizeused in the Journal for references and quotations butmore closely spaced. This would be a strain if lengthypassages were to be read, but is acceptable for thepurpose intended.

For anyone who has referred to their copy of thefirst edition more than a dozen or so times in thepast, purchase of this new edition will prove a soundinvestment — it is not at all expensive by today’sstandards. All serious researchers into railway his-tory who have never had a copy should not resistthis latest chance to have such a handy tool withinreach of their desk. Perhaps its greatest value is itsreferences for further reading under every individualentry. BOB MILLER

Harrow & Wealdstone 50 Years On: Clearing Up the Aftermath — Peter Tatlow120pp, A5, 61 illustrations, 8 maps & diagrams, paperback, Oakwood Press, P O Box 13, Usk, Monmouthshire NP151YS, 2002, ISBN 0 85361 593 4, £9.95 (including p&p)

This is a little gem of a book, and its importance andits fascination are made clear by its sub-title,‘Clearing up the Aftermath’. This book seeks to tell

The Great Orme Tramway: over a century of service — Keith Turner112pp, A5, 65 photographs, 4 maps & plans, 5 figures, paperback, Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, 12 Iard yr Orsaf, Llanrwst,Dyffryn Conwy LL26 0EH, 2003, ISBN 0 86381 817 X, £5.50 (p&p £1.00)

Llandudno’s funicular railway, opened in 1902following the success of the Snaefell and SnowdonMountain Railways, was originally called the GreatOrme Tramways (plural), because the line wasthought to be too long for a single rope-workedincline. It is actually two independent inclines, eachnearly half-a-mile long, and passengers walk betweenthe cars of the lower and upper inclines at Halfwaystation. After a change of ownership in 1935, it wasrenamed the Great Orme Railway, a more suitablename for what is best described as a mountainrailway. It was compulsorily acquired by the localauthority in 1949 and in 1977 renamed the GreatOrme Tramway (singular), the title of the book.

As might be expected, there are chapters dealingwith the railway’s promotion, construction and thethree phases of its ownership, with descriptions ofthe route, the funicular system and the rolling stock,but some significant questions are unanswered. Forexample, how does the Great Orme Tramway fit intothe history of funiculars and is its particular funiculararrangement unique? Is it a profitable enterprise ordoes it survive only as a subsidised tourist attraction?Regrettably, there is no indication of the sources used.The book appears to owe much to R C Anderson’sbooklet (various editions, 1970–82), but has notentirely superseded it. GRAHAME BOYES

the story of the response to the worst peacetimerailway accident in the country. It is a task rarelyattempted for any accident and never so completely

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achieved. The illustrations are of extraordinary qual-ity and therefore quite harrowing. Many result fromthe almost accidental presence of Tim Gregory, a parttime news photographer, to whom a great debt isowed.

The aftermath of an accident cannot be describedwithout dealing with the event itself. Chapters 1 to3 describe site, rolling stock involved and the acci-dent. Similarly 7 to 9 concern the Inspector’s report,automatic warning systems and a conclusion. (Thereare also four useful appendices.) The core of thebook is the chapters dealing with the response bythe emergency services, the railway company’s andother individual helpers; with personal accounts ofthose involved; and the with the mammoth task of

clearing the wreckage.From the chance that led to senior railwaymen

travelling in the local train involved, and so able totake instant charge; to the immense and lasting influ-ence of the American Air Force medical teamsdealing with casualties, there is so much to absorb.The author is not afraid of pointing out weaknessesand mistakes but rightly makes clear that the opera-tion was a triumphant outcome to a major tragedy.The fact that, two hours after the accident, the 1.15pmto Glasgow left St Pancras only 15 minutes late andthat limited through working was resumed fromEuston within 21½ hours, may make us all pause inadmiration as much as doubt as what would be theresponse today. WILLIAM FEATHERSTONE

A Guide to the Anderton Boat Lift — David Carden & Neil Parkhouse48pp, 210x215mm, photographs, diagrams, paperback, Black Dwarf Publications, 47–49 High Street, Lydney,Gloucestershire GL15 5DD, 2002,ISBN 1 903599 05 9, £5.

This is an attractively produced and well illustratedaccount of one of Britain’s most important waterwaystructures. The authors recount in detail the eventsleading to the construction of the lift in its originalform (hydraulically operated), opened in 1875. Theythen describe the subsequent problems, largelycaused by corrosion, which prompted its conversionby Colonel Saner, the Weaver Navigation Trust’sEngineer, to electrical operation in 1908. In this form,it gave good service until closure in 1983. A briefaccount is given of the restoration work which led to

re-opening in 2002.Evidence of the importance of Clark’s design is

provided by the inclusion of descriptions of otherlifts he designed in Belgium and France and a pageis devoted to the unrelated, but equally innovative,Falkirk Wheel, Britain’s first new boat lift since 1875.

Two of the strengths of this book is the wealth ofits illustrations and the inclusion of a table of tonnagespassed (though not of number of boats passed oroperating cycles). Its only shortcoming is a lack ofguidance for those seeking further information.

MARK BALDWIN

Weymouth to the Channel Isles: A Great Western Railway Shipping History — B L Jackson208pp, A5, 138 b&w photographs, 5 plans, several sketch maps, paperback, Oakwood Press, PO Box 13, Usk,Monmouthshire NP15 1YS, 2002, ISBN 0 85361 596 9, £13.95

This well-illustrated volume tells the story of theGreat Western Railway’s involvement with ChannelIslands shipping from Weymouth. The servicecommenced in 1857 when the railway reached Wey-mouth, undertaken by a nominally independent steampacket company. In practice the GWR subsidised ituntil 1887 when, fed up with its poor record, therailway bought three screw steamers to replace theageing paddle boats. So successful was this that theLondon & South Western Railway, which ran aservice to the Islands from Southampton, in 1899agreed a sailing schedule and pooled revenues withthe GWR. Southampton’s dominance was at an endas it was much quicker via Weymouth. The story is

taken up to the end of the service in 1990.Members of this Society will recall an earlier

volume by the late J H Lucking and will be curiousto know how this one differs. The pictures are differ-ent and mostly of a superb quality and high interest.The bulk of the book is devoted to a description ofeach ship’s career with details of size, interior layout,builder, accommodation, incidents, captains, otheractivities and fate. There is also some new materialwhich only came to light after Lucking’s volume.

It is generally a good read with interesting and evenexciting narratives. It is sadly without an index butthere is a brief bibliography and a list of periodicalsand newspapers. JOHN ARMSTRONG

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A History of North Eastern Railway Architecture: Volume 2, A Mature Art — Bill Fawcett200pp, copious illustrations & drawings, hardback, North Eastern Railway Association, 2003, ISBN 1 8735134 48 8,£19.95, or £24.45 inc p&p from NERA Sales Officer, 31 Moreton Avenue, Stretford, Manchester M32 8BP

Volume 2 of Bill Fawcett’s trilogy is to the same highstandard as volume 1 reviewed in the November 2001issue of the Journal, with excellent drawings andillustrations, many in colour. Here the author takeshis account forward to 1877 from 1853 when theNER’s three constituent companies began to worktogether before full amalgamation in the followingyear. Then, a full time architect, Thomas Prosser,was appointed. We follow his career and those ofhis successors, Benjamin Burleigh and WilliamPeachey, under the company’s great engineer-in-chiefT E Harrison who oversaw the NER’s rapid physicalexpansion until 1888.

Among the important works during this periodwere Leeds New, York and Middlesborough stations,hotels at Saltburn and Newcastle and the large Forthgoods station in the latter city. Smaller stations,

engine sheds and goods depots are fully treated andwe meet other important characters such as WilliamCudworth, designer of the Middlesborough roof, andThomas Bouch and others associated with the cross-Pennine line to Tebay and Penrith. The book con-cludes with a chapter on the Blyth & Tyne RaIlwaywhich was acquired in 1874.

Throughout, the interplay between personalitiesand policies is skilfully woven into the narrative,providing an object lesson in not only the inter-pretation of research in a little-known aspect of theworkings of a large Victorian commercial organi-sation, but also into the internal and externalinfluences at work. The book is fully annotated.Again the author and the NERA are to be congratu-lated on producing a splendid and valuable book ata bargain price. GORDON BIDDLE

The Freshwater, Yarmouth & Newport Railway — R J Maycock & R Silsbury176pp, A5, 77 photographs, 8 maps, 12 plans & drawings, hardback, Oakwood Press, P O Box 13, Usk, MonmouthshireNP15 1YS, 2003, ISBN 0 85361 601 9, £14.95.

Volume 125 in the Oakwood Library of RailwayHistory is a companion volume to The Isle of WightRailway and The Isle of Wight Central Railway bythe same authors. It charts the history and story ofone of the smaller Isle of Wight companies.

As well as discussing early transport in West Wight,the authors discuss the formation of the FreshwaterCompany and the construction and opening of theline. The parlous financial state of the company iscovered in some depth as is its descent into bankrupt-cy and the involvement of the Board of Trade. There

is a full description of the line and its locomotivesand rolling stock are discussed in some detail. Thereis a most interesting chapter on a proposed SolentTunnel, first mooted in 1871, and the book containsuseful appendices, a good bibliography and an index.

A minor criticism might be that the history of theline under the Southern Railway and the nationalisedrailways is dismissed in less than a page. Hopefully,the authors have plans to publish a further volumebringing the history of the railways of the Isle ofWight up to date. A useful, quality book.

RODNEY HARTLEY

The Last Journey of William Huskisson — Simon Garfield244pp, 215x140mm, 38 illustrations, 1 map, hardback, Faber & Faber, 3 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AU, 2002,ISBN 0 571 21048 1, £14.99

Simon Garfield is not a railway historian by tradebut he has researched his material well and no errorsor misunderstandings are apparent in the book. Thebook is exceptionally well written, reading with allthe ease of a polished novel without sacrificinghistorical detail or accuracy. It is well printed andbound; the only possible criticism is that theillustrations, while well chosen, are rather small and

muddy.This is not just an account of the opening day of

the Liverpool & Manchester Railway and ofHuskisson’s death at the wheels of Rocket at Parkside.It is a fascinating social and political history of thetimes and an insight into the early days of railwaypromotion.

The book does of course deal at length with the

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opening day. It had all the elements of farce, were itnot for the tragedy of Huskisson’s death. The Dukeof Wellington, then Prime Minister, was booed andpelted with rotten vegetables at Manchester, sounpopular was he in government and opposed to elec-toral reform. Manchester then had no representationin Parliament whereas the tiny Newton on the linesent two members. The return journey from Man-chester was an absolute shambles with the bandsmenwho had played triumphant music on the outboundjourney reduced to trudging in the pouring rain backtowards Liverpool along the lineside, as there was

no room in the train.The book deals fully with Huskisson’s life as well

as his political achievements as a moderate reformingTory. This cost him his cabinet seat and it was anattempt to achieve reconciliation with Wellington atthe trackside that led to his accident with Rocket.His injuries, his last hours and the efforts of surgeonsto save him are described in realistic, even gory,detail.

Altogether a good read and a fine piece of historicalresearch — would that there were more railway bookswritten like this one. WARWICK BURTON

The Anatomy of Canals: the Mania Years — Anthony Burton & Derek Pratt160pp, 247x171mm, approx 139 photographs (33 in colour), paperback, Tempus Publishing, The Mill, BrimscombePort, Stroud, Gloucestershire GL5 2QG, 2002, ISBN 0 7524 2385 1, £16.99

This is the second volume in a trilogy. The firstvolume, The Early Years, was reviewed in theJournal in March 2002. This book carries the storyforward from about 1790 into the age of Jessop andthe 1820s. As before, Derek Pratt has taken thephotographs, but again these are of limited value toa historian as they mainly relate to structures still inexistence.

Readers who study the index to discover wherethe great engineers worked will look in vain for suchas Telford, Rennie and Outram although JohnPinkerton, Abraham Darby and David Hutchings arethere. Handel is included because he was staying in

a house near the Ashby Canal when he wrote TheMessiah. The index also lists Bournville and Cad-bury and the book says, mistakenly, that ‘the wholesite was developed for the work force, with villasand gardens’. The long-gone Bournville wharf islisted in the gazetteer as an interesting site.

For the general reader who wants somethingeminently readable about the waterways and is notgreatly interested in historical detail, this is a goodbook, but it is one of three and the total cost of thethree volumes is bound to discourage. For thebeginner it would be a good read.

STANLEY HOLLAND

Pennine Dreams: the Story of the Huddersfield Canal — Keith Gibson160pp, 247x171mm, numerous photographs, drawings & maps, paperback, Tempus Publishing, The Mill, BrimscombePort, Stroud, Gloucestershire GL5 2QG, 2002, ISBN 0 75242751 2, £16.99

This book is largely a history of the restoration ofthe Huddersfield Narrow Canal, written by one whowas heavily involved with it from the early 1980s.The second ‘Pennine Dream’ refers to the storywhereby the first suggestions, in 1972, to restore acanal which had been closed since 1944, filled inand built over in several places, with a collapsed sum-mit tunnel and almost all locks demolished or capped,led to the official reopening of the whole canal on3 September 2001. This very recent history is wellconveyed, with a coverage of personalities, organisa-tional, financial and administrative matters, balancedagainst progress on the ground. The latter includesnumerous photographs demonstrating the positionbefore and after restoration, most of which are well-chosen. This kind of account is extremely valuable.

This comment cannot be applied to the first‘Pennine Dream’, which, in 40 pages, covers thecanal’s history before restoration. Secondary pub-lished materials, available in commercial magazinesas well as the Journal, do not appear to have beenconsulted and generalisations often substitute for amore detailed account. For example, tonnage andtoll statistics are cited which include the adjacentBroad Canal and it is suggested that the LMSR, whichinherited the canal in 1923, ceased to maintain it inthe late 1930s. In fact, lock gates were still beingreplaced three years after closure, in 1947. An olderror about the 1948 IWA trip is repeated: Ailsa Craigwas not holed and sunk above Lock 4W in Staly-bridge but above Lock 1W in Ashton.

JOSEPH BOUGHEY

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The Thames & Severn Canal: History & Guide — David Viner160pp, 247x171mm, 137 photographs & illustrations (31 in colour), 4 maps & plans, paperback, Tempus Publishing,The Mill, Brimscombe Port, Stroud, Gloucestershire GL5 2QG, 2002, ISBN 0 7524 1761 4, £15.99

A towpath guide has limited life span particularly ifthe canal is derelict and subject to spasmodic resto-ration projects. The description quickly becomesoutdated. Fortunately for us this may have promptedDavid Viner to write this successor to the guide hewrote with Michael Handford in 1984.

In presenting the history the first four chaptersinclude a sprinkling of very welcome contemporaryquotations and accounts illustrating various aspectsof the canal. The inclusion of ‘Leisure and Pleasure’is a good indication of the book’s intended audiencebut shows that canal boating is not a new pastime.

The remaining seven chapters cover the route fromits junction with the Stroudwater Canal in Stroud tothe Thames at Inglesham near Lechlade. Apart froma plan of Brimscombe Port and another of the basinat Cirencester, there are only two maps in the whole

The Stratford Canal — Nick Billingham128pp, 247x171mm, numerous photographs, drawings & maps, paperback, Tempus Publishing, The Mill, BrimscombePort, Stroud, Gloucestershire GL5 2QG, 2002, ISBN 0 75242122 0, £12.00

This book is one of a series which feature largeamounts of illustrations alongside a general text. Itincludes a good general history of the StratfordCanal’s heyday with interesting coverage of theinfluence of William James, the original plans tobuild a wide gauge canal and details of the declinein traffics upon the southern section of the canal untilthe last in 1935. The many photographs of derelictionand the restoration process are particularly inter-esting, if sometimes a little unclear.

The author’s long involvement with Stratford isreflected in numerous, often charming, details aboutthe canal there. There is much less about the northernsection above Lapworth. Somewhat eccentrically,there are more photographs of the town of Stratford

itself and the Avon than of the canal north of Lap-worth.

Some questionable statements appear when morenational matters are discussed. For instance, it isasserted that the report by Frank Pick of LondonTransport recommended the closure of most of Brit-ain’s canals, and the discussions of the BTC’s attitudeperhaps fails to appreciate the political context ofthat body. More discussion of the northern section,including such matters as later traffics and the Liffordprotest, would have been welcome. However, thisbook includes a very useful account of one of themore significant waterways in postwar history, whoserestoration was completed almost 40 years ago, andis worthy of record. JOSEPH BOUGHEY

The Caledonian Steam Packet Company Ltd — Alistair Deayton160pp, 235x163mm, 285 b&w photographs, a map, paperback, Tempus Publishing, The Mill, Brimscombe Port, Stroud,Gloucestershire GL5 2QG, 2002, ISBN 0 7524 2381 9, £12.99

The Caledonian Steam Packet Company was foundedin 1889 to operate the steamboats of the CaledonianRailway. It became part of the LMSR in 1923, wasnationalised in 1948 and became part of CaledonianMacBrayne in 1973. The steamboats extended the

railway services to nearby islands and coastal com-munities. They were a vital link for villages withoutaccess to rail. They were also part of the leisureindustry for holiday trips and excursions ‘doon thewatter’.

book but these are so good they are all that is neededfor the reader to understand the text. Each chapterconcludes with a list of key access points for thesection just described. A whole chapter is devotedto Sapperton tunnel and other interludes deal withaspects such as milestones and the roundhouseswhich are an architectural feature of the Thames &Severn as is the slatting on the lock gates, visible inmany of the well-chosen photographs. The authorhas an exceptional eye because, despite the varietyin the images, each of the mainly historic illustrationsis a joy. A superb section of 31 colour photographsand paintings is a bonus.

This book is thoroughly recommended to thetourist, the rambler and to those who already lovethe Thames & Severn Canal. STEPHEN ROWSON

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There is a very brief history of the company withinthe introduction to this volume. It is intended to setthe scene for the main body, a huge number ofphotographs with captions, some quite long. Thereare also some posters, timetables and a map. Thephotographs are divided into four chronologicalsections: the first predates the company covering theperiod 1842–68. Some of the pictures are superb, a

very few are fuzzy, most are clear and the captionsare informative.

There is no index or bibliography and sources aredismissed in passing under ‘Acknowledgements’.There appear to be no archives for the researcherbut there are photos now in private hands. The priceseems very reasonable for such a plethora of pictures.

JOHN ARMSTRONG

The Wey Navigations: An Historical Guide — Alan Wardle155pp, size, 10 illustrations, numerous maps, paperback, Surrey Industrial History Group, Castle Arch, Guildford GU13SX, 2002, ISBN 0 9538122 2 7, £11.95

The book sets out to be a practical guide for visitorsto and a concise history of the Wey and Wey(Godalming) Navigations.

The large scale maps reproduced from Jago’ssurvey of 1823 and Perry’s of 1834 are excellent butarrows pointing the direction of the current and anindex would be useful and is essential in a touristguide.

The historian will be interested to learn the reasonsfor Guildford’s ‘river pence’, Lord Montague’s ‘twoand a half pence’ and Thomas Dalmahony’s ‘groats’which all had to be paid from the navigation’s tollreceipts from 1671. The groats continued to be paiduntil 1956 or 1958 and the other two until 1963.However the historical information is limited. Nomention is made of men like George Stubbs, C OHodgson, Frances de Visme and the Marshall family

of Godalming, all of whom played leading roles inthe running of the navigation.

An illustration of the type of sluice gear describedon page 59 will be found in Dashwood’s account ofhis voyage through the navigation in July 1867.Closer attention in editing the text would havecorrected various dates. The Wey & Arun JunctionCanal was not completed until 1816 and did not closein 1868. The Horsham & Guildford District RailwayCompany was formed in 1860 — not 1840.

A comprehensive history of the Wey Navigationhas yet to be published and the list for further readingomits mention of the works written by RichardScotcher in 1657 and Hector Carter in 1969.However, as Alan Wardle points out, the most reliableinformation is to be found amongst the archives ofthe navigations. PAUL VINE

From Chester to Holyhead: The Branch Lines — Bill Rear256pp, A4, 270 illustrations, 39 maps, 28 diagrams, hardback, Oxford Publishing Co (Ian Allan Publishing), Hersham,Surrey KT12 4RC, 2003, ISBN 0 86093 569 8, £35.00

The price seems high, but this book should be on theshelves of all interested in the railways of NorthWales. The photographic reproduction is almost uni-formly excellent, there is extensive text and thedetailed captions complement this but lead to somesmall degree of repetition.

The author is a railwayman whose knowledge ofthe area adds greatly to the book’s value. There arethe bare essentials of the history of the variousbranches and detailed route descriptions. Apart fromthe pictures, the real strength of the book is in theoperating detail of the day to day railway, mostly inthe nationalised period up to successive closures. Ofthe twenty branches discussed, only those toLlandudno and Blaenau Ffestiniog remain open totraffic.

Some Journal readers may regret that there is notmore emphasis on the LNWR and early LMSRperiods, although they are represented. The authorexplains that later days are increasingly the mostpopular period for railway modellers. There areuseful chapters on train working for the Investituresof 1911 and 1969 and on the rather different Butlin’straffic to Penychain.

It is sad that Peter Baughan’s second volume onthe Chester and Holyhead Railway’s branches hasnever been published, but this book goes a long wayto compensate. Unusually these days, there is a goodindex of locations.

Thoroughly recommended for both content andpresentation. ROGER DAVIES

388

A Pennine Pioneer: The History of Summit Railway Tunnel — Allen Holtiv+90pp, A4, 31 photographs, 4 maps & plans, 19 other illustrations, card covers, George Kelsall, 22 Church Street,Littleborough, Lancashire OL15 9AA, 1999, ISBN 0 946571 29 5, £9.95 (p&p £2.00)

This is a very readably presented general history ofthe Manchester to Leeds main line rather than adefinitive history of a specific major civil engineeringwork, which the title might lead one to expect. Itmust inevitably be compared with Jeffrey Wells’ TheEleven Towns Railway: the story of the Manchesterand Leeds main line, published in 2000 by the Rail-way & Canal Historical Society.

The text takes the Summit Tunnel as its main focusand substantial parts of several chapters deal withits construction and operation. But the author hasset out to try to cover everything else about the lineas well, so we find details of other aspects from IceAge geomorphology to tickets to rolling stock,making the overall treatment somewhat superficial.Gosta Sandström’s rather journalistic The History of

Tunnelling (1963) is cited as a source, rather thansuch more reliable works by professional tunnellers.

The A4 format book has a coloured fronticepieceand over 50 rather small black & illustrations,comparing unfavourably in this respect with JeffreyWells’ work which has more detailed and betterreferenced captions and text. Allen Holt’s book hasa bibliography which implies that he has consultedprimary sources, but is light on precise details andno index. It is more satisfactory than Wells as ageneral history of the line in that it brings the storymore or less up-to-date, including an account of the1984 fire and the reconstruction and reopening ofthe tunnel after it. Viewed as a locally producedreader-friendly history of the line, this book isexcellent of its kind. PAUL SOWAN

An Illustrated History of the Ashchurch to Barnt Green Line: The Evesham Route— R J Essery160pp, A4, 184 illustrations, 64 maps & plans, hardback, Oxford Publishing Company, Ian Allan Mail Order Department,4 Watling Avenue, Hinckley LE10 3EY, 2002, ISBN 0 86093 562 0, £30.00

It is relatively uncommon for the author of a bookdescribing a particular section of line to have firedon freight trains running over it. The present workstarts, unconventionally, with an interesting descrip-tion of working practices on some of the Saltleyenginemen’s links. The history of the line is thendealt with in Chapter 2.

The real heart of the book is Chapter 3 which givesindividual descriptions of Barnt Green, Ashchurchand the fourteen stations in the 33 miles betweenthem. The illustrations, many of them dating fromMidland days, are first class and are given informa-tive captions. They are supplemented by copies ofthe relevant OS 1:2500 plans and line diagramsshowing track plans and signalling details. Theauthor is himself a modeller and like-minded enthu-

siasts will thank him for providing photographs ofso many attractive buildings.

The operation of the line is described in Chapter4, which is illustrated by transcripts of the workingtimetables for 1869, 1909, 1930–4 and 1951–5.Although the passenger traffic was mostly local, theline carried freight diverted from the main Birming-ham and Gloucester line so as to avoid the LickeyIncline and also exotic banana specials routed fromAvonmouth to London via Broom Junction andOlney.

A few minor errors, such as the misplaced stationheadings in Table 2, are easily spotted and corrected.That said, it is hard to fault this beautifully producedvolume. STEPHEN BRAGG

The Coey/Cowie Brothers: All Railwaymen — John Chackfield176pp, A5, 121 photographs, 20 drawings and plans, hardback, Oakwood Press, P.O. Box 13. Usk, MonmouthshireNP15 1YS, 2003, ISBN 0 85361 1, £12.95

This biography is divided between Robert Coey, Irishlocomotive engineer, and his two younger brothersJames and Henry who spelt their name Cowie andwho became railway managers in the northern

counties of Ireland.British locomotive engineering has some notable

coincidences: Greenly, Gresley and Stanier were allborn in 1876 but diverged widely in their careers.

389

Aspinall, H A Ivatt and Robert Coey were all bornin 1851 but were closely connected and life-longfriends. Aspinall was chief locomotive engineer ofthe Great Southern & Western Railway in Irelanduntil he moved to the L&YR at Horwich; Ivattfollowed him at Inchicore, Dublin, until moving tothe GNR at Doncaster. He was succeeded by RobertCoey who remained with the GS&WR until he retiredin 1921.

Compared with his contemporaries, whilst hedeveloped some sound designs, Coey remained aminor figure. His designs closely followed those ofIvatt except for a not entirely successful 4–6–0 and

a 2–6–0 which was really an extended 0–6–0 with asuperheater. His 4–4–0 design was further developedby his successor R E L Maunsell.

There are numerous family photographs in thebook as well as pictures of locomotives, etc. Thereis a bibliography which gives indefinite referencessuch as ‘Railway Magazine, various (1897 to thepresent)’ and ‘Proceedings of the Institution of CivilEngineers (1837 to the present)’. The index is littlehelp in finding family dates.

Despite these quibbles, the book contains valuableinformation and is a notable contribution to Irishrailway history. JOHN MARSHALL

Shipping on the Humber: The South Bank – Mike Taylor128 pp, 235x165mm, 175 photographs, 3 drawings, 6 maps and plans, paperback, Tempus Publishing, The Mill,Brimscombe Port, Stroud, Gloucestershire GL55 2QG, 2003, ISBN 0 7524 2780 6, £12.99

This is a book of photographs with long captions.There is no separate text, only a one-page intro-duction. The photos are in eight groups, each beinga length of the river, starting at Louth and goingthrough to the confluence of the rivers Ouse andTrent. The book only deals with the south bank (onwhich there have been fewer books than on Hull andthe north bank) and with small craft used coastallyor on inland waterways.

The photographs are clear and the captions infor-mative. A good number of pictures show the shipsat work and emphasise the range of goods carriedand the laborious man-and-barrow methods ofloading and unloading. The cargoes fit into the high

volume and low value category one expects for watertransport — coal, bricks, sand, stone and cement —as well as seeds and nuts for oil extraction. Thereare also pictures of passenger ferries on excursionsand at regattas as well as market boats taking localproduce to Hull.

Although there is no story or underlying narrative,the captions give a good idea of the small craft whichplied their trades until very recently and just howdeeply embedded in the community was the maritimedimension. Sadly, no sources are given and there isno bibliography. The photographs are attributed. Itis a pleasant and instructive read.

JOHN ARMSTRONG

Over Here! Baldwin Military Locomotives in the UK — Lawson Little40pp, 235x175mm, 43 b&w photographs, five 7mm scale plans, paperback, The Narrow Gauge Railway Society, 6 TheCrescent, Orton Longueville, Peterborough PE2 7DT, ISSN 0142 5587, £5.95

This very well produced little book is a special winter2002/3 edition of the Narrow Gauge RailwaySociety’s regular magazine. As the title suggests,there is scant coverage of the original purpose of theBaldwin 60cm gauge 4–6–0 pannier tanks, supplyingthe trenches of the Western Front in World War One.The author explains that the British War Office andthe Ministry of Munitions had to turn to a foreignlocomotive manufacturer in 1916 because Britishbuilders were overstretched. Baldwin of Philadel-phia USA could and did deliver an extraordinary 495locomotives in fairly short order. The technicaldetails are illustrated in the book with 7mm scale

drawings by Roy Link.After the war, most of the Baldwins were cut up

but some, overhauled by Bagnalls, went to fourBritish light railways and one industrial concern.Two Baldwin 4–6–0s are now in the UK awaitingrestoration. Ironically, neither ever worked herecommercially but were among 50 shipped straightto India’s North West Frontier and rescued by Britishenthusiasts from cutting up in 1985.

Overall, ‘Over Here!’ is a worthy addition to ourknowledge of the British narrow gauge and isexcellent value. BRIAN WESLEY

390

Bristol to Taunton — Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith96pp, 233x167mm, 123 photographs, 28 maps & plans, hardback, Middleton Press, Easebourne Lane, Midhurst, WestSussex GU29 9AZ, 2003, ISBN 1 904474 03 9, £14.95

This book in the ‘Western Main Lines’ series follwthe usual Middleton Press practice of containing well-captioned photographs and extracts from large scalemaps of each station along the line. Further informa-tion includes some details of signal box dates, stationstaffing levels and crane facilities. References aremade to other Middleton Press albums which containfurther views of the same locations, for example, atHighbridge and Durston. The course of the first line

to Weston-super-Mare is marked on two of the maps,but the 1841 terminus was slightly north of the areaindicated.

The book is a good record of stations that havevanished and of changes made to existing stations.Dunball is one that has gone: it had a short branch toa wharf on the river Parrett and, to reach one of theplatforms, passengers had to cross five tracks on thelevel! ALLAN BRACKENBURY

Branch Lines to Princes Risborough — Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith96pp, 233x167mm, 121 photographs, 19 maps & plans, hardback, Middleton Press, Easebourne Lane, Midhurst, WestSussex GU29 9AZ, 2003, ISBN 1 904474 05 5, £14.95

This book is about three railways which came toPrinces Risborough — north from Aylesbury, westfrom Oxford via Thame and southwest from Watling-ton. The Watlington and Thame branches lost theirpassenger trains in 1957 and 1963 respectively.Today a fragment of the Thame branch retains goodstraffic west of Morris Cowley, a preservation societyis based at Chinnor on the Watlington line and theAylesbury branch sees more passenger trains thanever before.

As usual with the Middleton Press, this bookcontains explanatory maps and a wide range of photo-graphs covering the stations and traffic on eachbranch particularly in passenger days. Informativecaptions include comments about how close thestations and halts were to their intended customers.Timetable extracts, gradient profiles, station statis-tics, and a selection of tickets complete the work.This is an enjoyable record of three lesser-knownrailways. ALLAN BRACKENBURY

Forth and Clyde: A Guide to the Industrial Areas of Central Scotland — John Crompton64pp, A5, approx 99 b&w photographs, 13 maps, paperback, Association for Industrial Archaeology, AIA Sales Officer:Roger Ford, Barn Cottage, Bridge Street, Bridgnorth WV15 6AF, 2002, ISBN 0 9528 9305 3, £5.50 plus 65p p&p

One of a series, this book was published to mark theAnnual Conference of the Association for IndustrialArchaeology held in Edinburgh in 2002. It broadlycovers the coastal areas of the firths of Forth andClyde, the corridor in between and a few surroundingareas as well. After an introduction, the book isdivided into six sections, each with a list of sites(about 272 in all) and maps.

In such a slim volume, there are inevitably fewlong descriptions of sites, but they are enough to

convey the flavour of the site, particularly whenaccompanied by a photograph. It is interesting todiscover that a society dedicated to the study ofarchaeology does not ignore modern structures, asproved by the inclusion of the Falkirk Wheel, com-pleted as recently as 2002.

The index has the following transport entries:canals 15; road transport 17; rail transport 36, sug-gesting that this is definitely a book to have with youwhen visiting Scotland. STANLEY HOLLAND

Swiss Narrow Gauge featuring steam in the Alps — John Organ96pp, 233x167mm, 120 b&w illustrations, 7 maps, hardback, Middleton Press, Easebourne Lane, Midhurst, WestSussex GU29 9AZ, 2003, ISBN 1 901706 94 X, £13.95

This book is an enjoyable and informative overviewof past and present steam operations on selectedSwiss narrow gauge railways. Its five chapterscomprise historical notes followed by annotated

photographs, the first reviewing the main narrowgauge steam locomotive types and the remaindercovering groups of railways.

The quality of the pictures is good, although some

391

LMS Locomotive Profiles No 3: The Parallel Boiler 2–6–4 Tank Engines— David Hunt, Bob Essery & Fred James64pp, 271x214mm, 50 photographs & 17 drawings (5 double and 3 triple spreads), Wild Swan Publications, 1–3Hagbourne Road, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 8DP, 2002, ISBN 1 874103 72 0, £10.95.

This publication maintains the excellent standards,in this and other series, from this publisher and theseauthors. Although not divided into chapters, sectionsdetailing the origins, construction history, servicerecord and complex livery changes give a detailedpicture of these workhorse locomotives. The photo-graphs have been chosen to illustrate all the majorvariations in design and livery. Quality of reproduc-tion is excellent, as it is for the construction diagrams,although in both cases a magnifying glass or even

have been over-cropped. However, the coverage ispredominantly modern since about 90% of thephotographs date from after 1960, by when themajority of the lines described were electrified. Fromthe historian’s perspective, this is disappointing sinceit means that many of the images are of museum

‘the eye of faith’ is needed to see some of the captiondetail.

Conceived in 1927, these suburban express pas-senger tanks were improved by Stanier, and were stillworking hard and usefully in the early sixties.Nevertheless, the authors are a little too laudatory incommenting on their abilities in service. At leastone shed nicknamed them ‘camels’ because of theirawkwardness to drive and poor hill climbing.

WILLIAM FEATHERSTONE

London Suburban Railways: Liverpool Street to Chingford — J E Connor98pp, 233x167mm, 122 illustrations, 20 maps, 6 timetables, 1 gradient diagram, hardback, Middleton Press, EasebourneLane, Midhurst, West Sussex GU29 9AZ, 2003, ISBN 1 904474 012, £13.95

What Edwin Course many years ago christened the‘Hackney Downs group of lines’ has never figuredlargely in railway literature. This book redresses thebalance. The short length of the Chingford line (10miles) allows for ample photographic coverage,ranging from the late 19th century to 2002. Some25% of the coverage is devoted to Liverpool StreetWest Side and Bishopsgate goods depot. Regularusers of the station will be reminded of what they

have lost (or gained, according to taste). There aresome curious omissions: the Graham Road curve,Clapton Goods and the Clapton / Hall Farm junctioncomplex are not mentioned and a casual reader wouldnot realise that five of the ten miles form the southernend of the GER’s ‘Cambridge Main Line’. However,the book gives a good portrait of an unsung railwayand its stations which, as the photographs show,retained their GER character into the 1980s.

TONY KIRBY

The Trent Valley Railway — Mike Hitches128pp, 262x194mm, 140 photographs, 31 diagrams, hardback, Alan Sutton Publishing, The Mill, Brimscombe Port,Stroud GL5 2QG, 2003, 0 7509 3046 2, £12.99

The Trent Valley Railway has linked Rugby andStafford since 1847. Its origins are here outlined ina six page overview concentrating on the 1840s. Therest of the book is made up of photographs, diagramsand extracts from timetables. There are also lists ofstations, of private sidings, of expresses using theline in 1955, of named expresses in the 1950s and oflocomotives based on the line in 1965. There aretwo pages on modernisation and a brief chronology.

The book is incomplete as an illustrated record as

operations rather than of working railways. Anexception is the Brienz-Rothorn-Bahn, a tourist rail-way which has never been electrified and uses ‘real’as opposed to ‘preserved’ steam. Surprisingly thereare no photographs of the line’s three new 0–4–2RTlocos delivered in 1992 and 1996. TIM EDMONDS

there are no early line drawings of the line. Veryfew of the pictures are pre-1900 although the authorhas enlivened some of them with detailed captions.There are some good pictures but perhaps too manyof expresses going by. Maps of stations have beenredrawn rather than following the now usual approachof reproducing from the Ordnance Survey. For noobvious reason, there are six pages of pictures of theRugby GCR station. ADRIAN GRAY

392

Trams & Trolleybuses in Doncaster — Richard Buckley128 pages, 155 b&w photographs, 2 maps, hardback, Wharncliffe Books, 47 Church Street, Barnsley SY0 2AS, 2002,ISBN 1 903425 29 8, £9.99

As the Preface admits, this is not a definitive historyof Doncaster’s electric street transport (active in theyears 1902–63) but it is a most acceptable interimstudy. Basically it is a picture book, but the photo-graphs, not all of outstanding quality (though theinterest of several older ones outweighs their lack ofdefinition), are informatively captioned and a 15 pagehistorical introduction points out alter alia some ofthe interesting features of the Doncaster system —the loop termini at either end of the Racecourse tramroute, the reserved track, as early as 1916, of the

Woodlands route and the physical separation of theBentley trams from the rest of the system between1902 and 1910. Tables giving opening and closingdates, fleet lists and maps are valuable.

One or two details to correct: the Racecoursetrolley route closed in 1962, not 1963; the Bentleytrolleys in 1956, not 1953; there was no councilhousing in Wheatley Hills; and can the trolleybusdisplaying a Bentley indicator on p74 have beenphotographed in 1962?

Excellent value for the money.PHILIP SCOWCROFT

The South Yorkshire Joint Railway and the Coalfield — B J Elliott208pp, A5, 116 b&w photos, 16 maps, 13 reproductions, paperback, Oakwood Press, P O Box 13, Usk, MonmouthshireNP15 1YS, 2002, ISBN 0 8536 1595 0, £13.95.

To say this is a new edition of Elliott’s 1971 book,The South Yorkshire Joint Railway, would be unfairto both its author and its publisher. The original texthas been vastly expanded both in length and scope,so that it now provides a good historical panoramaof the deep-mining coalfield south of Doncaster andthe railway system that continues to serve what isleft of it after the travails of the 1980s.

The author and the publisher are to be commendedfor an adventurous effort to set the story of a railwayin its economic context, though the cover pictures (a

selection of motley modern diesels on coal trains)do not do justice to the riches which lie within. Elliottsets the growth of this small network of lines betweenWorksop and Doncaster into the variety of contextswhich gave rise to them — the local geology and theexploitation of the coalfield, the politics of thevarious railway companies, the economics of the coalindustry and the impact on the lives of the variouscommunities. In support of the latter point, for arailway book there are an unusual number of peoplein the various photographs. ADRIAN GRAY

London Termini Past and Proposed — Vic Mitchell96pp, 233x167mm, 83 photographs, 19 maps, 2 timetables, hardback, Middleton Press, Easebourne Lane, Midhurst,West Sussex GU29 9AZ, 2003, ISBN 1 904474 00 4, £13.95

This book covers Waterloo (Main Line and East),Charing Cross, Cannon Street and also LondonBridge, Blackfriars, Farringdon and the defunctLudgate Hill stations. There is a potted history ofeach station, well illustrated with photographs andmaps. As always with Middleton Press, the photo-graphs are of reasonably good quality, the maps clearand helpful and the book well produced.

But the book is not just an album and history ofthese stations; it puts forward bold new ideas toincrease capacity on the overstretched Thameslinkservice without the controversial widening in the

Southwark Cathedral area and the obstruction of theview of the Thames at Blackfriars. The book putsforward the ideas of Radial Rail, which includeThameslink services reversing at the grossly under-used Cannon Street giving improved access to theCity and reinstatement of the connection betweenWaterloo Main Line and East stations. There is alsoa section on the proposed Cross River Transit fromSouth London to the West End and North London.It is a most interesting book with some fascinatingideas — especially for making better use of CannonStreet — for which the author argues convincingly.

WARWICK BURTON

393

Surrey Narrow Gauge including South London — Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith96pp, 231x166mm, 120 b&w illusrations, 19 maps, hardback, Middleton Press, Easebourne Lane, Midhurst, WestSussex GU29 9AZ, 2003, ISBN 1 901706 877, £13.95

Surrey’s varied geology gave rise to countless chalk,brick and gravel workings and the War Office wasattracted by the cheapness of heathland of littleagricultural worth. Later the increasing populationdemanded new roads, water and sewage works, andpleasure parks for entertainment. All these gaveopportunities for narrow gauge railways, sometimesmanually operated and often short-lived.

Despite the omission of several significant systemsbecause of lack of photographs, this volume covers45 very assorted railways. For some the treatment is

superficial, lacking a map and information on theperiod of operation. As industrial railways closed,preservationists moved in and five schemes areillustrated, only two of which survive. Miniaturerailways, such as the extensive Great Cockcrowlayout, are not included.

A separate volume for South London, where someof the lines are in Kent, would have allowed a moreextensive discussion of both Surrey railways and theWoolwich Arsenal complex. DENNIS HADLEY

Fragments of Mine & Mill in Wales — Alun John Richards128pp, 252x209mm, 122 colour and 91 b&w photographs, soft covers, Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, 12 Iard yr Osaf, Llanrwst,Dyffryn Conwy LL26 0EH, 2002, ISBN 0 86381 812 9, £9.50 (p&p £2)

This is a nostalgic book for industrial archaeologistsas it deals with archaeology which itself has dis-appeared. It is a very personal pot pourri, slantedheavily towards the north, of Welsh slate quarriesand metal mines. It conjures up many trips clamber-ing over industrial landscapes and coming acrossincline winding gear, mill machinery, discarded tools,abandoned housing, tramroad furniture, cranes andwinches. Several photographs include an anonymousfemale who some readers might identify with as thelong-suffering partner on such expeditions.

Western Main Lines: Didcot to Banbury including the Abingdon and Blenheim & Woodstockbranches — Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith96pp, 233x167mm, 120 b&w illustrations, 23 maps, hardback, Middleton Press, Easebourne Lane, Midhurst, WestSussex GU29 9AZ, 2003, ISBN 1 904474 02 0, £13.95

An interesting album, although not self-contained,as both end stations are also described in earliervolumes. The majority of photographs and the usefulmaps are of historic interest and indicate how muchhas changed in recent years. All major buildings areillustrated but the bridges over the Thames and Cher-well, which were originally of wooden construction,are not mentioned.

The terse captions do not always draw attention tofeatures of interest such as the cast-iron lion maskson station canopies and the disguised asymmetry of

Divided into thematic sections, there is a narrativethread accompanying excellent images. It reads likea slide show on paper. Richards includes just suffi-cient information before moving on but the interpre-tation is solid and knowledgeable as one wouldexpect from this expert. The overall message we allknow — there is still a lot out there to destroy, sorecord today because tomorrow will be too late.

Readers are more likely to return to this book thanto many of the fixed format, lesser quality picturebooks now available at twice the price.

STEPHEN ROWSON

Culham station building. Although the goods shedand adjacent crane at Bletchington are described asunusual, their role in the transfer of cement from canalto rail is not explained. Cement was responsible formost of the high tonnage of general goods handledhere.

The claim that Fair Rosamund of Woodstock wasmistress to Henry VIII could cast doubt on otherhistorical information cited herein.

DENNIS HADLEY

394

Midland Record, numbers 17 and 18Both 80pp, A4, paperback, approximately 90 photographs,maps, drawings, timetables, etc, Wild Swan Publications,2003, ISSN 1357 6399 17 and 18, £9.95 (p&p £2.00)

Aficionados will already know that this journalconsistently publishes detailed historical materialabout the Midland Railway with very high qualitycontemporary illustrations. The main articles inNumber 17 are about working freight trains betweenRowsley and London, the facilities at Leeds in 1909and Birmingham Central Goods Station. In Number18 they are about a journey from Bath to Edinburghduring the 1911 strike, Poplar docks, Midland andLMS fencing, the Kirtley ‘240’ class goods enginesand the facilities at Warmley on the Bath to Mangots-field line.

The Twilight Years of the Trams in Aberdeenand Dundee — Alan W Brotchie118pp, A4, approx 240 colour photographs, tickets, 2maps, paperback, Adam Gordon, Kintradwell Farmhouse,Brora, Sutherland KW9 6LU, 2003, ISBN 1 8744 22370, 2003, £25.00 (£28.00 incl. p&p)

This is an elegant collection of good quality photo-graphs of trams in Aberdeen and Dundee, mostlydepicted after 1945.[Adam Gordon has also recently published a sourcebook of literature relating to tramways in East Angliaavailable from him at the above address price £4.50incl. p&p.]

The Necropolis Railway — Andrew Martin231pp, A5, paperback, Faber & Faber, 3 Queen Square,London WC1N 3AU, 2002, ISBN 0 571 20961 0, £6.99

‘A Novel of Murder, Mystery and Steam’ says thesubtitle and it is. Set on the London & South WesternRailway in about 1903, the story is written as if by acleaner at Nine Elms shed. He is drawn into dastardlygoings on in connection with the business of theLondon Necropolis and National Mausoleum Com-pany and the working of their trains from the privatestation at Waterloo to Brookwood cemetery. The lifeand conditions at the shed are vividly and accuratelyportrayed, as is the operation of the funeral trains.The plot is hard to follow in places (the ‘mystery’bit ?), but the railway setting is superbly done.

ABC of British Railways Locomotives, Com-bined Volume 1958256pp, 155x103mm, approx 250 photographs, hardback,Ian Allan, 2003, ISBN 9 7807 11 029743, £10.99

This is a reprint of the classic engine spotter’s ‘Ref’from the last great days of steam. For the youngerreaders, older ones know it all already, it is a list ofall the names and numbers of the engines then runningon BR with technical particulars of each class, smallphotos of most of them and various other bits of dataincluding locoshed names and numbers and locosuperintendent (CME) names and dates. Particularsof diesel and electric locos and multiple units arealso included.

Southern Railway Miscellany — Kevin Robertson128pp, 286 b&w photographs, hardback, Oxford Publishing Co, 4 Watling Drive, Hinckley, Leicestershire LE10 3EY,2003, ISBN 0 86093 582 5, £19.99

This book is a collection of photographs showingvarious aspects of the Southern Railway with nounifying theme. It begins with six pages of text whichis too general to provide interesting insights and isoccasionally unsure of itself. To suggest that Lockeand Brassey had the same relationship with theantecedents of the SR as Brunel did with the GWRis surely to stretch the influence of these importantmen. The theme of two lengthy paragraphs on theMeon Valley Railway is that no-one has any idea

why it was built.Fortunately, the photographs are much more inter-

esting — beyond the standard shots of locomotivesat the front of the book. There are some fascinatinginclusions, such as the Isle of Wight hand-shunter.A high proportion of the shots was taken in BR days.The wet day at Waterloo in 1936 is especially atmos-pheric. A poor photograph of passengers getting ona train seems to have been included only becauseone of them resembles Alfred Hitchcock.

ADRIAN GRAY

Short Reviews

395

BR Main Line Gradient Profiles156 profiles, 262mm x 218mm, paperback, Ian Allan,2003, ISBN 0 7110 0875 2, £9.99

Reprint of the classic gradient profiles originallypublished in the Railway Magazine in 1929 and 1930and first published as a book in 1936. This has alwaysbeen a fascinating way of depicting the characteristicsof the main lines. All stations and junctions and manyintermediate signal boxes are located. The shape ofour country is clearly revealed by the profiles. Theprice is 22 times that of the 1947 hardback edition.

The Heyday of Tyseley and its Locomotives— Michael Whitehouse & Ian Hogarth79pp, 185x240mm, approx 80 colour photographs,hardback, Ian Allan, 2003, ISBN 0 7110 2926 1, 2003,£14.99

Anybody who does not know that Tyseley was theGWR’s Birmingham locoshed is unlikely to buy thisbook. It’s a well produced album of very good locoshots in the shed and in the neighbourhood, nothingpre-war and mostly from the preservation era.

A Towpath Walker’s Guide to the River WeaverNavigation, Volume 1: Three Walks aroundActon Bridge, Dutton Locks, Pickering’s Cutand Saltersford — Colin Edmondson20pp, 5 illustrations, 7 diagrams, paperback, publishedby the author at 94 Vale Road, Woolton, Liverpool L257RN, 2002, £4.00 p&p included

The main value of this small, pricy volume is in theclear diagrams which set out the evolution of thevarious cuts and lock systems alluded to in the title.More volumes are to follow.

The Hereford & Gloucester Canal— David Blick112 pp, A5, 90 photographs, 13 maps & plans, paperback,Oakwood Press, 2003, ISBN 0 85361 599 3, £8.95

This book was first published in 1979. This is thethird edition which includes new material about thehistory of the Hereford & Gloucester Canal and therecent restoration initiatives. In addition to the basichistory there are chapters about Stephen Ballard, thecanal’s engineer, and about the Ledbury to Gloucesterrailway which served the same area as the southernhalf of the canal.

The Last Days of Steam around Darlington— David Burdon151pp, A4, approx 300 b&w photographs, map, hardback,Sutton Publishing, 2003, ISBN 0 7509 3158 2, £12.99

A substantial album accurately titled. The areacovered is small, nothing more than a mile or twofrom Bank Top station, but the coverage of differenttrains and locomotives is wide. The photographsthemselves are of variable quality but mostly good.The book will appeal particularly to students ofLNER locomotives although a surprising number ofLMSR types also appear.

Fifties Steam Remembered — Eric Sawford146pp, A4, approx 270 b&w photographs, hardback,Sutton Publishing, 2003, ISBN 0 7509 3154 X, £12.99

A photographic album with reasonable qualitypictures of varied locomotive subjects from all theregions of British Railways. A high proportion areclose ups on shed. There have been more interestingcollections. A spread with five pictures of unmodi-fied ‘Halls’, for example, all photographed from thesame angle and four of them on shed, is not veryexciting.

LMS Journal Number 480pp, A4, paperback, 90 photographs, maps, drawings,timetables, etc, Wild Swan Publications, 1–3 HagbourneRoad, Didcot OX11 8DP, 2003, ISBN 1 874103 82 8,£9.95 (p&p £2.00)

The high quality of this new journal is being main-tained. The more substantial articles this time coverthe formations of Scottish passenger trains, workingthe Garratts, Liverpool Central station, signals,Gayton loop and the Wick & Lybster Light Railway.Excellent photographs and other illustrations.

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396

From the RCHS Photographic Collection

No 20: RAC 62/32 (July 2003, page 328)

This one seems to have beaten our panel of 800 experts. Martin Smith suggests that it might be a station onthe Cambrian branch to Van — perhaps this will stimulate someone to confirm or deny this.

No 21: RAC 66/18

Ray Cook labelled this view ‘between Darlington and Guisborough, possibly at Darlington’. Where is it,and what is the significance of the building that led to it being photographed?

If you can identiy the location or provide information about the view, please contact Stephen Duffell,Hillcroft, Ford, Shrewsbury SY5 9LZ, or telephone 01743 851154 (weekends) or 01625 514 828 (officehours), or e-mail stephen.duffell@syngenta.com.

Errata

Page 288: The symbol # in the table in the box indicates that the position of the lock is not shown onthe 2002 OS map, so the distance is approximate.

Page 293: In end-note 3, the reference should be to Figure 1, not to Figure 3.

[Pages 397-428 see Bibliography]

Publications of the Railway & Canal Historical Society

The Eleven Towns Railway: the Manchester & Leeds main line — Jeffrey Wells £12.95 96 pages, 224 x 249 mm, includes b/w photos and 15 colour plates

Paddington Station, 1833-1854 — Michael Turton £8.50 48 pages, 224 x 249 mm, 30 illustrations

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The Military on English Waterways Hugh J Compton & Antony Carr-Gomm £9.95 00 pages, 2.3 x I —cm, 31 illustrations and maps

The Midland Railway; A Chronology compiled by John Gough £19.95 .392 pages, A4, 119 pages of maps, hardback

The Stratford & Moreton Tramway John Norris £4.95 56 pages, A5, 21 illustrations

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Early Railways between Abergavenny and Hereford R A Cook & C R Clinker £6.95 96 pages, 2.3 x 18cm, .32 illustrations

The Melton Mowbray Navigation M G Miller & S Fletcher £3.95 48 pages, A5, 23 illustrations

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North Eastern Railway: Historical Maps £4.95 48 pages, A4 (Second Edition)

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John Marshall

Biographical Dictionary of

Railway Engineers

An essential tool for all Railway Historians

This work is an extensively revised and expanded edition of the author's Biographical Dictionary of Railway Engineers first published in 1978. Containing over 725 entries, it gives a full but succinct account of the life of each subject, identifying major achievements and supplying essential biographical details. The time span ranges from the 18th to the 20th century and geographical coverage is world-wide, including engineers who were active in the United Kingdom, the United States, all parts of Europe, Canada, South Africa, India and many other countries.

The term 'engineer' has been used in a wide sense to include not only mechanical and civil engineers, but also railway contractors, promoters and managers. Information has been derived from the Proceedings of the various professional institutions, from contemporary newspapers and journals, and from authoritative

reference works and biographies published in the United Kingdom and throughout the world. This volume is an essential tool for those engaged in railway research and authorship as well as those who marvel at the enthusiasm of the 'railway age'.

John Marshall has a lifelong interest in railways and has written extensively on the subject. Among his best known works are the Guinness Book of Rail Facts and Feats, Metre-gauge Railways in South and East Switzerland, and the three-volume Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway, the standard history of this company.

208 pages • 217x152mm • ISBN 0-901461-22-9

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