The Superb Years – 1950s/60s

John Sloane - 8th September 2021

The Branch’s first physical meeting since the onset of Covid took place in Liverpool on 8th September when an attendance of 21 saw a presentation by John Sloane. John apologised for the quality of some of his earliest shots - unnecessary really because we can all remember how the capabilities of camera technology back then were so inferior to what is available nowadays - and his photographs gave us a presentation of pure nostalgia.

He began with his first railway photographs following his purchase of an Ilford Envoy box camera in December 1957 and he recounted to us how he soon found out that, whilst he was able to get good shots of slow freight on the WCML, the shutter speed of 1/40th second was no match for a Duchess pacific on the likes of the “Caledonian”.

A number of his shots were taken locally in the Preston area and, as the years rolled by, he went further afield using various rail rover tickets, travelling to Scotland, South Wales and Southern England, including remote locations such as Banff, Ferndale and Wadebridge.

It was a most interesting journey which had many of those present reliving some of their own memories of those two decades.