Railway histories are always popular and the continued regard for heritage railways around the UK highlights the nostalgia the industry evokes. Inevitably many concentrate on the locomotives, lost stations and lines that crisscrossed the region. What has often been missing have been the stories of the individual railway workers and the conditions under which they worked, despite some valuable autobiographies and memoirs of railwaymen who worked in the area. This volume aims to address this gap, bringing to life stories of railway workers within a context of the changing nature of the industry from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day.Heavily influenced by his personal and family memories, Douglas Bourn draws on available memoirs, alongside other evidence from railway magazines and local and regional newspapers, to provide the reader with an introduction to the fascinating story of railways in the region. The book takes readers on a historical journey starting with the creation of the first railways in East Anglia, via the growth of a network that promoted and served the agricultural, industrial and tourist development of the towns throughout the three eastern counties, and ending with their almost inevitable decline, as transport needs changed in the post Second World War period.
A BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week. 'Francis Pryor brings the magic of the Fens to life in a deeply personal and utterly enthralling way' TONY ROBINSON. 'Pryor feels the land rather than simply knowing it' GUARDIAN. Inland from the Wash, on England's eastern cost, crisscrossed by substantial rivers and punctuated by soaring church spires, are the low-lying, marshy and mysterious Fens. Formed by marine and freshwater flooding, and historically wealthy owing to the fertility of their soils, the Fens of Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire are one of the most distinctive, neglected and extraordinary regions of England. Francis Pryor has the most intimate of connections with this landscape. For some forty years he has dug its soils as a working archaeologist – making ground-breaking discoveries about the nature of prehistoric settlement in the area – and raising sheep in the flower-growing country between Spalding and Wisbech. In The Fens, he counterpoints the history of the Fenland landscape and its transformation – from Bronze age field systems to Iron Age hillforts; from the rise of prosperous towns such as King's Lynn, Ely and Cambridge to the ambitious drainage projects that created the Old and New Bedford Rivers – with the story of his own discovery of it as an archaeologist. Affectionate, richly informative and deftly executed, The Fens weaves together strands of archaeology, history and personal experience into a satisfying narrative portrait of a complex and threatened landscape.
A look at the minor railways in eastern England that were once busy transport links and made vital contributions to the social and business heritage. Rob Shorland-Ball is a former teacher and a born storyteller and so is well aware of the strong local loyalties in East Anglia. Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex are considered to be very different separate and independent areas by their inhabitants. When the author worked in Suffolk he explained that he came from Cambridge which he believed was the front door of East Anglia. An elderly Suffolk man to whom he was speaking paused for a while and then said, with unarguable finality, “Here in Suffolk if Cambridge exists at all, it is a back door and rarely used.” By the 1950s and 60s, when the author explored the minor railways illustrated in this book, they were rarely used, so needed to be recorded and their stories told before they were forgotten entirely. To bring this book up to date, the final section is called Destiny because some of the track beds have survived and flourished with new usage as restored heritage railways, footpaths and cycleways and one route as a busy busway. “A nostalgic look back at long forgotten minor railways in East Anglia . . . Highly recommended.” —Branch Line & Light Railway Publications Flyer “A brief history of each of the lines together with maps and period photographs that make this an interesting read for those unfamiliar with the minor railways of East Anglia.” —Great Eastern Railway Society Newsletter
Lincolnshire is a largely rural county, which was reflected in the early history of the railway lines. The main lines mostly passed through on their way to somewhere else and the local traffic was handled by a large number of branch lines. Author Alan Stennett explores the history of the railways in Lincolnshire, starting with the very early days when it was expected that Lincoln would be on a main line to the north, only to lose out to what we now know as the East Coast Main Line. Using archive maps, original photographs and other sources, he traces the development of railways in the county, and their role in serving the great fishing port of Grimsby, 'bracing' East Coast resorts such as Cleethorpes and Skegness, the iron and steel industries of Scunthorpe and the agricultural heartland of the Fens. The network saw many early closures before being savaged by the Beeching cuts, but the story continues to the present day, where new developments offer renewed hope for what is left of the system. This guide to the history and development of the railways in Lincolnshire will be of great interest to local history and railway enthusiasts. Illustrated with 210 colour and b&w original photographs.