For our last indoor meeting of a necessarily short season, we welcomed Brian
Sullivan, who presented the first part of his talk on the North Staffordshire Railway.
The presentation was based on the photographs taken by Tommy Tamalin who
photographed in colour from 1960, however these were augmented with images
from several other local photographers. The journeys along the lines were
accompanied by maps showing the opening dates and subsequent changes. The
NSR was constructed during the 1840’s Railway Mania and absorbed into the LMS
at the grouping. The lines lost their passenger services early however freight traffic
survived until the 1980’s.
We started the presentation at Uttoxeter which initially had three stations on different
lines but eventually due to track changes was able to have one central station. The
first journey was from Uttoxeter to Ashbourne and Buxton, changing to LNWR lines
midway. Despite the line closing fully in the 1980’s he was able to call in at stations
along the line to show samples of traffic and, in some cases, stations post-closure.
After arriving at Buxton, Brian returned us to Rocester, where we left on a trip to
Leekbrook Junction and thence to Cauldon Low. Part of this line is now the Churnet
Valley Railway, but like before, he concentrated no shots taken before the line was
closed showing changes in motive power from steam to diesel locomotives. Many
thanks are due to Brian for his interesting travelogue on a railway system that is new
to many of the audience, and we are looking forward to the other parts of his talk.
