£25.00
A Railway Journey Around South West England in the late 1950s & 1960s has been created from photographs taken by the author, his father, plus friends Alan Maund, John Dagley-Morris, and Ellis James-Robertson. Also, through contacts made via B & R Video Productions the author has been able to use images taken by Barry Eagles and Jim Oatway (the latter via his son, Nigel Oatway OBE). Virtually all of the photographs, a mixture of colour and black & white, have never previously been published. Steam is the predominant motive power but modern traction does appear including: gas turbine 18000 in colour, a ‘Hymek’ in ‘just delivered’ condition, ‘Warships’ and a ‘Western’.
Highlights are the 1961-closed Midland & South Western line between Cheltenham and Ludgershall, the Somerset & Dorset north of Templecombe (including the Highbridge branch and Mangotsfield), plus the Eclipse peat works narrow gauge system on the Somerset Levels. Other locations include: Swindon works, Malmesbury, the Calne branch, Thingley Junction, Holt Junction, Castle Cary, Taunton, Hemyock, Sidmouth Junction, Exmouth Junction shed, Crediton, Barnstaple, the North Devon & Cornwall line, Bude, Meldon (quarry, viaduct and halt), Defiance platform, the Liskeard to Looe branch, Bodmin North, Gwinear Road, and concluding with nine colour slides at Wadebridge. The contents include a fully illustrated GWR route map from Worcester depot as well as the many high resolution images made on the journey and explained in the text.
There are 128 pages, 100 b/w images, 100 colour images and 16 photos of tickets and GWR notices.
It is hardback, 215mm x 255mm. Members price is £20.00 plus £4.00 p/p (normal price is £25.00 plus p/p
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This is an interesting mix of ‘never been seen before’ photos of British Railways Southern and Western Region activities taken during normal operations, excur- sions and railtours. Most of the locations covered are in Wiltshire, Somerset, Devon and Cornwall. The images are a mix of colour and monochrome and are mostly of steam traction with a few diesel hydraulics and DMUs thrown in. They mainly date from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s, with a few from the 1970s. The book has been created from photographs taken by the author, his father and several friends. Helpful commentaries explain the main images and the routes covered.
Included are the closed Midland & South Western Junction Railway between Cheltenham and Ludger- shall with stops in between. The Somerset & Dorset line to the north of Templecombe to Bath (Green Park) includes the Highbridge branch and Mangotsfield is well covered. There’s an interesting diversion to the Eclipse peat works narrow gauge system on the Somerset Levels. Other locations include the Malmesbury and Calne branches, the Culm Valley line and the Southern Railway ‘Withered Arm’ route to the Atlantic Coast. In several images we're taken as far as Meldon (site of quarry, its viaduct and halt). Cornish main lines and branches are also well-featured. Among the many locomotive classes included in the images, we see Adams ‘Radial’ tanks, 2-4-0 well tanks, T9s and a variety of branch and main line classes in their natural environment.
It's an interesting collection of locations as the title suggests; there are no chapters as such and | would have preferred some form of indexing or grouping for the journey. However, it’s a nostalgic read nonetheless.
Mike Peart
