Tales from the Tracks

21/11/2024

Don't forget - If you have worked for the railways in Ashford, Kent the local museum would love to see you at their Railway Memories Collection day TOMORROW from 11 - 5. (refreshments provided)
Help celebrate the town's railway history and preserve it for generations to come.
Southeastern Railway Action Group Kent Community Rail Partnership Ashford International Model Railway Education Centre

20/11/2024

Preserved for posterity and positively channelling the look of a Roman antiquity, this is not your usual public park feature. Even its place name suggests a more extensive history than its near 160 years, but Blandford Forum should be congratulated on its foresight to save this piece of railway architectural history. Sadly, on the day we were there its walkway was closed due to the hefty rain they'd had, but visitors are normally welcome to climb the stairs and take the short walk to the end from which to admire the riverside view.
Image credit: Ann Austin for Tales from the Tracks 2024.

13/11/2024

Get ready to party! Tomorrow is the 30th birthday of Eurostar services. The first of its limited schedule services, christened "Discovery Service" departed Waterloo International for Paris with a service to Brussels- South starting the same day. Full services wouldn't commence until May 1995.
Image credit: Ann Austin for Tales from the Tracks @ Ashford International station.

09/11/2024

Folkestone Harbour station appears to be set to become a shopping precinct

New computer-generated images show just how dramatically a seaside town will change if a multimillionaire's vision becomes a reality.

02/11/2024

Poetry and railways – is there a connection? Well, I bet you know at least some of the words to what is arguably, poet W.H. Auden’s most famous work. Written during his brief tenure with the GPO Film Unit, a role he undertook as part of his belief in the 1930s movement to widen the accessibility of the arts. Although technically a “verse commentary” Night Mail lies within the broader scope of the poetry genre. Auden’s words, together with the mastery of Benjamin Britten’s score and the skills of Harry Watt and Basil Wright created a truly memorable and accessible acknowledgement of the LMS post train service.
BTW: Auden shares another connection with railways as he was born in York.
Image:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmciuKsBOi0

In the documentary "Night Mail" (1936), John Grierson narrates the opening scene with WH Auden's poem of the same name, "Night Mail." Auden wrote the poem sp...

31/10/2024

In case you didn’t know - I didn’t

Train operators including Southeastern are offering free travel for serving military personnel and veterans to and from Services of Remembrance across Great Britain.

Follow the link below for details.

https://media.raildeliverygroup.com/news/rail-industry-announces-free-travel-for-military-personnel-and-veterans-to-attend-remembrance-services

31/10/2024

Good morning, Yes, I'm posting on a Thursday! Please help spread the word about the forthcoming "Railway Memory Collection Day" Ashford Museum is holding on Friday 22nd November 2024.
From 11am anyone who worked for/on Ashford's railways (or is currently employed there) is encouraged to drop by the museum's conservation annexe. Come along, see items from the railway collection, chat about your railway experience, and share a coffee and a slice of cake! You may well bump into an old friend or two!
Ashford Museum Ashford International Model Railway Education Centre Kent Railways Past & Present The Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway Supporters' Association The Kent & East Sussex RailwayBritish Railways Steam 1948 -1968Women And Railways - Women In The Railway Industry Incl Light Rail & MetroRailscape Ltd

30/10/2024

– Let's get all philosophical! Not words usually associated with railways but as October is the UK’s official poetry month it seems only right to celebrate connections between railways and expressive literature. Barter Books in Alnwick is famous for its vast collection of books for sale, its connection with railways and its model railway which runs above the heads of browsers. But these words from Ted Hughes struck me as I seized a copy of Frank McKenna’s excellent The Railway Workers, 1840 – 1970 for myself. For how many men and women did gaining railway employment open up a new world? Particularly in its first decades, working for the railways offered stable, relatively secure employment, but more than that, the opportunity to access housing, health care, banking, social and sporting clubs, gain qualifications and secure a place on a progressive career ladder. Considering the rates of death and injury, mine may be a rosy-eyed view of the world, but nevertheless for the working classes of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, railway employment could be transformative.
Barter Books Alnwick

24/10/2024

Here's the complete poem "From a railway carriage" composed by Robert Louis Stephenson in 1885

03/10/2024

On this day in history – 1994 - Car shuttle services began operation through the Channel Tunnel. As of March 2024, Le Shuttle calculated that 100 million cars have made the journey.
Information source: https://www.leshuttle.com/uk-en/discover/why-choose-leshuttle/build/the-channel-tunnel

29/09/2024

Well, I wasn't expecting that! Whilst Googling some beer related background info this popped up! That Beer in Devon has its own miniature railway. Opened in 1975, the 7 ¼ gauge light railway loops its way through specially designed garden "rooms", whilst overlooking Lyme Bay. I'm guessing like many garden railways, it appears to have been a case of the chicken and the egg, which came first? To add to its attractions, Pecorama is home to Ex Golden Arrow Pullman coach "Orion". Following restoration at Wolverton works, "Orion" commenced its second incarnation as the luxury dining venue within the railway's Victorian platform reconstruction area. BTW search as I have, I haven't been able to establish when "garden railways" began, do you know? I'd love to find out.
Information source: https://www.pecorama.co.uk/
FYI: This post has not been sponsored by Pecorama or any of their affiliates

Pecorama - a perfect day out for railway enthusiasts, children of all ages, garden lovers and visitors to Devon. Something for all the family...

25/09/2024

Beer drips? Apparently, it was the continental habit of drinking cold beer (something males in my family consider simply abhorrent!) which prompted the invention of the cardboard beer mat during the 1890s. The promotional opportunity which these small, ever-present purchase influencers presented was quickly recognised abroad, but it would take until 1922 for British breweries to catch on. Produced in 1981 this Steam Train series of infographic mats were not the only ones Courage commissioned. Inspired by cigarette cards, series were also created around fishing and sporting dogs, subjects perceived to be attractive to their target market – presumably older male pub goers (which really makes me wonder what subjects a series for today’s mixed age, mixed gender market would feature?). A railway series suited Courage especially well, as for many years, the company had sidings at their Lower Turk Street site in Alton. Courage Brewery began life in 1787 on the banks of the Thames at Southwark. Originator John Courage gave his name to his brewery closely followed by his life, having gone through the governance of John’s wife and sons, several mergers and acquisitions followed until today it is part of Marston’s operations.
Information sources: https://britishbeermats.org/about/, http://www.sopse.org.uk, https://couragebeers.co.uk/history/

18/09/2024

Despite railway companies having very strict rules about their employee's consumption of alcoholic beverages. From the establishment of the railway industry employees could be dismissed if found to be inebriated on duty. What methods companies used to make such judgements don’t appear to be recorded although in the 1899 cases of James Pallender and George Thorndike, the GNR didn’t have to think too hard about it, as both men were found sleeping off their excesses!
But companies weren’t averse to facilitating its purchase, by passengers on stations and trains or by employees in their leisure time. At Ashford, the SER ensured the residents of their village could enjoy a pint by building The Alfred Arms pub. At Swindon, the GWR’s village ended up with three, including The Glue Pot (which gained its unique name due to its association with the GWR Carriage Workers). I’d recommend a visit to either the Alfred (which retains its wooden interior, crafted care of the SER Carriage Department) or The Glue Pot, Swindon (especially if you enjoy craft beer and ciders).
https://www.hopback.co.uk/pubs/the-glue-pot/
https://www1.camra.org.uk/pubs/alfred-arms-ashford-113561
Image credit: Tales from the Tracks
The National Archives, RAIL 236/160, Traffic Committee Minute Book, 5/10/1899, p.257

11/09/2024

We started our “Beer Month” last week with the Hop harvest, so let’s continue the process with production and distribution (We’ll delve into the tap room to raise a pint next week!). On all things Beer related, who saw the rather excellent information panels which, until recently, St Pancreas had on display about the station's boozy history. Based upon the research of Dr David Turner, the panels told the exceptionally close relationship between the station and the transportation of beer. Having been well-versed in Dr Turner's findings I was somewhat perplexed when I came across Mike Smith's assertion that the transportation of beer by rail was generally confined to short, production-related journeys. Mike concentrated his work around the forms of wagons etc used for transportation of beer and its constituents, whereas David’s research involved close examination of the wider business side of operations. Two differing approaches which appear at odds with each other? Is it a case of somewhere between the two lies the truth or simply that research has moved on? What’s your perspective?
Railway Freight Operations - Grain & Beer traffic (igg.org.uk) - All material Copyright © Mike Smith 2003. For an entertaining snap shot of David’s research watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpYfHk17v5I or scan the QR code on this photo!

05/09/2024

Traditionally September saw the commencement to the Hop harvest – indeed that’s why schools, particularly in the Kent and Sussex area didn’t restart until the second or third week of the month. As proclaimed by Shepard Neame, Kent is home to the country’s oldest brewery, and despite Faversham’s initial distrust of railways, beer and railways share a long association.
So, let’s start Beer Month with the beginning of the process, hopping. Hop pickers were required for only a short period each year, prompting a mass migration of itinerant and opportunist workers to the fields. Whilst families from the travelling community had earned their living in this manner for generations, the combination of the economic boom of the Victorian era coupled with the development of the railway network, offered urban families the opportunity to sample the lifestyle. Which they did with relish, becoming an annual pilgrimage of work and socialising set within the English countryside for generations. For many memories of Hop picking and railways are so intertwined that one cannot be separated from the other “I remember walking across the concourse of Victoria Station, London, in September 1955 pushing my brother’s pram which was loaded with our clothing and other possessions. I was aged five, could only just see over the hood and, with my mother and brother, was on my way to go hop-picking in Kent…..We had set off from home in Essex and travelled to Victoria by train and the second part of the journey into Kent involved travelling by steam train. Queenie met us at Selling station and we then walked to our hopping hut which was to be home for the next week. “ from: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/kent/scotney-castle/memories-of-the-kent-hop-fields
Image: Hop Picking No.1 by Dame Laura Knight, RA at The Beaney House of Art & Knowledge. canterburymuseums.co.uk/the-beaney

28/08/2024

No return to Hogwarts Day! Announced earlier this month in a statement which has shocked many Potter Heads, the reasoning by Kings Cross not to celebrate its place in the fictional school timetable remains a mystery. The celebration has been an annual event, reaching a pinnacle last year with the main concourse hosting a huge stage, performance and games launch. All in addition to the hallowed departure board announcement. Whether its cancellation is due to safety concerns, disruption caused to passengers or J K Rowling’s fall from grace, in the minds of Potter fans the 1st of September will forever be associated with Kings Cross station.
Photo credit: Tales from the Tracks

26/08/2024

You missed it! Thank you to all those who joined one of our 2024 tours (special Honourable mention to those who braved Saturday’s wet and windy weather!) By the way, to the lady wearing the black jacket who joined us at short notice: I never received a booking email, I’ve checked, and your booking wasn’t received, so I’ve left Saturday’s tour on the website, as I’m sure you’d like the opportunity to pay)

Fancy joining a tour next year we’ve launched our 2025 programme. Bookings are now open so take a look at: www.talesfromthetracks.com

BTW tour tickets make a great gift! We love to create bespoke gift cards & vouchers ready for you to post to the lucky recipient. Drop us an email for more details: [email protected]