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Issue 61 (March 2009)

Snape Maltings. Inside front cover
With railway siding passing through archway.

Horne,  John. Adderley Street Gas Works [Birmingham]. 2-9,
It is not clear when these small canalside works were opened or closed, but a new retort house was opened in 1909, and this building forms the focus of this feature. Originally coal was delivered by canal, but later had to be transported by tractors hauling bottom discharge trailers from Landore Street Goods Station. There was storage space for 7000 tons of coal and in winter 160 tons per day were carbonized in the horizontal retorts. With the exception of horizontal steam engines which drove the exhausters, all drives in the new retort house were electrical supplied by electricity generated on site via a 49 hp Kynoch gas engine. Originally a tramway was used to move coke from the retorts, but this was replaced by an overhead electric telpher. A water gas plant was opened, probably during WW1. Residual products (tar and ammonical liquor) were transported away by tank barges. Cyanogen was extracted at Adderley Street and transported by barge: it was sold to South Africa for the extraction of gold. Nechells Gas Works, opened in 1916, was a similar small plant, but most of the gas in Birmingham was produced in large plants with vertical retorts. Comment from Euan Corrie Issue 62 page 42 on the Birmingham & Warwick (not Warwick & Birmingham as stated by City of Birmingham Gas Department on its plane page 4 below) and on the activities of the narrow boat crews who were probably locking down..

Mountford,  Colin E. Burnhope Colliery and village: Part Two: The railway. 10-23.
Part 1 see Issue 60 page 2. The railway was operated by a stationary engine situated at the summit with inclines from Burnhope Colliery up to the summit, and thence a further incline down towards Cragside Colliery. This method of working demanded some complex manoeuvres for shunting wagons aat Burnhope Colliery especially for delivering and removing wagons from the Burnhope Landsale Depot, situated beyond a level crossing. The crossing was the location for two accidents: one on 3 Ferbruary 1912 when a full set collided with a grocery cart belonging to Walter Willson's shop; and another on 11 May 1937 when a sit hit a Diamond bus which had stalled on the crossing. Each set of wagons was accompanied by a set-rider who had a limited ability to communicate with the engineman by pulling a wire alongside the track. The engineman knew the location of the set by markings on the winding drum. The original vertical cylinder haulage engine was supplied by Thomas Murray of Chester-le-Street in about 1845. This was augmenterd by a horizontal cylinder probably in the 1860s when the Annie Pit was opened, and this may have been supplied by J.&G. Joicey. The Day Book kept by Joseph Snaith, manager from 1912 to 1938,  records that the boiler house had been completewly rebuilt in 1897. Expenditure on new steel ropes, steel drums and improvements to the rails are recorded. The cost of repairs to the vertical cylinder are also noted. The method of working was hazardous: engineman Joseph Talbot became trapped on the winding drum on 4 November 1922 and bank rider, John Hockaday was crushed to death bewteen a wagon and  a corner of the engine house.

Pope,  Ian. More Kentish paper railway. 24-32.
See also Issue 60 page 44 et seq: the Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway is under threat. These further photographs are mainly from the Mike Chistensen collection and were probably taken by Brian Hilton in September 1963.

 Russell,  Dave. TID Class tugs at Portsmouth in the 1960s: Follow-up. 33-6.
Author joined the Port Auxiliary Service at HM Dockyard, Portsmouth in 1966 as an Able Seaman, one of three able seaman amongst a crew of six led by a skipper, mechanician, and stoker. He served on TID 32, a coal fired vessel. TID 3 was also coal-fired, but TID 99 was oil-fired and used heavy black furnace fuel oil. Heating and cooking on the tugs was provided via coal stoves and the vessels lacked the ability to generate electricity, although a shore power cable was available when tied up at night. Tugs illustrated: TID 32, TID 3, TID 99, and TID 32 awaiting cutting up..

Reading room: Archive reviews. 37
The Corringham Light Railway: a new history. Peter Kay. Author
Originally built by the explosives manufacturer Kynochs which developed Kynochtown to house its workforce and built the light railway to transport materials and workers. After WW1 it was sold to Cory Bros who changed the name of Kynochtown to Coryton and developed a small oil refinery and large tank farm. The line closed in 1996.
Ferries of Gloucestershire. Joan Tucker. Tempus.
The last to survive was that between Beachley and Aust across the Severn, but there used to be many more across the Severn, the Wye and at Twyning Fleet across the Avon near Tewkesbury.

Johnson, Malcolm.  J.J. Cordes & Co.: nail manufacturer 1835-1961. 38-53.
Founded in Newport (Monmouthshire) in 1835 by James Jamieson Cordes and Henry Ewbank. Cordes (1798-1867) was born in Charleston in the USA and arrived in Britain in 1825. Ewbank (1787-1859) was a fellow American. The Dos Works was established next to the Monmouthshire Canal to manufacture nails on a large scale.

Rose,  Juan E. de. 'Heavens Light Our Guide': the twilight era of Portsmouth's trolleybuses. 54-64.
The title is taken from Portsmouth Corporation's civic motto. The photographs were taken by Fred Ward between May and September 1960: the first trolleybus route to be withdrawn had been on 30 September 1951, and the final route closed on 27 July 1963. The tramway system was rapidly changed to trolleybus operation between 4  August 1934 and 10 November 1936. The civic electric tramway system had opened on 24 September 1901 and replaced private horse tramways..

Issue 62 (June 2009)

Elidyr owned by Dinorwic Quarry Co. in Ramsgate Harbour alongside John Perry & Co., coal merchant. Inside front cover
See also feature on Port Dinorwic page 54 et seq

Putley, John.  The La Belle Marie: a Forest of Dean market boat. 2-17.
The La Belle Marie had a long and strange career: it began by being a monster on a restricted navigation, the River Avon, eventually became a rather small vessel on the turbulent waters off the Ulster coast, and was finally a market boat on the River Wye. She was built by at Gloucester by Miller & Son, successor to Pickersgill & Miller. William Pickersgill came from Sunderland, but John Miller was a Gloucester man. The yard was located on the Gloucester & Berkeley Canal. The boat was a traditional craft in being built of timber and having sails, but did incorporate a steam engine, probably a two-cylinder compound and had twin screws. It was launched in May 1866 and was moved to Savory & Son for the fitting of the engine and propellers. It was registered on 3 October 1866. It had been ordered by Edward Charles Rudge, an Evesham landowner who lived at Abbey Manor House and was President of the Evesham Rowing Club. He had previously owned a screw-driven steam launch which had been constructed by Spragg & Son at Evesham in 1863. The 1871 Census appears to show that John Vincent and Emily and Charles Spragg formed the crew for the La Belle Marie.
The boat was sold in 1872 to John Payne of Bristol, a tug owner. He in turn sold it to Captain Robert Easthope, a Cardiff mariner and chandler, to operate the Cardiff to Penarth ferry to assist Kate a double-ended paddle steamer. The Cardiff & Penarth Steam Ferry Co. was acquired by Valentine Trayes and Henry James Vellacott in 1883 and they in turn sold the vessel in 1891 to George Isaac Barrett and Thomas Simons, Cardiff pilots, who probably used her as a tender.
In 1892 the boat was acquired by a Belfast boilermaker Robert James Brown who quickly sold it to Henry and Edgar Musgrove also of Belfast. They operated a ferry between Belfast and Portaferry at the entrance to Strangford Lough. The Master was John Coffy.
In 1904 the vessel was sold for the final time to James Philip Dibden, a barge owner of Brockweir, Glouestershire, on the River Wye. The Dibden family operated a ferry across the Wye, but a bridge was due to displace this traffic and a market service to Chepstow seemed to be attractive. This conveyed agricultural produce, fish, livestock downstream and returned with goods to be sold by Susannah Dibden who ran a general store. The vessel ran aground in Bristol in 1907
See also letter from Martin Gregory in Issue 63 page 39 who is critical of the description given of the vessel's engine: it would have had two cylinders, and the original boiler would have operated at at least 50 psi. W. Savory of Gloucester patented a steam ploughing engine in 1861 and it is probable that La Belle Marie had a similar engine. Compounding was not suitable for the vessel. The Cochran boiler fitted in 1889 was a squat vertical axis boiler with cross water tubes and an offset flue..  .

Mountford, Colin E. Burnhope Colliery and Village: Part 3: 1900-1939. 18-32.
Text includes the effects of the long miners' strike, the underground fire and how it was fought, the poverty of the schoolchildren, notes on the school and the system of education, business premises, colliery officials, car ownership, and on the ownership of the pit by Messrs Ritson.

Juan E. de Rose Taxi! Summerfield Hire Service: the first twenty years. 33-40
William Summerfield was born in 1922 in the Bitterne Park suburb of Southampton. He served in the RAF in WW2 and was posted to Cornwall where he met his wife Doris in St. Ives. Bill returned to Southampton following demob, lived in a prefab in the Bitterne Park area and joined the Atom Cab Co. as a driver and mechanic. During his spare time he became a speedway rider, but after a severe fall from his motorcycle his wife pursuaded him to give up riding. In 1950 they moved to the Aldermoor council estate and Bill acquired a secondhand Daimler limousine and was granted a private hire licence by Southampton Corporation. In 1958 the Daimler was traded in for nine-seat J2 Morris minibus. Further minibuses were gradually acquired and a distinctive lime green livery was adopted.. Bill died in 1994, but his widow was still alive at the time the article was prepared.

Inbye Archive's letters page. 41-2.
AA and RAC badges. Rodney Marshall.
See Issue 60 page 43: brief history of the Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland which was formed in 1897 and becoming the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) in 1907. In 1901 an associate grade was instigated known as the Motor Union: this broke away in 1908 and became the Automobile Association. This prompted the RAC to establish its own Associate Members. The original RAC badge, including the Associate version, is illustrated.
Portsmouth trolleybuses. Malcolm Bobbitt. 42.
See Issue 61 page 63 upper of Clarendon Road, Southsea: not comment about lack of trolleybus, but on Fiat 600 (not 500 Nuova as per caption) which was a suitable vehicle for driving schools.
Adderley Street Gas Works. Euan Corrie
See feature in Issue 61 beginning page 2: comment on what the chaps were up to in first illustration: locking down and on the name of the canal: Warwick & Birmingham, not vice versa.

Woolwich Arsenal narrow gauge Kerr Stuart 0-4-0ST Pompey. 43
WN 1267/1912: 1ft 6in gauge: from IRS work reviewed on previous page.

Reading Room: Archive Reviews. 42-4.
Industrial railways & locomotives of the County of London. Robin Waywell and Frank Jux. Industrial Railway Society,
Very well received. Notes that in addition to the gas works, docks an the many military sites, notably the Royal Arsenal, that this comprehensive survey includes many contractors' locomotives associated with major engineering projects.
The London taxi. Nick Georgano and Bill Munro.
The Victorian railway worker. Trevor May
Horse drawn transport of the British Army. D.J. Smith
Shire Publications.
"The joy of the various Shire Publications is that for anybody with a passing interest in a subject or requiring a quick oversight of a topic they are idael and reasonably priced." The one on the Victorian eailway worker is on its fourth reprint since 2000. .
Soudley Valley Coaches. Colin Martin.
Independent Buses and Coaches of Bristol and Gloucestershire. Colin Martin and Geoff Bruce.
Colin Martin, 4 Willcox Drive, Woodmancote, Cheltenham, GL52 9PW
"Soudley Valley volume is an excellent record of one of the Forest of Dean's independent bus operators. The business started in earnest in 1928 by brothers Fred and Roy Bevan with the acquisition of a 14-seater Chevrolet used on a daily service between Blakeney, Soudley and Cinderford. The fleet soon grew and at its peak twenty-five coaches were being operated. The business survived until 1998..."
"The second volume is an overview of bus and coach operation throughout the county of Gloucestershire from the horse bus up to the 1950s, hence the sub-title of 'From Horses to Half-Cabs'. The volume is mostly photographic with extended captions giving details of both the vehicle illustrated and the operator."
Northern Roadways. Garry Ward
West Mon. Michael Yelton and Chris Taylor
Venture Publications
Well received. Northern Roadways was formed during WW2 for Government and military contract work. Between 1951 and 1956 the firm operated an express service bewteen Glasgow and London; following which the company returned to contract work until 1983.
The West Mon volume covers the West Monmouthshire Omnibus Board established in 1926 by Mynyddislwyn Urban District Council. Bus operations centred on Blackwood and featured poor roads and steep hills, especially Bargoed Hill, which had a section of 1 in 4 with a loose stone surface-plus a couple of sharp turns through a very narrow railway bridge.
Great Northern Railway of Ireland Road Motor Services: 1925-1958, Sam Simpson. Venture Publications,
"thorough piece of research... should appeal to both railway and bus historian"

Skimpings. 45-8.
Besses o' th' Barn brass band. 45 upper.
Postcard sent in 1905 shows band at railway station with clerestory coaches behind (Great Western Railway?): caption suggests 1903 National Championships, or part of UK tour?. See definitive letter from Derek Rawlinson (Issue 63 page 39) which notes from series of post cards issued by the magazine British Bandsman to commemorate band going to Windsor to play for the King and then to tour France. Photograph taken at Paddington Station en route to Windsor. The gentlemen in the top hats are from left to right Alex Owen Conductor, J. Henry Iles Organiser and Director of the band's tour through France and W.S. Pearce (Mr. Iles Secretary). The bandsman 6th from the left is Mr Fred Berry (Bandmaster) and later to become the professional conductor of the Brighouse and Rastrick Band in the 1920s/30s. :
Ainsdale station with Boys Brigade band. 45 lower
Shows level crossing and may be pre-electrification: interesting perambulator.
Brookes Limited Lightcliffe Works, Halifax. 46
Aerial view of works (upper) which shows stacks of non-slip paving; and four bedstones loaded onto dropside wagons for transport to Dearne Valley Railway (lower). See also letter in Issue 63 page 39 by John Scotford which cites Brooke's industrial railways published by Oakwood Press in 1972. and that Hunslet 2387/1941 is extant on Middleton Railway.
Wagon being loaded/unloaded with stone slabs. 47 upper
Single plank wagon No. 12165 with GWR-looking station building behind: slabs were large. Letter in Issue 63 page 39 by J. Richard Morton considers may be the yard at Kirkburton, terminus of the LNWR branch from Huddersfield. Everything fits nicely with the pictures and OS maps in J.N. Fisher's The Huddersfield and Kirkburton Branch published by Oakwood in 1997 (Locomotion Paper 202) but the jib of the crane, hopefully, obscures the chimney on the end gable furthest from the camera..
Postcard sent from Stafford showing railway freight inactivity. 47 lower.
Crane (manually operated), four members of staff watching photographer, four plank wagon loaded with machinery, wooden goods shed and van lettered "C L".
Gloucester Railway Carriage & Wagon Co. lorry. 48
Left and right hand views of 1899 lorry which was presumably powered via electric battery.

Corrie, Euan.  Forth & Clyde Canal. 49-53.
Canal opened in 1790 and has recently been partially restored. Illus.:
Canal Street, Grangemouth showing section of canal which has ceased to exist 49 upper
map 49 lower
puffer in pound between Locks 15 and 16 looking towards Lock 15 (also reproduced in Issue 37 page 48 lower) 50
The Arab (puffer) exiting Lock 15 at Camelon. 51 upper;
Port Dundas in Glasgow with 450ft high chimney belonging to Tennant's Chemical Works 51 lower
Puffer Porpoise rising through Lock 37 at Old Kilpatrick 52
Canal entrance basin at Bowling with Caledonian Railway bridge across Canal and Clyde in background 53

Pope, Ian. Port Dinorwic. 54-64.
Y-Felinheli, Port Dinorwic was developed to ship slate from quarries at Llanberis. A tramway using a mixture of horse power and gravity was opened in 1824, and this was replaced by an easier graded line on which steam traction was employed from 1848 using the locomotives Jenny Lind and Fire Queen (latter extant) supplied by Horlock. The gauge of the Padarn Railway was 4 feet and the operation was unusual in that the four foot gauge wagons were designed to convey two lines of quarry wagons built to operate on the 1ft 11½ gauge. See also features on slate steamers and on Padarn Railway in Issue 64. See also Issue 75 pp. 46-7..

Issue 63 (September 2009)

Pope, Ian. The Bicslade Tramroad. 2-13 + outside and inside front cover.
First published in New Regard journal of the Forest of Dean Local History Society in 1997. The Lydney & Lidbrook Railway received its Act of Parliament on 10 June 1809. In 1810 this became the Severn & Wye Railway & Canal Company. In 1868 the main lines were converted to broad gauge railways, but several of the tramways remained into the twentieth century including that in the Bixslade Valley.

Stonham, Denis. Oil under canvas. 14-27.
Transport of mineral oil in sailing ships. Sailing ships offered cheap transport for bulk cargoes, but at the cost of unpredictable transit times. Nevertheless, the Dunedin was fitted with refrigeration to convey New Zealand meat to London in 1874. Mentions James Young and extraction of illuminating oil from Scottish oil shale, but this was eclipsed when Edwin Drake succeeded in extracting mineral oil in Pennsylvania in 1859. In  1861 the brig Elizabeth Watts arrived in London with a consignment of Pennsylvania oil . Initially oil was conveyed in barrels, but these leaked and wasted hold space. Two sailing tankers (Atlantic and Great Western) were built by John Rogerson at St Peters Yard, Newcastle upon Tyne in 1863 and a third vessel the Ramsey was built by Gibson & Co at Ramsey on the Isle of Man. In the 1870s G.C. Hansen of Tonsberg in Norway converted three small wooden ships to convey oil in bulk: the brig Jan Mayn, the barque Lindesnaes and the Nordkyn. The French government encouraged the import of crude oil to be refined in French refineries and the wooden vessel Fanny was adapted as a tanker but was lost with its cargo. The Charles followed, but eventually caught fire. The Crusader was fitted with cylindrical tanks which were inter-connected and enabled bulk discharge. Following this the Deutsch-Amerikanische Petroleum converted the sailing vessel Andromeda with tanks which formed an integral part of the hull: this in turn led to the first steam tanker the Gluckaug in 1886.
The Petroleum Trading Company was formed by John Rogerson with Sir Morton Peto and Edwin Betts and the ships Atlantic, Great Western and Mary Rogerson.
Trade in oil in metal cans carried in wooden cases was popular in the Far East where the cans were exploited in roofing, childrens' toys, etc. Case-oil was a suitable cargo for sailing vessels, although some vessels were lost by fire: Bowman B. Law in Singapore; the Mobile Bay on Formosa and the Lyndhurst at sea when part of the cargo included naphtha. The Norcross and the Blengfell were also lost whilst conveying naphtha.
The Standard Oil Company acquired sailing ships for the oil trade via the Anglo-American Oil Co in the early 1900s: most were four-masted barques including the Drumeltan, Kentmere, Juteopolis and Lawhill, Falls of Ettrick (built Russell in 1894), Sindia (built Belfast in 1887), the Calcutta built at Barrow in 1892 as the Unionen.
Ships illustrated: Queville at Dieppe; Ramsey (built by Gibson & Co. of Ramsey, Isle of Man), Drumeltan owned Anglo-American Oil Company, Juteopolis and Lawhill owned Anglo-American Oil Company, Daylight built by Russell & Co. of Port Glasgow for carrying oil in cases; Perkeo (originally Brilliant, and sister ship to Daylight, but sold in July 1914 to German owner), Parma (originally Arrow in Anglo-American fleet, but sold in 1912 to same German owner as previous), Star of Zealand under full sail, The Falls of Clyde built by Russell & Co. of Port Glasgow in 1878 and converted to carry oil in bulk in 1908 (saved for preservation in 1963, but currently in poor condition in Honolulu), Ena built by Robert Duncan & Co at Port Glasgow in 1892, Sunlight built for Lever Pros. in 1907, and the Thomas W. Lawson with seven masts built at Quincy, Massachusetts in 1902 for coal trade but converted to carry oil in bulk.

Mountford, Colin E. Burnhope Colliery and Village: Part Four: the last seventy years, 28-38.
On 25 February 1939 Burnhope Colliery was taken over by The Bearpark Coal & Coke Company and in 1942 an aerial ropeway 4½ miles long was installed to carry Burnhope coal to Bearpark (sadly this is not illustrated).

Inbye: Archive's letters page. 39.
La Belle Marie. Martin Gregory.
See Issue 62 page 2 critical of the description given of the vessel's engine: it would have had two cylinders, and the original boiler would have operated at at least 50 psi. W. Savory of Gloucester patented a steam ploughing engine in 1861 and it is probable that La Belle Marie had a similar engine. Compounding was not suitable for the vessel. The Cochran boiler fitted in 1889 was a squat vertical axis boiler with cross water tubes and an offset flue..
Brookes of Halifax. John Scotford.
See Issue 62 page 46: notes Brooke's industrial railways published by Oakwood Press in 1972. and that Hunslet 2387/1941 is extant on Middleton Railway:. 0-6-0ST Brookes' No l painted blue and fitted with side tanks.
Skimpings goods yards. J. Richard Morton
See Issue 62 page 47 (upper): considers may be the yard at Kirkburton, terminus of the LNWR branch from Huddersfield. Everything fits nicely with the pictures and OS maps in J.N. Fisher's The Huddersfield and Kirkburton Branch published by Oakwood in 1997 (Locomotion Paper 202) but the jib of the crane, hopefully, obscures the chimney on the end gable furthest from the camera.
Besses o'th' Barn. Derek Rawlinson. 
See Issue 62 page 45 upper: taken from series of postcards issued by magazine British Bandsman to commemorate the band going to Windsor to play for the King and then to tour France. Photograph taken at Paddington Station en route to Windsor.
Adderley Street Gas Works. Richard Bradley
See Issue 61 page 6: suggests caption incorrect in position of lock paddles (not down but up
Motoring Medley, Issue 59. Roger Kimbell
The Royal Enfield on p19 upper registered T4797 was fitted with the company's 225cc two stroke engine and not a 488cc four stroke. Note the forward facing carburettor and lack of valve gear. The Royal Enfield vee twin seen on pp 19 lower, 20 and 21 is almost certainly the same outfit despite uncertainty noted in caption on p 20. .
Motoring Medley, Issue 59. N. Atkinson.
See Issue 59 page 8 of Guy's Cliff Mill (upper and lower) were taken possibly years apart as the lean to roof on the lower photo is in much better condition (tile alignment and moss) than the main picture.
Motoring Medley Issue 58. Roger Halse
Reference picture on page 29 of Archive No. 58. The caption stated that Swift car was in Leamington Spa: this is incorrect it was parked by the centre green at The Circus in Bath where the railings were never replaced after WW2)

Parsons, Brian. Unknown undertaking: the history of Dottridge Bros, wholesale suppliers to the funeral industry. 40-53.
Firm was founded by Samuel Dottridge who was born in 1811, was apprenticed to the building trade, and after three years in Herne Bay, started a building and contracting business in Hoxton in East London. Here he became involved in the funeral business acquiring his own carriages and horses and operating out of Dorset Works, based in a former coaching yard near Old Street. In about 1855 he was joined by his eldest son, also called Samuel, and slightly later by his brothers Edwin, William and Henry.  The firm became involved in the manufacture and supply of coffins, hearses (initially horse-drawn, later motor vehicles), biers, urns (for cremated remains) and embalming (last not illustrated). During WW2 the Company wass involved in organizing funerals for air raid victims, and its coffin-making factory was cremated. In 1950 the firm opened a factory at Marshmoor, Welham Green near Hatfield in Hertfordshire. Latterly the firm's head office was at The Grange in Hoddeston. The illustrations are taken from the firm's own literature and from the Undertakers' Journal. See also letter in Issue 65 page 39 from Mike Worthington-Williams concerning his father. Ernie Bill Williams who worked for Dottridge Brothers from 1933 until his retirement in the 1870s.

Reading Room: Archive Reviews. 54.
The Industrial Railways and Locomotives of County Durham. Part 2. The National Coal Board and British Coal. Colin E. Mountford and Dave Holroyde. Industrial Railway Society,
The first part of the IRS Durham Handbook: see Archive 51 page 29. "Once again Colin Mountford and Dave Holroyde have assembled a mass of information regarding the locomotives used both by the National Coal Board and by British Coal since nationalisation of the coal industry."
The London Bus. James Taylor. Shire Publications
"excellent overview"
Brooklands: cradle of British motor racing and aviation. Nicholas H. Lancaster. Shire Publications
"fascinating glimpse of a past era of motorsport and flight and of a site important in both World Wars. Well written by a member of the Brooklands Society and illustrated with a good selection of images this represents excellent value for money".

Gough, Gordon E. Underground transportation at Bentley Colliery. 55-64.
2ft 3½in gauge colliery underground railway with Hunslet flameproof diesel locomotives and Wickham cars for man-riding. There was considerable competition at the end of the shift to be at the front of the train to enable men to get hot water in the pit-head baths. Author relates how he obtained training to become a driver by seeking an interview with the colliery manager.

Issue 64 (December 2009)

Foden FE6 four axle truck with two-stroke supercharged diesel engine owned Fraser Brothers of Greenock. front cover
Same view repeated in black & white but with extensive caption also notes presence of Burns & Laird Line Laidburn moored in dock.

Whitehaven Harbour. inside front cover
Two colour illustrations of locomotives at Whitehaven Harbour taken by David Hindle in the 1960s: both show Victoria a Peckett 0-4-0ST WN 2028/1942 and the lower also shows a Robert Stephenson & Hawthorn 0-4-0ST shunting steel hopper wagons

Fenton, Roy. The slate steamers. 2-14.
See also Issue 62 page 54.

Bottle, Ted. Dinorwic revisited (Follow-up). 15-16.
See also Issue 62 page 54.: Photographs taken during a visit made in 1960 or 1961 with permission to travel on trains, including up and down inclines. Full explanation of how narrower gauge wagons transferred onto and off "main line Padarn Railway" transporter wagons. See also Issue 75 pp. 46-7.

Bobbitt, Malcolm. Foden and ERF. 17-38.
Based on business of Plant & Hancock in Elworth, near Sandbach in Cheshire. George Hancock was the son of Walter Hancock who was an early operator/designer of steam carriages in East London and whose work is described in The Hancocks of Marlborough by Loadman and James. In the 1930s Edwin Richard Foden set up on his own as E.R. Foden & Son Diesel taking over part of the Jernnings coachbuilding works in Sandbach. Ernest Sharratt moved from Fodens to join ERF

* Designed by Eddie Twemlow and Jack Mills [same view repeated in colour on cover]

Inbye Archive' s letters. 39.
Dottridge Brothers. Mike Worthington-Williams
See Issue 63 page 40: writer's father, Ernie Bill Williams worked for Dottridge Brothers from 1933 until his retirement in the 1870s

Reading Room: Archive Reviews. 39
Richard Dunston Ltd of Thorne & Hessle. Mike Taylor. Pen and Sword.
Author is regular Archive contributor.
Building a railway: Bourne to Saxby; edited Stewart Squires and Ken Hollamby. Lincoln Record Society.
Construction of line between 1899 and 1893 as recorded in photographs taken by Charles S. Wilson, resident engineer

Jackson, Paul. Non-recovery coke making in the UK: the Coppée Oven. 40-55
Evence Dieudonné Coppée was born in Belgium in 1827 and graduated at the Mons Mining Academy. From 1851 he operated a coking plant located between Manage and La Louvière near the Haine-Sainte-Piere coal mine.

Pope, Ian. Industrial Bixslade. Part 1. The stone works. 56-64.
E. Turner & Sons, a Cardiff-based firm, involved with works for the Marquis of Bute in Cardiff, started quarrying and works for stone dressing in rhe early 1900s. The quarries and works are still in operation.

Issue 65 (March 2010)

Glamorgan Llwynypia Collieries Coppée ovens (coloured). front cover

Ship lock at Ellesmere Port looking towards Manchester Ship Canal. inside front cover
Emily (sailing ship) and Lancashire: see also Roy Fenton Issue 66 page 39 and further photograph of Lancashire berthed on page 38.

Corrie, Euan. Ellesmere Port. 2-23.
Originated near Netherpool on the Mersey to serve the Ellesmere Canal which became part of the Shropshire Union Canal and which for a time was exploited by the LNWR to compete with the GWR. The opening of the Manchester Ship Canal had a profound affect upon the port. see also Roy Fenton Issue 66 page 39 . and Issue 92 page 2 et seq

*or Telford Warehouse or Great, General or Winged Warehouse; completed by William Cubitt

Ward, Alan. A Wiltshire agricultural business. 24-8.
Photographs from the R. Selbourne Collection which were probably taken by John Campbell Crowdy between 1920 and 1924 and show the activities of the Swindon Motor Engineering Company. Further selection in Issue 66 page 58..

Reading Room: Archive Reviews. 29-31.
Brodsworth Colliery, Woodlands and Highfield.
Bentley Colliery & Bentley New Village.
Bullcroft Colliery, Carcroft & Skellow.
Askern Main Colliery & Instoneville.
Dave Fordham. Fedj-el-Adoum Publishing.
First four volumes of series intended to cover the collieries in the Doncaster area; compiled and published by Dave Fordham. Each volume is well illustrated, mainly with images from postcards plus plans, maps and further photographs. An extremely informative text outlines the colliery history, the people behind the concern and major dates and happenings.
William Robertson and the Gem Line. Roy Fenton and Philip Robertson. Ships in Focus Publications.
"a solidly researched and well-illustrated volume". One author is the great-great-grandson of the founder of the shipping line and was able to add family details, recollections and some company records. The founder of the business was William Robertson, born in 1832, who shipped coal and pig iron into Renfrew.
Brunel in South Wales: links with Leviathans. Stephen K. Jones The History Press.
Final part of trilogy looking at the Brunelian influence in South Wales. This time the emphasis is on BruneI's maritime legacy, not just his well-known large ground-breaking vessels but also the number of ports with which he had a connection across the district.
Nautical Training Ships - an illustrated history. Phil Carradice. Amberley Publishing.
Many of the ships were ex-Royal Navy vessels from the period of 'wooden walls', several surviving into the second half of the twentieth century. There were not only the training ships which took young men set on a nautical career but also the reform schools and industrial schools which used vessels afloat and these are all covered here.The book provides a very good insight into the conditions aboard and the problems faced in this area of education. It is a very interesting and informative.
Road travel and transport in Georgian Gloucestershire. Nicholas Herbert. Carreg Limited.
Relates the story of the road network and its useage during the 18th and early 19th century. Based mainly on reports and announcements in contemporary newspapers but each chapter has a 'scene setting' introduction giving the background to turnpike roads, inns, coaches, carriers, others using the roads and the dangers of travel during this period. The author was for over thirty years the editor of the Victoria History of Gloucestershire and his insights and comments add greatly to the work. Many of the newspaper extracts are recorded verbatim in the prose of the time with interesting tales of drink drivers and fraud and journeys interrupted by floods and snowstorms. The volume is enhanced with many contemporary illustrations from paintings, woodcuts and engravings, together with photographs showing interesting features still to be found today. This is a very good study of the road network and the effect that it had on the county.
Lancashire's Seaside. Piers Martin Easdown. Warncliffe Books.
History of piers along the Lancashire coast, plus those along the River Mersey, in Cumbria and on the Isle of Man. Each pier receives its own section with a historical overview and the majority are illustrated either by photographs or engravings. The demise of many, usually by fire or contact from a passing vessel, is also covered. Written by one of the leading historians of piers in the country this is a very readable volume with plenty of good illustrations, mostly from postcards.
The Harveys of Hayle. Edmund Vale. Trevithick Society.
Classic book documenting the history of leading engineering firm republished in a revised edition. Foundry in Cornwall, established by blacksmith John Harvey in 1779 built fine pumping engines for mining around the world. Harvey's moved into other areas of engineering including marine engines and shipbuilding. This is a masterly, scholarly volume which well records the history of the company. It is illustrated with a number of photographs, plans etc. of Harvey' s output, the works and some notable survivors.
Northumberland & Cumberland Mining Disasters. Maureen Anderson.
South Yorkshire Mining Disasters, Volume 2 The Twentieth Century. Brian Elliott.
Warncliffe Books.
The Northumberland volume covers accidents with multiple fatalities from 1710 onwards and includes some of the worst disasters to hit this country: Hartley Colliery in 1862; Wallsend in 1835 and Whitehaven in 1847. The South Yorkshire volume, dealing as it does with the twentieth century, covers a period when larger disasters were less common, mines rescue was being perfected and medical care was improving but there were still some sizable disasters: Maltby Main, Bentley, North Gawber and Wharncliffe Woodmoor. These more recent disasters have allowed personal recollections to to add great poignancy. Both titles are well-researched and put together.
Great Western way. Historical Model Railway Society. HMRS.
Mainly aimed at railway modellers and aims to show how the Great Western Railway did things in terms of external appearance. Great Western Way, now in its third edition, has grown from a slim, stapled, volume to what has become a rather unwieldy, weighty (just over 2kg), tome, "unfortunately produced in landscape format". The growth has been brought about by a revised text using a larger font, although known errors from the previous edition have still been perpetuated whilst new ones, especially in captions to photographs, have been introduced. There are also annoying cross references to other books, some now out of print, to gain illustrations of the feature being described. As a book intended to show the various livery variations and lettering style to have had them all illustrated should have been possible, especially as images are known to exist and have been published elsewhere. Perhaps the book would have benefited from being split into two volumes — one purely the Great Western and one on the absorbed lines. As it is the section on the Great Western occupies 186 pages whilst that for other companies — all of which were finished in standard GWR livery after absorbtion anyway— takes 132 pages. There are also 49 pages of appendices and 58 of miscellanea. Some of the text additions are most useful, extra photographs are welcome, especially those in colour, plus the use of colour to show lining and panelling layouts are good additions to the work.
Indian broad gauge steam remembered. Lawrence G. Marshall. Taverner Publications.
Good album of images of the various classes of locomotives used on the broad gauge in India, many of which are in colour. The well reproduced photographs are accompanied by informative captions together with introductory texts to each section.

Skimpings. 32-3.
A mystery gas works. 32
A reaper binder, horse-drawn, in foreground with agricultural workers armed with shotguns; a gas works below; a curving single track railway line within a soft landscape. See response from Ron Harper in Issue 66 page 39: view over Boxmoor/Hemel Hempstead.
Gas locomotives. 33.
See also Issue No. 1 for account of East Greenwich Gasworks belonging to South Metropolitan Gas Co. Upper picture shows Number 2, a Hawthorn Leslie 0-4-0ST WN 2095/1887, and No. 16, a Peckett 0-4-0ST WN 1285/1912. Lower picture shows No. 17, another Peckett 0-4-0ST with train of side-tip wagon.

Jackson, Paul. Non-recovery coke making in the UK. Part 2: The Coppée oven continued: a survey of Coppée non-recovery coke ovens built and use in the United Kingdom. 34-51.
Coppée ovens were installed at Plean Colliery near Glasgow in Scotland; St Helens Collieries at Siddick near Workington; by Bolckow Vaughan & Co. at Leasingthorne Colliery near Bishop Auckland and at West Auckland Colliery; by North Bitchburn Coal Co. at the Randolph Coking Plant in Evenwood; Bowling Iron Co. near Bradford; Barrow Hematite Steel Co., Worsborough near Barnsley; Newton Chambers & Co. Thorncliffe Ironworks Chapeltown; Guest Keen & Nettlefold, Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil; Pyle & Blaina Works; by Ebbw Vale Steel, Iron & Coal Co., at Victoria Coke Ovens, Ebbw Vale and at Marine Colliery, Ebbw Vale; Blaenavon Iron & Steel Co.; by Tredegar Iron & Coal Co. at Ty Trist Colliery, Tredegar and at McLaren Colliery, Abertysswg; Rhymney Iron Co., Rhymney; Crawshay Bros., Cyfarthfa Ironworks, Merthyr Tydfil; Powell Duffryn Steam Coal Co., Elliot Colliery, New Tredegar; by Baldwins Ltd, at Swansea Haematite Works, Landore and at Cwmavon Works near Port Talbot; Briton Ferry Works Ltd; Cambrian Coke Co., Briton Ferry; by Glamorgan Coal Co. at Llwynypia Collieries and at Penrhiwfer Colliery, Williamstown, near Penygraig; by North's Navigation Collieries at Maesteg Deep Colliery and at Tondu Ironworks; Ffaldau Collieries Co. at Pontycymmer; United National Collieries at North Risca Black Vein Colliery; Great Western Colliery Co., Gyfeillion, near Trehafod; Elders Navigation Collieries, Garth Merthyr Colliery; Bryncethin Colliery, near Tondu.   

Pope, Ian.  The Chain Makers & Strikers Association. 52-64
Photographs from booklet produced to celebrate Semi-Jubilee in July 1914 of this trade union in which Thomas Stitch (1852-1923) was a leading figure

Issue 66 (June 2010)

Pontywaun Viaduct. front cover (colour)

Churchbridge edge tool works of William Gilpin & Co. inside front cover
Near Cannock: works manufactured edge tools (such as chisels), augers, hammers etc and had tilt, rolling and grinding mills and furnaces. It was connected to the Gilpin family owned collieries and brickworks by a narrow gauge railway (visible in picture), the Churchbridge branch of the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal (visible) and a siding from the LNWR (vans visible), also open wagons from GNR and MR.

Frowen, Foster. Hall's Tramroad: Abercarn. Pert 5. The Great Western years: deep mines and passengers. 2-33.
Previous Part see Issue 60 page 17. This part follows the route of the Tramroad mainly as illustrated by photographs taken by the GWR prior to upgrading the line to handle traffic from new collieries (illustrated during construction); then during the railway's final decline with the closure of the collieries and the railway. Since then a road bypass has been built over the route (not ilustrated).. Some sections (photographs) defy description; other pages required detailed analysis (especially where they spread over two pages)>

Lower Cross Keys and Risca June 1930: junction with Hall's Tramroad. 3
Halls Viaduct: plan (GWR). 4-5.
Pontywaun viaduct 1887 with timber supports. 4 bottom
Pontywaun viaduct "later" with timber supports removed and old viaduct taken down. 5 bottom
Pontywaun 1887 viaduct elevation. 6-7
Pontywaun original viaduct elevation with collapse shown on elevation..
Pontywaun original viaduct showing deterioration, timber supports
Pontywaun viaduct plan from R.A. Cooke's Track layout diagrams of the GWR 8 upper
Ebbw Vale Iron & Steel Co's Cwmcarn Colliery under development. 8 lower
Edward Marsh dropside three-plank wagon built Gloucester Railway Carriage & Wagon Co. of 1911. 9
Tir Philkins Colliery. 10 upper
Tir Philkins bridge. cf 31 upper 10 lower
level crossing prior to colliery development. 11 upper 7 lower; 12
Waterloo Colliery with wagons owned W. Alfred Phillips, coal exporter. 13
Sod cutting at Oakdale Colliery on 20 April 1907. 14 (2 views)
Site of Oakdate Halt. 15 upper
Oakdale Colliery 15 lower; 16 (2 views)
View from Argoed towards tramroad showing train and spire of Cwrt-y-Bela Church in far distance. 17
Level crossing at Cwrt-y-Bela with crossing keeper's cottage. 18
Argoed : shows sharper curve followed by original tramroad. 19
Cwrt-y-Bela school with level crossing. 20 upper
view over valley to Cwrt-y-Bela school. 20 lower
Christopher Pond's siding. 22 (2 views)
Llanover Colliery owned Bargoed Coal Co. 23
Llanover Colliery. 24
Southern portion of Tramroad as shown on R.A. Cooke's Track layout diagrams of the GWR. 24
Abernant-y-Felin viaduct (2 views). 25
Markham Colliery under construction (2 views). 26
0-4-0ST Diamond owned Abercarn Tinplate Works. 27
Later period
9F 2-10-0s on route of former Tramroad (No. 92005 in lower illus.. 28.
Oakdale Colliery in NCB/British Railways days. 29 upper
Markham Colliery in NCB/British Railways days showing Telfer ropeway. 29 lower
No. 6434 0-6-0PT at Penar Halt with SLS special on 12 July 1958. 30 upper
Penmaen Halt in 1990. 30 lower.
Tir Philkins. cf 10 lower 31 upper
railway near Spiteful Cottages. 31 lower
Type 37 on last train from Oakdale Colliery on 1 June 1990. 32 upper
Salvage train hauled by 37174. 32 lower
Hall's Road Junction. 33 upper
Lime Kiln Sidings signal box. 33 lower

Skimpings. 34-6
Buses in Didcot Station forecourt c1960. 34.
City of Oxford Motor Services AEC Reliance WJO 741 on service to Wallingford and Tappins Albion Nimbus NJB 819.
Thames Valley Traction Co. Guy Arab Mk III. 35 upper
Guy Arab Mk III FMO 516. on service to Lambourn
Reliance Motor Services Ltd of Newbury: two vintage coaches. 35 lower
Leyland Tiger UF 8832 with diesel engine and Bedford OB KKX 40

A Yankee in the North East. 36 upper
Davenport Locomotive Works 0-6-0T (WN 2509/1943) leaving Percy Main with train of empties for Seaton Delaval. Further information on Hartley Main Colliery and its railways in Archive 4 page 30, 5 page 23, and 6. page 47.
Two road locomotives hauling one railway locomotive. 36 lower
In spite of rhe new level crossing in Sheringham visiting locomotives to the "North Norfolk Railway" still arrive by road so the awe inspiring vision of a locomotive on a low loader being hauled by a diesel-engined road "traction" is still an everyday occurence.  In the 1900s it must have been more unusual. The road locomotives are fairly typical and the railway locomotive is probably an 0-6-0ST probably supplied by Manning Wardle and is not new. There are six onlookers and a dog (unlikely candidate for Cruft's).  One of the boys is wearing an Eton collar (does not imply future prime minister) and one of the men is wearing a bowler. Trees not in leaf: looks like an estate road.

Coalbrookdale locomotives. 37.
No. 5 and chassis of No. 6 are preserved at Coalbrookdale at the Ironbridge Gorge Museum, but this pair of photographs probably date to period just before WW1.

Ellesmere Port. 38.
Lancashire: see also Issue 65 inside front cover

Inbye [letters]. 39
Ellesmere Port revisited. Roy Fenton.
See Issue 65 page 2 et seq and especially illustration inside front cover and the one opposite (page 38) where steamer is identified as Lancashire: vessel was built at Paisley in 1892 and was originally owned by John J. Mack & Sons of Liverpool, then passed through several hands before being broken up in 1936 on River Wear. Also identifies ships in images on page 8 upper and lower which had letter "M" on funnel as the Marena built in 1908 for Joseph Monks & Co. and on page 9 the Clarrie. Also visible are the distinctive crossed battleaxes on the funnle of vessel which was probably the Admiral, built in Maryport in 1906 for Rear Admiral John Parry Jones-Parry to convey slate from his quarries in the Llyn Peninsula eventually named First when owned by Ulster shipping company. The decline of Ellesmere port was due to lack of interest by its owner, the LNWR, which concentrated upon developing is dock at Garston. The effect of the Manchester Ship Canal was beneficial in the longer term 
Mystery gas works. Ron Harper.
See Issue 65 page 32 view over Boxmoor/Hemel Hempstead with gas works on Midland Railway branch line from Harpenden: see also Woodward, S. and Woodward, G. The Harpenden to Hemel Hempstead Railway: the Nickey Line (KPJ wonderful cycleway until it fades away in an industrial estate)

Taylor, Mike. A history of the Humber waterways on picture postcards. Part 1: craft and their evolution. 40-57.

Ward, Alan. Wiltshire Fordsons at work. 58-60
Further selection in Issue 65 page 24 Photographs from the R. Selbourne Collection  Includes thrashing machine being driven via a flat belt off a tractor; an elevator; Fordson F alongside timber silo, a Martin cultivator, Fordson M O M with Oliver two-furrow plough,  Fordson F powering a McCormick reaper/binder, adapted horse-drawn muck spreader and a Cockshutt riding plough.

Issue 67 (September 2010)

Taylor, Mike. Humber waterways on picture postcards: Part Two: a miscellany of ports, other locations & events. 2-22.

Inbye: Archive's letters. 23.
Traction engines. W.A. Briggs.

Traction engines. Andy Smith.

Mystery gas works (Boxmoor). Geoff & Sue Woodward.

Follow-up: Surrey Docks, Grand Surrey Canal, Peckham. 24-9.
Three double page spreads based on aerial photographs held by Air Pictures of Porthleven: pictures were taken pre-WW2. See Issue 2 page 15..

Ward, Alan. Wiltshire oddities. 30-4.
J. Crowdy imported agricultural tractors, possibly when trading as Swindon Motor Engineering Co.: R. Selbourne Collection

The Institute [including Archive's book reviews]. 35.
Ben Line. Graeme Somner. Ships in Focus Publications. IP
"well-written, well-illustrated volume"
Waterways Journal, Volume 12 Ed. Cath Turpin The Boat Museum Society. IP
Includes article on L.T.C. Rolt
Ships & shipbuilders: pioneers of design and construction. Fred M. Walker. Seaforth Publishing. IP
Produced in association with Royal Institution of Naval Architects: 130 biographies of people associated with advances in ship design.
Steam coffin: Captain Moses Rogers and the steamship Savannah break the barrier. John Laurence Busch Hodos Historia LLC
First steam ship to complete Atlantic crossing — in 1819 from Savannah to Liverpool
Lost Railways of the Forest of Dean: Severn & Wye. DVD, ruinning time 75 minutes. Bearleft.TY,

Jackson, Paul. Non-recovery coke making in the UK: the beehive coke ovens and ancilliary industries at Victoria Garesfield, Co. Durham. Part 1. Beehive coking and 19th century works history. 37-55.
Also known as Whinfield Coking Plant: situated at Rowlands Gill. Plant started in 1875 and was operated by National Coal Board from 1947. See also earlier articles on non-recovery coke manufacture in Issues 57 page 2 et seq and 64 page 40 and 65 page 34. Includes drawings (diagrams) originally published in Trans. North East Institute Mining Engineers, Volume 8 (1859-60) in paper by A.L. Steavenson; T. Campbell Futer's Mechanical engineering of collieries, Vol. 2, 1910 and John Fulton's Coke — a treatise on the manufacture of coke and other prepared fuels. 1905. This records waste heat recovery at Browney Colliery. Thomas Ramsay, son of George Heppel Ramsay, developed Victoria Garesfield. Next part

Pope, Ian. Industrial Bixslade: the quarries. 56-64+

Issue 68 (December 2010)

MV Glenfalloch. front cover
Colour illustration: red funnel shows up well

Hudswell Clarke 3ft gauge 0-4-0ST WN 504/1899 owned Newcastle & Gateshead Water Company. inside front cover
Purchased for railway constructed to assist construction of Catcleugh Reservoir in Cheviot Hills. Named Brigg when in use in Northumberland (source:Harold Bowtell Dam builders railways from Durham's Dales to the Border).

Editorial. 1.
Comment on the lack of lack of funding and voluntary effort to maintain the last rope-worked incline in the world situated at Springwell on the Bowes Railway in County Durham. The line had been engineered by George Stephenson.

Mountford,  Colin  and Nairn, George. The Pelaw Main Railway: Ouston to Bill Quay, Part One. 2-27.
It may assist identification if the photographs are identified by the numbers given to them in the article as well as the page numbers (as the maps have been placed adjacent these are not identified)

George Nairn is a postcard collector based in County Durham who aquired a collection of photographs from Brian Kirkup, a member of a family with strong ties with the coal industry: Austin Kirkup was Managing Director of Lambton, Hetton & Joicey Collieries Ltd and Philip Kirkup was the Agent for the French-owned Pelaw Main Collieries Ltd. The French owner was the Paris, Lyon & Mediterranean Railway, but this ceased upon the Fall of France in 1940. The photographs were uncaptioned and the problem of finding a date and location was solved via Photograph 5 which features a locomotive and from the chaldron wagons being lettered with an "O". The locomotive was Pelaw II (note text shows PELAW II as per nameplate. This locomotive had a long history. It was built by Charles Todd in 1847 as an 0-6-0 for the York & Newcastle Railway and received No. 107. It was rebuilt at Gateshead in 1862 and agin in 1879 when it became an 0-6-0ST. It became No. 1903 in 1890 and No. 1716 in 1894 and was withdrawn in 1903 and sold via Frazers. To assist identification the pictures are accompanied by reproductions from Ordnance Survey maps: mainly 2nd edition of the 1890s, but some 3rd edition of 1919. Part 2 Issue 69 page 2 et seq.

Chalmers, Mark. Caledon, Fairfields and MV Glenfalloch. 28-37.
The Glenfalloch was constructed by Fairfield Shipbuilding on the Clyde and launched on 3 July 1962. It was constructed for Alfred Holt's Glen Line who had previously had their ships constructed at the Caledon shipyard in Dundee on the Tay. The Glenfalloch was large (12 000 tons), fast (24 knots) and strongly built to the design of Marshall Meek, naval architect. The nine-cylinder turbo-charged diesel engine was built by Fairfields to a Sulzer design. The vessel was intended for brakebulk cargo as a China Boat for the Far East trade and was based in London at the King George V Dock. See also letters in Issue 69 from D.I. Dawson. and Ray Fenton and response from Mark Chalmers.

Pope, Ian. Grindstones. 38-43.
Photographs from Robin Williams Collection: driving wedges into stone (riving); working at quarry face (removing rubbish); working on roughly cut grindstone; working on shaping a large grindstone; grinding a large table knife; grinding small pocket knife at Sheffield showing belt drive. Feature on quarries at Ackworth see Issue 72 page 9 et seq.

Follow-up: Swansea & Mumbles trams. 44-5.
See also Archive No. 53 page 31 et seq and No. 59 page 42 et seq. Photographs taken by Fred Ward in April 1958.

Skimpings: a Scottish mystery [Macduff]. 46.
Showing part of Heather Bell (a zulu herring drifter registered BF 1206) Macduff Harbour with outside-cylinder 0-4-0ST possibly on temporary track and probably Manning Wardle 759/1880 purchased Macduff Harbour Board in 1887. Response Issue 69 page 12 which notes that harbour improvements carried out 1902/3 and dates of Heather Bell..and Russell Wear in Issue 70 page 31 noting published source (Banffshire Journal, 20 January 1903).

Skimpings: Sussex by the sea [Pett Level coastal defence works]. 47.
2ft gauge railway which extended from Rye Harbour to Cliff End built to construct coastal defences for Pett Level: two 1950 postcard views

Jackson, Paul. Non-recovery coke making in the UK: Victoria Garesfield, Co. Durham. Part 2. Coal & coke handling and the process illustrated. 48-63.
Note: the battery of coke ovens and its operation required its own terminology and introduced much homomorphic vocabulary: the word bogie was used as in hutch, or tram or wagon. Next part.

Inbye: Archive's Letter. 64
Humber waterways engine. David Williamson.

The Institute: Archive's Book Reviews. 64
The Annals of the West Cannock Colliery Company Limited 1869-1957. Alan Dean. Cannock Chase Mining Historical Society. 196pp.
"superb piece of work... very readable"
Witney: a history. Stanley C. Jenkins. Phillimore. 118pp.
Chapters cover the coming of the railway and its impact on the blanket industry.

Issue 69 (March 2011)

Mountford, Colin.  The Pelaw Main Railway; Ouston to Bill Quay. Part Two. 2-10.
Part 1 see Issue 68 page et seq

Inbye: Archive's Letters pages. 11
Caledon Shipbuilding & Crossness. D.I. Dawson.
Vessels built in Dundee for conveying sewage sludge from Crossness to the Barrow Deep in the Thames Estuary. These were ordered by the Greater London Council and were fitted with Ruston & Hornsby diesel engines: Bexley and Newham built in 1966. The latter was sold in 1990 and the latter was sold to India in 1999. The Hounslow was built in 1968 and lasted until 1990. All had a capacity of 2300 tons. The last sludge boat was the Thames built by Ferguson Brothers at Port Glasgow and carried 2700 tons: it was sold to Greece in 1999.
Glenfalloch & Caledon Yard. Roy Fenton.
The last ships built for the Glen Line and which followed the Glenlyons were four of the Holt's Priam class: Glenalmond, Glenfinlas, Pembrokeshire and Radnorshire. The connection between the Caledon Yard and the Glen Line was not as direct as implied as some of the ships built in Dundee had been constructed for other shipping companies and were indirect acquistions. Glenearn, Glengyle and Glenartney were the only ships supplied directly to the Glen Line in the late 1930s. Also notes on Ben-Ocean.
Glenfalloch & Caledon Yard. Mark Chalmers.
Sources: Marshall Meek There go the ships; Duncan Haws Glen and Shire Lines; Peter Quartermaine Building on the sea and Fred Walker Song of the Clyde and the Caledon archives located in Dundee Central Library. Notes that authorship in naval architecture is a complex issue whilst acknowledging the importance of Meek's autobiography. There were many switches in ownership between the Glen and Blue Funnel Lines.
Macduff's locomotive. Russell Wear, Keith Fenwick and others
See Issue 68 page 46: Macduff Harbour with Manning Wardle 0-4-0ST possibly on temporary track and probably Manning Wardle 759/1880 purchased Macduff Harbour Board in 1887, although Board not formed until 1898: notes that harbour improvements carried out 1902/3 and dates of Heather Bell. Further note from Russell Wear in Issue 70 page 31 noting published source (Banffshire Journal, 20 January 1903).

The Institute Archive's Book Reviews. 12-13.
Limestone industries of the Yorkshire Dales. 2nd edition. David Johnson. Amberley Publishing. 284pp.
"This is a well written and very informative volume setting a high standard for works detailing specific industries in an area and as such is highly recommended."
Pioneers of the Highland tracks: William & Murdoch Paterson. Anne-Mary Paterson. Highland Railway Society. 80pp.
"... details the various structures which they designed, many being illustrated and has a very readable text, nicely interspersed with their family history giving the whole a good social context. The latter has been aided in that the writer is a great-grandniece of the two subjects of the volume. An extremely interesting read on railway building in difficult terrain".
Bradford Transport. David J. Croft. Amberley Publishing. 128pp.
Less than enthusiastic review: critical of half empty pages, brevity of captions and lack of map.

Pope, Ian. Croydon Airport. 14-19.
Aerial photographs courtesy Steve Grudgings. First commercial flights took place on 29 March 1920, but airfield dated from WW1 Royal Flying Corps activity to protect London from German Zeppelin riads. Beddington Aerodrome was established in 1915 and was joined by Waddon Aerodrome linked to National Aircraft Factoey No. 1. International flights were an essential feature and air traffic ontrol was instigated at Croydon in 1921. In 1925 Alan Cobham flew to Cape Town from Croydon; in 1926 Bert Hinkler flew to Darwin and in 1930 Amy Johnson flew to Australia. The three aerial views show the Art Deco booking hall and Aerodrome Hotel officially opened on 2 May 1928. Aircraft visible include an Hadley Page HP45 (four-engine airliner) and a twin engine G-EBMR City of Pretoria which at that time was owned by Imperial Airways.

Jackson, Paul. Non-recovery coke making in the UK: Victoria Garesfield, Co. Durham. Part 3: The Victoria Garesfield branch line, Colliery and later works history. 20-39 + front cover & inside front cover
Part 2 see Issue 68 page 48 et seq. Most of the conent is obvious from the tables which relate to illustrative material, but in addition there is a description of the branch with its zig zag to accommodate a sharp rise from the main line railway; the uses intended for the sidings, narrow gauge railways to sand quarries and into the drift mines, remodelling of the colliery, and in a supplement: details of specific drifts: Speculation Drift, Coronation Drift, Fan Shaft, Ashtree Drift; coal seams worked and output therefrom and numbers of miners employed; final closure and remains visible in 2010.

Notes to table
1 Locomotives

2. Staff
Michael Gardner, Jack Coleman, Jonty Gibson, Stan Hunter, Harry Thomson, George McNaughton. Maurice Ridley (ifc l)
Football team: McNalley, Norman Wolfenden, Joan Jackson, William Peacock, Chick Johnson, Bob Hodgson, Dickie Elliott, John Hodgson, George McNaughton. Nicholson

3. Locomotive builders

Pope, Ian. Beer by rail: The Oakhill Brewery Railway. 40-4.
See also Rly. Arch., Issue 17 p. 88 lower and  Br. Rly J. (42), 103. Oakhill is near Shepton Mallet and enjoys excellent pure water. The Oakhill Brewery was started in 1767 by Messrs Jordan and Perkins, but by 1791 Perkins had been replaced by John Billingsley who eventually became the sole owner. When he died in 1811 the business passed to W.P. Jilliard who in turn passed it to the Spencer family. In 1889 they formed the Oakhill Brewery Company Limited. The output was taken by road by a Wallis & Steevens traction engine and this led to damage to the local roads, hence the narrow gauge railway opened in 1903. Narrow gauge, 2ft 6in railway, 2¾ miles long connected brewery with Somerset & Dorset Railway at Binegar. Locomotive supplied by W.G. Bagnall. called Mendip and this had to be replaced by a larger Peckett locomotive named Oakhill. Following WW1 the railway was replaced by road transport. There was a serious fire at the brewery in 1925 and the concern was acquired by Bristol United Brewery. The malthouses are still extant.. See also letter from Bill Briggs (Issue 72 p. 32) which notes that the Bagnall locomotive was WN 1701 not as stated; also questions whether Bagnall's actually constructed railway, gives further information on the Wallis & Steevens traction engine No. 2452 which was subsequently owned C. Bushby & Son of Headingley who was the probable the civil engineering contractor for the railway. The Garrett wagons which replaced the railway from 1921 were 33743 and 34361  

Skimpings. 45.
Stork in the Pool of London. notes by Roy Fenton. 45
Owned General Steam Navigation Company: Stork was built in 1904 by Ropner & Son of Stockton-on-Tees. Scrapped in 1936. View looking towards Wapping..

O'Driscoll, Patricia. A sharp look-out: sight tests for sailors. 46-53
The quest to establish colour vision tests for ship's officers stemmed from the requirement that ships should carry red (port) and green (starboard) sidelights. This reuirement was promoted by Captain James Whitehead of North Shields with the assistance of W.S. Lindsey, the MP for Tynemouth. Lamps were eventually designed to assist with identifying colour blindness and represented a marked advance upon the Holmgren Wool Test for colour blindness. In 1969 the President of the Board of Trade established a committee under John Naisby to review sight testing for merchant seamen and this led to a new lantern being used from 1 September 1976. Certificates of competence in the Marchant Navy: deck officer requirements (HMSO, 1977) has a valuable section on sight tests as then laid down. Article ends with an anecdote of incident when author was Mate on sailing barge Memory on Thames in June 1959 when there was a near collision with the Heinrich Ahrens of Bremen in spite of the navigation lights being lit. Illustrations: Colour Perception Lantern of 1912; cartoon showing Holmgren test; the Williams Lantern of 1899 for testing colour vision of railwaymen; rear and detail of 1912 Colour Perception Lantern; oil lamp; Holmes Wright colour testing lantern (as used from 1976); CAM Fletcher-Evans lantern.

Skimpings:
Electricity generating station, turntable and bedding rolls. 54 upper
Gorleston beach: sand removal from promenade with Pier Hotel behind. 54 lower
See letter from Kevin Jones who mea culpa spelt Gorleston incorrectly
Peebles Steam Railcar. 55
See Issue 70 page 30 for letters from Colin Blackburn  (location was Brush Falcon Works in Loughborough); from Andrew Wilson (mainly on location, but suggests link with Bruce Peebles & Co. of Edinburgh for car which it is suggested was under-powered; from Martin Gregory who links item to the Locomotive Magazine, 1905, 11, p. 94 (which stated that car was built by Gantz and a trial run was made to Derby); and from Peter Swift (mainly on the Falcon emblem which was on display at the Tramway Museum at Crich).

Chalmers, Mark. Taybank New Works – Europe's last jute spinning mill. 56-64
Constructed by the Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society in Dundee in 1947-9. The Scottish Co-operative Wholeslale Scociety (SCWS) had purchased a jute mill from Scorrier Brough in 1917 to manufacture its own sacks for coal and flour. A decision was taken in the late 1930s to design a new mill by Henry Tait the manager of the group, but construction did not commence until 1947-9. The architect was Kenneth F. Masson and the design represents the culmination of the Northlight factory style and included Art Deco features, notably the faience cream coloured tiles. During batching oil is added to the jute to make it pliable: it is believed that the Dundee whale oil industry assisted in the devlopment of the jute industry.

Issue 70 (June 2011)

Bobbitt, Malcolm. In time of War and its aftermath. 2-23.
The private car industry was subject to many restrictions during WW2. Petrol was rationed and then its use for private motoring was banned, except for certain professionals such as medical doctors, priests, etc. Petrol was restricted to Pool which was of inferior quality and liable to cause pinking and this prompted the sale of additives. Prices also rose, both in actual fuel costs and in taxation. The Road Fund Licence was also increased. Red dye was added to commercial fuel to prevent its use for private motoring. There was a black market in fuel. The black out forced the use of slitted headlamps and paaintings bumpers, etc. white. The accident rate at night was high and a 20 mile/h was imposed. Road blocks were frequent especially in areas considered to be at risk from invasion. Tyres were in short supply due to the loss of imports from Malaya and the collection of waste rubber to process into reclaim was encouraged. Car production was switched to the manufacture of military vehicles. Shadow Factories were developed: for instance, Ford manufactured at Urmston, near Manchester. Private cars had to be camouflaged, especially in key areas. Producer gas based on anthracite, coke or timber waste and town gas were used as fuel. Bombing was another major hazard.
In the latter part of the War Postwar planning became important. Just before WW2 consideration was being given to a new road network and this eventually led to the Preston By-Pass and the Motorways. Mass production was advocated, but the British industry remained highly conservative and ignored trends on Mainland Europe, such as the production of a single model for a mass market. The SMMT rejected such notions as front wheel drive and diesel engines. Sir Stafford Cripps attempted to influence the industry, but was dismissed as being merely a revoltionary, although he was one of the few technically literate politicians. Meanwhile the Volkswagen and Citroen 2CV were being developed: only the brilliant Land Rover could be considered as being comparable.
Sir Roy Fedden proposed a design with a rear air-cooled engine. British cars were ill-equipped to cope with the conditions in some export markets. Petrol rationing continued after the end of WW2, but the 1948 Motor Show was held at Earls Court.

Lingwood, John. River Wear, Sunderland. 24-6.
Aerial photograph in Steve Grudgings Collection taken by Air Pictures in 1928. Very detailed notes describe the ships including either the Thistleford or Thistlebrae and the Hemstrath, the Scotia Engine Works, the original settlements of Bishopwearmouth, Monkwearmouth and the original fishing community of Sunderland, now merged into the City. On page 26 there is an 1895 photograph taken of River Wear taken from the original Monkwearmouth bridge and showing Lambton and Hetton staithes and chaldron wagons

Skimpings: steam cranes notes by Ian Pope 27-9.
Photographs from Frank Jones and John Weir.

Footnote 1: preserved at Beamish Open Air Museum

Inbye: Archive's Letters Pages 30-1.
Peebles rail car. Colin Blackburn
Location was Brush Falcon Works in Loughborough
Peebles rail car. Andrew Wilson
Mainly on location, but suggests link with Bruce Peebles & Co. of Edinburgh for car which it is suggested was under-powered
Peebles rail car. Martin Gregory
Links item to the Locomotive Magazine, 1905, 11, p. 94, which stated that car was built by Gantz and a trial run was made to Derby.
Confused of Spondon. Peter Swift.
Mainly on the Falcon emblem which was on display at the Tramway Museum at Crich
More Macduff. Russell Wear
See Issue 69 page 12 for notes on Macduff by Russel Wear and others and original item Issue 68 page 46: notes published source (Banffshire Journal, 20 January 1903). 
Sand storm. Kevin Jones
Location Gorleston beach where writer observed Jacques Tati like behaviour of cafe door near beach which kept on opening with fresh blasts of sand off beach (pardon for error in name)

The Institute Archive's Book Reviews 31-2.
Waterways Journal: Volume 13. Boat Museum Society
"well research articles" including one on the transport of foodstuffs through Manchester and Staffordshire
The motor bus operators of Barry before 1945. Viv Corbin and Chris Taylor. Authors.
"excellent example of a piece of local history research published within the area but which deserves a wider audienec"
Trawler disasters, 1946-1975. John Nicklin ans Patricia O'Driscoll. Amberley Publishing.
Losses of fishing vessels from the ports of Aberdeen, Fleetwood, Hull and Grimsby
Paddington Station through time.
Victoria Station through time. John Chrisopher. Amberley Publishing.
Colour picture books with older material reproduced in sepia
Walsall trolleybuses 1931-1970
Belfast trolleybuses. David Harvey. Amberley Publishing.
Both books suffer from poor reproduction and layout, but information contained is excellent.

Corrie, Euan. The Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal. 33-7
Compton Lock is considered to be Brindley's first narrow lock: lock house (visible in picture) has since been demolished; Prestwood Hall was the home of the Foley family who had canal interests as well as those in iron manufacture; Dunsley Tunnel was short but varied in dimensions; the aqueduct (since demolished) carried water from the Elan Valley reservoirs (this picture also shows narrow boat haulage by a pair of donkeys; the caption to the final picture notes a former Shropshire Union Warehouse (demolished in 1972) which had been used by the LNWR and LMS to convey carpets manufactured in Kidderminster to Wolverhampton for transfer to railway services in competition with the GWR. It also notes the huge changes in the canal environment due to road improvements (are there any?).

Turton, Keith. May I put this in your cellar? 38-64.
Writer is author of many books on Private Owner Wagons (index on this website). Partly autobiographical: gained experience of coal trade through childhood spent in Blidworth and experience of its landsale depot. There were difficulties with some Scottish wagons which had four side doors. On page 60 Coal Products Ltd is mentioned: Paul Jackson adds additional information in Issue 71 page 32..

Issue 71 (September 2011)

Gazelle photographed by J.M. Jarvis and reproduced in colour c1938. front cover
See also feature on page 34 et seq

Bankfoot Works, Crook, County Durham. inside front cover
Pease & Partners complex of coke ovens, both Simon-Carves and Otto Hillgenstock, coal washery and by-products plant with cylindrical tank wagons and North Eastern Railway wagons. John Ryan Collection.

KPJ Comment: in the mid-1950s he travelled on the Beachley to Aust ferry and spent some time in Southampton and greatly enjoyed the Floating Bridge and the ferry across to Hythe where to their amazement (his father was with him) they landed at what appeared to be a miniature version of Southend Pier complete with electric train. Sadly the Southampton trams had long gone.

Harbidge-Rose, John E. Southampton Corporation Tramways. Part 1. From horse to electric: (the knifeboard and single deck cars). 2-23.
Originally Southampton was served by horse buses, but in 1876 the Southampton Tramways Company was formed.  The first route from Holy Rood to Stag Gates opened in May 1879 and this was extended to Portswood in June 1879 and later from Holy Rood to Floating Bridge. Stock was supplied by Starbuck & Co., Solomon Andrews, North Metropolitan and Brush. See Number 76  page 54 for corrections to dates given in table on page 22 relating to the Hurst Nelson cars.

Map of system, c. 1930. 2
Horse tram No. 24 at Portswood with horse tram shed behind c1899. See Number 76  page 54 for correction to date given on caption. 3.
Horse bus (supplied by Solomon Andrews of Cardiff) outside Brook Inn, Hampton Park. See Number 76  page 54 for additions to info  given in caption. 4 upper
G.F. Milnes & Co. electric tram No, 1 at Prospect Place when new. 4 lower
G.F. Milnes & Co. electric trams Nos. 1 to 29 scale drawing. 5 upper
Daimler Waggonette of 1901: 1:14 scale model See Number 76  page 54 for additional information. 5 lower
Milnes car No. 2 as rebuilt with 50-seat toast rack body of 1916 in front of Clock Tower. 6.
Milnes car No, 22 as rebuilt as welding car in Highfield Permanent Way Depot with ARP white roundel and tar wagon alongside on 30 december 1948. 7 upper
Milnes car No, 22 as rebuilt as welding car on a tram tour. 7 lower
Bargate Arch, c1936. 8 upper
Crest. 8 lower
Warning notice to passengers on trams approaching Bargate Arch not to touch electric wire. 9 upper
Hurst Nelson No. 13 at Shirley Depot in 1948. 9 lower
Hurst Nelson No. 45. 10 upper
Hurst Nelson No. 38 interior partially complete. 10 lower
Hurst Nelson tram drawing. 11 upper
Portswood Depot works interior with trams Nos. 45 and 74 (built Portswood in 1917). 11 lower
Shirley Depot interior with Hurst Nelson Nos. 48 and 43. 12 upper
A.F. Harris scrap yard on 1 January 1950 with open top cars, mainly in grey livery, but one in red & cream. 12 lower
Demi-car (single-deck) No. 50 at Belmont Hotel, Portswood. 13 upper
Cars No. 50 & 51 rebuilt by SCT from Brush double-deck horse trams: drawing. 13 lower
Car No. 51 ready for run on Northam extension. 14 upper
Car No. 52 being scrapped: April 1948. 14 lower
Car No. 52 being scrapped: head on view. 15 upper left
Southampton Corporation Tramways builders device. 15 upper right
Car No. 52 being scrapped: July 1948 with Hurst Nelson No. 43. 15 lower
Southampton Corporation Tramways Cars Nos. 52-73: drawing. 16 upper
Car No. 58 in Highfield Depot on 30 December 1948. 16 lower
Car No. 62 in The Avenue in July 1948. 17 upper
Car No. 66 at Holy Rood. 17 lower
Car No. 67 heading for Bassett in The Avenue photographed from top deck of car in front. 18
Car No. 68 beside ruins of Holy Rood Church. 19 upper
Car No. 71 heading towards the Docks with ruins of tow centre. 19 lower
Car No. 72 fitted with snow plough in Shirley Depot on 20 April 1949. 20 upper and lower right
Cartoon of passengers lowering heads passing through Bargate. 20 lower left
Car No. 57 being rescued for restoration at Romsey in 1975. 21
Interior of Portswood Depot following abandonment. 23

O'Driscoll, Patricia. Hen-house navigation. 24-31.
"In the River Medway, if bound above Rochester Bridge, there was an unofficial tide gauge to be found on the bridge piers, where there were courses of stones. With Olive May, bound for Reed's Paper Mill at ew Hythe with pulp, we had to get underway from Strood Buoys when four courses of stones were visible above the water level. By then there would be enough water to get up to the mill and into one of the five discharging berths. Craft bound for Maidstone used a different marker a little further downstream.
You won't find this in the North Sea Pilot Part III but this is the best way to enter Whitstable Harbour after dark. Line-up with the street lights of Bostall Hill, on the high ground beyond the harbour entrance. This takes you clear of any moorings. Then there were the Lavatory Lights, at one time a valuable night navigational aid on the River Blackwater in Essex, where the buoys were unlit. Again, not to be found in the North Sea Pilot Part III ". Plus the terrors of nearly being run down by a large ship when drifting without steerage way in the Lower Thames.
Sounding pole on Edith May. 24
Parallel rules and dividers on chart. 25
Dark card compass (dry card): 2 views. 26
Liquid compass on Hastings fishing boat in 1971 27 upper
Patent spinner log. 27 lower
Liquid compass 28 upper
Dannebrog motorised sailing barge. 28 lower
Lafford motor barge. 29 upper
Hand lead and line. 29 lower
Ironsides steel barge (converted from sail). 30 upper
Ethel Maud (1889) in February 1962 with Author aft. 30 lower
Ethel Maud  at sea for Maldon with 100 tons of wheat in June 1961. 31 upper
Ethel May at Queenborough in January 1961. 31 lower

Inbye: Archive's Letters Pages. 32.
Steam cranes errata, Issue 70.
John Scotford pointed out transcription error in lower caption on page 29. The works number for the Andrew Barclay crane tank should be 1715 of 1920.
Coal Products Limited (CPL). Paul Jackson
On page 60 of Issue 70 mention is made of Coal Products Limited (CPL). CPL was the Coal Products section of the National Coal Board, now privatised and trading as Coal Products Limited. It took over British Fuels as their main expansion and also UK Petroleum which it eventually sold. It also took over many small coal merchants which may have included those listed in Birmingham, but these did not form the main part of the company and were not really 'amalgamated'. Charringtons and Anglo were also other national companies acquired.

The Institute Archive's Book Reviews. 32-3.
Steetley dolomite and sea water operations in the North of England. Volume 1. Dolomite. Robert Dunn and John Smailes. Publisher: John Smailes, 5 Lichfield Road, Newton Hall, Durham, DHl 5QW. 280pp,
Steetley Lime & Building Stone Co. was formed in 1885 with a quarry near Worksop. "This is a good, informative, volume which is easy to read... topped off with a comprehensive index".
South Yorkshire railway stations. Peter Tuffrey. Amberley Publishing. 128pp.
A gazetter augmented with photographs (moderately well reproduced) and significant dates.
Steam around Sheffield. Mike Hitches. Amberley Publishing, 176pp.
A century of sand dredging in the Bristol Channel. Peter Gosson. Amberley Publishing. 160pp.
The result of over thirty years research by the author is clear to see from the amount of information and the range of photographic images presented within this book. This is an excellent volume, well worth a read, which records in full an otherwise little covered subject and forms a definitive history of the subject.
The Lynn & Hunstanton Railway. Stanley C. Jenkins. Oakwood Press, 192pp,
First published in 1987 this second edition follows Oakwood's standard and much loved format. The very good pictorial coverage extends from opening through to closure when BR multiple units worked the passenger service. For an overall map a section of the RCH diagram is reproduced on the rear cover but an unexpected bonus is the inclusion of the relevant section of OS 1-inch series map folded and tucked inside the rear cover.
The Wells-next-the-Sea Branch. Stanley C. Jenkins. Oakwood Press, 200pp,
The same comments as recorded above apply to this companion volume on Norfolk's railway history which relates the full history of the line to Wells via Wymondham, Dereham and Fakenham which was first published in 1988. This enlarged account covers the closure of the line to Dereham and the subsequent preservation era and reintroduction of some freight services. Again, an OS 1-inch map extract is included allowing the reader to wander off down country lanes whilst comparing the map with the text. For railway and map lovers this is pure joy. KPJ became aware of these two works in the second-hand bookshop which now occupies the station building in Wells: the owner must have made a special exception to sell these new works,

Jackson, Paul. Operations, traffic and events on the Shropshire & Montgomeryshire Railway, !934-1937. 34-45.
In November 1933 regular passenger services ceased. Colonel Stephens had died in 1931 and W.H. Austen was attempting to keep the line alive, especially stone traffic off the Criggion Branch which originated at Breidden Quarry owned by the British Quarrying Company. Colour illustration of Gazelle on front cover: Gazelle was built as a 2-2-2T by A. Dodman & Co. in King's Lynn for local businessman William Burkett and was renovated at Kinnerley in 1936-7 under W.H. Austen. Includes editred extracts from the Kinnerley Station register as per 40 upper..

Map of system. 34 upper
Shropshire & Montgomeryshire Railway handbill? signed H.F. Stephens. 34 lower left
Ex-LNWR 0-6-0 near Kinnerley c1938. 34 lower right
Ex-LNWR 0-6-0 No. 8236 on passenger train at Shrewsbury Abbey station on 5 August 1935. 35
0-4-2 Gazelle with ex-London County Council horse tram on Criggion branch. 36 upper
0-4-2 Gazelle with ex-London County Council horse tram out of service at Kinnerley. 36 middle
0-4-2 Gazelle inside Kinnerley shed following rebuilding in 1936-7. 36 lower
0-4-2 Gazelle in olive green in June 1937. 37 upper
0-4-2 Gazelle with one of former Wolesley-Siddeley railcars as inspection saloon. 37 middle & lower
0-4-2 Gazelle with former Wolesley-Siddeley railcar during visit of Birmingham Locomotive Club on 30 April 1939. 38 upper
Ford rail car at Shrewsbury Abbey station c1928. 38 lower
Ford rail car at Kinnerley mid-1930s. 39 upper
Ford rail car at Kinnerley with wagons from Littleton Colliery and Shrewsbury Gas Light Co. 39 lower
Kinnerley Station Register. 40 upper
Ford rail car at Kinnerley on 26 May 1938. 40 lower
Ex-LNWR 0-6-0 No. 8236 at Kinnerley shed in May 1938. 41 upper
Ex-LSWR Ilfracombe Goods 0-6-0 No. 6 Thisbe. 41 lower
B.Q.C. wagons alongside shed at Kinnerley. 42
Ex-LNWR 0-6-0 No. 8182 taking water at Kinnerley (train includes ex-MR bogie carriage). 43.
Shropshire & Montgomeryshire Railway company letter heading. 44 upper
Ex-LSWR Ilfracombe Goods 0-6-0 No. 3 Hesparus at Shrewsbury Abbey station. 44 middle
Ex-LSWR Ilfracombe Goods 0-6-0 No. 3 Hesparus out of use at Kinnerley. 44 lower
Ex-LNWR 0-6-0 No. 2 (formerly No. 8108) on 26 July 1940. 45 upper
Ex-LSWR Ilfracombe Goods 0-6-0 on freight train at Kinnerley. 45 lower

Briarty, Greg and Rhodes, David. Hythe Pier Railway. 46-57.
Since 1922 a narrow gauge electric tramway has operated on the 700 yard Hythe Pier to assist passengers in joining the ferry service to Southampton. The locomotives came from the WW1 Ministry of Munitions Avonmouth Mustard Gas Factory and the rolling stcok was supplied by the Drewery Car Company. The locomotives were supplied by Brush Electrical Engineering to work on battery power at the muniotions factories at Gretna, Queensferry and Avonmouth. G. Toms estimates that a total of between 24 and 30 of these locomotives were supplied by Brush during WW1 and others rea preserved at the National Slate Museum at Llanberis and at the Amberley Museum and Hertiage Centre. The Hythe machines were modified to receive 220V dc from a third rail. The direct-current traction motors are the original equipment and are extremely robust. Originally electricity was generated at Hythe ussing a 200V dc generator.

Hythe Pier looking across Sothampton Water with train (and recognisable liner). 46
Five view postcard including ferry Hotspur II and train near shore. 47
Ministry of Munitions battery locomotive No. 7 at Brush Electrical Engineering works in Loughborough. 48
Chain drive from motor shaft of locomotive No. 2. 49 upper
Diagrams (front/rear and both sides elevations and plan) of locomotive No. 1. 49
Locomotive No. 2 at seaward end of Pier on 19 February 2009. 50 upper
Rear view of locomotive No. 1 showing coupling and buffing gear, 50 lower
Track plan at landward end of railway. 51 upper
Dropper resistance under front bonnet of No. 2. 51 lower
Torque versus speed in DC motor diagram. 51 upper
Control box of locomotive No. 1. 52 middle
Control of motors at Avonmouth (diagram). 52 lower
Pier Head station with train approaching. 53 upper
Control of motors at Hythe (diagram). 53 lower
Diagrams (front/rear and both sides elevations) of Carriage No. 4. 54
Diagrams (front/rear and both sides elevations) of Driving Carriage No. 3. 55 upper
Buffers and couplings between Carriage No. 1 and Driving Carriage No. 2. 55 lower
Driving Carriage No. 3 showing brake wheel and dead man's handle. 56 upper
Train leaving station at Hythe on 11 January 2010. 56 lower.
Luggage truck being propelled. 57 upper
Fuel oil bowser at Pier Head. 57 lower.

The old and the new [Beachley to Aust ferry and the Severn Bridge under construction]. 58-64
Images courtesy Rick Howell. Brief notes on ferry which started to cross the Severn between Beachley and Aust in 1138 and became known as the Old Passage when the New Passage started downstream. A steamboat, the Worcester began operations in March 1827. Enoch Williams acquired the ferry rights introduced an hourly service on 6 July 1926, but was limited to passengers, bicycle, motor cycles and side-cars. A vessel with turntable, the Princess Ida, was introduced in 1931 and this could carry cars. The Severn Queen followed in 1934, Severn King in 1935 and Severn Princess in 1959. Telford had proposed a bridge in 1824; and a Parliamentary Bill for a bridge was introduced in 1935, but was defeated by the Great Western. A bridge was agreed as part of the network of trunk roads following WW2, but construction did not begin until 1961. The contract was let to Mott, Hay & Anderson and Freeman, Fox and Partners. HM the Queen opened the bridge on 8 September 1966.

Ferry: Severn Princess on final day of service with completed bridge behind. 58
Beachley tower almost complete and cable anchorage block. 59 upper
Ferry: Severn King. 59 lower.
Beachley cable anchorage (75,000 tons of concrete), 60 upper
Beachley pier and tower. 60 lower.
Severn Princess alongside Beachley jetty with work on bridge cables proceeding overhead. 61 upper
Beachley tower with climbing crane on top. 61 lower
Aust pier with Hillman Minx and bridge towers and cabls in background. 62 upper
Suspension links hanging from main cables. 62 lower
Bridge decking being lifted into position. 63 upper
Aust bridge anchorage. 63 lower
Severn King with bridge nearing completion. 64 upper
Austin A30 crossing the bridge towards Beachley. 64 lower

Issue 72 (December 2011)

Dark, K.  Rhyl Miniature Railway. 2-8.
Celebrated its Centenary in May 2011. Built under the auspices of Miniature Railways of Great Britain Ltd founded by W.J. Bassett-Lowke and Henry Greenly. Sold the line to Rhyl Amusements in 1912 owned Isaac Butler who engaged Albert Barnes to develop the amusements at Marine Lake and set up Albion Works to maufacture fairground equipment. Six locomotives of the Albion class were built between 1920 and 1930 for the line: they were named after Samuel Butler's children: WN 101 Joan; WN 102 Michael; WN 103 John; Michael was sold and replaced by WN 105/1925. WN 104 was named Billie, but was sold and replaced with WN 106 Billy. Trust House Forte clsed the site in 1970 and the equipment was used at Manchester Zoo until 1977. Alan Keef reopened the Rhyl line in 1978, but the line is now run by the Rhyl Steam Presevation Trust. Further information in Issue No. 73 page 57 from Monika Butler and from Bill Briggs. See also feature on Llewelyn's Miniature Railway in Southport in Issue 74 page 20.

Pope, Ian. Ackworth Quarries. notes by Ian Pope 9
See also previous feature on grindstones for Sheffield (Issue 68 p. 38 et seq) and subsequent follow up in Issue 74 p. 12. Quarries at Brackenhill and Moor Top belonged to William Wilson Bowman. Originally in partnership with Tom Pagdim, but the Partnership was dissolved on 17 May 1907 when a limited company was established which survived until November 1950.

Mountford, Colin. Lambton men: Tom Hardy and the rebuilding of NCB steel hopper wagons. Part. 1. 12-19.
Thomas Hardy began apprenticeship with Lambton, Hetton & Joicey Collieries in 1938. He had to acquire his own woodworking tools, but the company supplied a cold chisel and sledgehammer (mell) in local dialect. At that time Winston Tulip was the Chief Engineer.

Skimpings 1: Water & wind. 20-1
Llanfair Electric Light power station. 20.
Former corn mill converted by Electric Light Society to provide electricity to the small town of Llanfair Caereinion using a pelton wheel from 1914.
Wellington Mill, Barking, Essex. 21.
Smock mill

Pope, Ian. Westinghouse decking plants. 22-
Illustrations based on set of lentern slides produced by the Westinghouse Brake & Saxby Signal Co. of Chippenham during the later 1920s for which the lecture notes have been lost. They relate to pneumatic safety equipment relating to loading tubs onto colliery cages. Views relate to specific collieries.

Bobbitt, Malcolm.  In the showroom: Bentley Mk VI. 30-1.
NTU 703 at a tidy, but atypical location for such a superior vehicle. Formerly owned by W.M. [Mike] Couper of St. Albans, a Rolls-Royce and Bentley agent, who entered the vehicle in the 1952 Monte Carlo Rally for which it acquired some modifications including wipers on the headlamps and additional demisting equipment. The car performed in exemplary manner, but was not placed. The photograph shows no trace of any modification and was presumably in post Couper ownership.

Inbye: Archive's Letters. 32.
Beer by rail: Archive 69. Bill Briggs.
Most of the information added to main article.

The Institute: Archive's book reviews. 32
Notice given that jouurnal ceasing to review books after this Issue.
The branch lines of Hampshire.
The branch lines of Somerset.
The branch lines of Warwickshire.
Colin Maggs. Amberley Publishing.
The volumes on Somerset and Warwickshire are reprints of work published in the 1990s; that on Hampshire dates to 2010. The Author is well-known and reproduction is generally good.
The Helston branch. Stanley Jenkins. Oakwood. (Locomotion Paper No. 184)
Well received.

Skimpings 2 : A chocolate moment. 33
Carson's Chocolates. 33 upper
Originally of Glasgow: constructed a factory at Mangotsfield (nearish to Bristol) in 1912. Six storey building demolished in 1998 and now area covered in roads and impossible to find housing.
Cadbury No. 4. 33 lower
0-4-0T constructed by Avonside (WN 1589/1910) with outsiode cylinders and valve gear: lettered Bournville.

Kinder, Mike. Ibstock Colliery. 34-52.
Linked to the Leicester & Swannington Railway. Colliery was sunk in 1820s and closed in 1928/9, although the associated brickworks lasted longer.

O'Driscoll, Patricia.  Never on Friday. 54-8.
Superstitions maintained by sailors and fishermen, such as not putting to sea on Fridays. Practice concerning the cod-end knots varied from place to place: Lowestoft practice was contrary to that at Plymouth.

Harbidge-Rose, John E. Return to Wanderdown. 59-61.
House built around two former South Eastern & Chatham Railway carriages located at Ovingdean in Sussex and owned by Samuel Chantry Adams, a retired stockbroker. His housekeeper Edith Rose was resident from 1953 to 1967.

Lingwood, John. More on the Wear. 62

Issue 73 (March 2012)
Note from henceforth author names will not be inverted as its is hoped this may assist retrieval via search engines

John E. Harbidge-Rose. Southampton Corporation Tramways. Part Two. The normal height cars, the non-standard TCB (top covered Bargate cars) and the depot at Highfield. 2-28.
Previous Part see Issue 71 page 2. See also corrections and additions on page 54 of Issue Number 76 (mainly  ex-London County Council (LCC cars).

Skimpings: a lost vista – Lincoln. 29.
Cathedral viewed from Brayford Pool.

Colin Mountford. Lambton Men: Tom Hardy and thee rebuilding of NCB steel hopper wagons, Part Two. 30-7.

Steve Grudgings. 1940s steam and diesel at Frog Lane Colliery. 38-9.
Situated at Coalpit Heath, South Gloucestershire and closed in 1949: had an 85in Cornish engine. Motive power illustrated

Malcolm Johnson. Who was 'Iron-bottom' Rogers? Samuel Baldwyn Rogers (1778-1863). 40-54.
Born in Ludlow in 1778 and died in Newport (Mon) in 1863.  For a time he ran a printing and bookshop business in Chepstow. Business failed and moved to Pontypool where he worked in the Hydrogen Laboratory between 1808 and 1816, then at the Pontymister Ironworks from 1818 to 1820 where he invented the water-cooled iron-bottomed puddling furnace. Between 1820 and 1832 he lived in London where he probably worked as a printer. He then assisted in the acticities of the Chepstow Gas Company until becoming employed by the Nant y glo Ironworks from 1835 until 1858. He was a visionary who envisaged a national gas pipeline built along railway lines and providing a source of illumination for the railway, and a railway across Europe to China. The Illustrations:

Malcolm Bobbitt. In the showroom... Ford Prefect. 55-7.
Three illustrations: Model E493A announced October 1948 with head and side lights incorporated within front wings (p. 57); as adapted with dual control, including extra steering wheel, for AA Driving School (p. 58) and cutaway image of earlier model showing spartan interior.

Inbye: Archive's Letters. 57
Rhyl Miniature Railway, Archive 72. Monika Butler
We greatly enjoyed K. Dark's interesting and informative article about the Rhyl Miniature Railway in Archive, Issue 72, but thought you might like to have a slight correction to the mentioned Butler family connections (which in no way detracts from the substance of the article) and an explanation of their origins. Isaac Gaunt Butler (usually known as Gaunt Butler), the Leeds businessman' was the son of Samuel Butler and four of the' Albion' Class of engines were named after Samuel Butler's grandchildren (i.e. Isaac Gaunt Butler's children) Joan, Michael, John and Billy.
The original family firm, Stanningley Ironworks, founded in 1828 by Joseph Butler and carried on by John Butler, Samuel's father, was responsible for many large scale iron structures, such as the roof of York railway station, Leeds Corn Exchange, Norwich Textile Hall and, in particular, very many railway bridges all over the world, including the first cast iron railway bridge in Yorkshire in 1834. My husband John is a great-great-grandson of Joseph Butler, the founder of the firm.
Rhyl Miniature Railway, Archive 72. Bill Briggs
One small correction is that the locomotive George the Fifth was purchased from Llewelyn's Miniature Railway at Southport not Stockport as per the caption of the photograph. Whilst on the subject of the Rhyl Miniature Railway, it is worth a mention that for a few years there was a second miniature railway at Rhyl in the fairground across the road from the Marine lake that can be seen in the aerial photographs. I saw this railway circa 1948 and the locomotive was a very fine model with an interesting history. It was a model of a Caledonian railway Dunalastair No. 2 4-4-0 which I understand had been built by apprentices at St. Rollox locomotive works c1903. The locomotive was built with the unusual gauge of eleven and a quarter inches. From correspondence in the magazine Model Engineer in 1957 it would appear that this second line at Rhyl had already closed down and the locomotive had been sold to a man at Macclesfield, Cheshire. Does any body know if this locomotive still exists?

Stanley C. Jenkins. NB Towy – Revival of a Clayton's tanker. 58-64.

2012-03-04