“Winston Churchill”, Black Country Living Museum, Dudley, 10/06/16.

Tags

Black Country, Black Country Living Museum, Blackpole, Cadbury's, chocolate, Dudley, railways, Railways in Worchester, Trains., Winston Churchill, Worchester, Worchester News

According to my notes, this is a “O-6-OST Manning Wardle locomotive built at the Boyne Engine Works, Leeds in 1923” (I hope I have made a note of this correctly, for those of you who are interested in the technicalities of these things), but I’m going to refer to it as Winston.

For those of you more interested in chocolate than steam locomotives you might be interested to know that Winston was ordered in 1923 by the Cadbury brothers, of Cadbury’s Chocolate fame, and spent a considerable time at Cadbury’s Blackpole factory, near Worchester (a place I had previous known absolutely nothing about).

According to the Worchester News, the Cadbury brothers bought the former munitions factory site at Blackpole from the Government in 1921 and it became a centre for “marzipan manufacturing” and “the sorting of nuts“, amongst other things. In 1966 the Board of Trade refused permission for a new cake factory on the site and by 1971 production had moved to Moreton-in-the-Wirral. To quote from the newspaper again, “…of the 680 employees losing their jobs, 320 were described as “part-time married women“”.

Another interesting fact from the BBC News website, “The site had its own sports ground – BBC Hereford & Worcester’s Dave Bradley remembers that cricket teams loved playing there, as they were served chocolate cake“. That sounds like my sort of gig!

The Railways in Worchester website has some wonderful photographs of trains working at the Blackpole factory and they give a good impression of how busy the factory must have been in its hay day.

 

George Stephenson admiring a locomotive, Chesterfield Train Station, Chesterfield, 04/06/16.

Tags

Chesterfield, George Stephenson, Industrial Heritage, Industrial Revolution, railway station, railways, Station, statue, Train stations, Trains., Victorian.

The Ribblehead Viaduct, Ribblesdale, North Yorkshire, 18/07/15.

Tags

Grade II listed, Ingleborough, Pen-y-ghent, railways, Ribbledale, Ribblehead Viaduct, Settle and Carlisle line, Settle and Carlisle railway, Trains., viaduct, views, walking, Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge

The impressive Grade II listed Ribblehead Viaduct was a heart warming sight as my walking companions and I trekked from Pen-y-ghent to Ingleborough, probably because it was one of the most recognisable structures in Ribblesdale from which to take a bearing. The viaduct carries the Settle to Carlisle railway line over the Ribble Valley and we narrowly missed a steam train crossing, although we could hear its distinctive tones [we also had to the privilege of seeing and smelling the black smoke blown from its chimney, down the railway embankment, across a couple of farms and straight up into our eyes and noses].

Kingsway Station, Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway, Cleethorpes, 23/05/15.

Tags

Cleethorpes, Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway, Narrow-Gauge Railway, Seaside., steam, Steam Train, Trains.

It would have been easier to walk across to the Boating Lake, but when plan B is getting a miniature steam train, which was in the station waiting for me, how could I turn that opportunity down?

Photo Archive: Sir John Betjemen Admiring The Eurostar, St Pancras International Train Station, Euston Road, London, 2013.

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Eurostar, Euston Road, hat, London, Public Transport, roof, Sir John Betjemen, Sir John Betjemen Statue, St Pancras International, St Pancras Station, statue, Train stations, Trains.

Photo Archive: Allegorical Figure Resting On a Steam Engine and Holding a Beer Bottle, Stephenson Memorial, Newcastle, c.2007.

Tags

allegorical figure, beer bottle, Bronze, George Stephenson, John Graham Lough, Newcastle, sculpture, Steam Train, Trains., Victorian., Victoriana

The Victorian Web reminded me that this allegorical figure, representing an engineer, sits at the base of the Stephenson Memorial. I think it was the beer bottle that attracted my initial attention, because I neglected to photograph the other three allegorical figures at the base of the sculpture or the larger than life George Stephenson which towers over them. Stephenson was a railway pioneer, I think it’s fair to say, since he was mind behind the Stockton to Darlington Railway and The Rocket locomotive. The statue is by Northumbrian sculptor John Graham Lough.

Photo Archive: Day Dreaming, Battle of Britain Memorial, Victoria Embankment, London, c.2010.

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Battle of Britain, Battle of Britain Memorial, Bronze, day dreaming, London, memorial, public art, rain drops, sculpture, Second World War, Trains., Victoria Embankment, Weather

Photo Archive: Cyffordd twnnel Hafren/Severn Tunnel Junction Train Station, Rogiet, 24/08/14.

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commuting, Cyffordd twnnel Hafren, headphones, neckwear, Public Transport, reading, Severn Tunnel Junction, sign, tie, Train stations, Trains., umbrella, Welsh

Photo Archive: “The City of Truro”, On The Turntable, Great Hall, National Railway Museum, York, 13/05/14.

Tags

Museums, National Railway Museum York, Steam Train, The City of Truro, Trains., Truro, turntable, York

“The City of Truro” drawing quite a crowd.

A close up.

I remember watching the turntable demonstration on my very first visit to the National Railway Museum. On subsequence visits I didn’t have the patience to stand and watch it, but now, more than twenty years later, I like nothing more than to pause and watch the locomotive of the day take a spin; on this occasion “The City of Truro“.

“The City of Truro” was a product of the Great Western Railways Swindon works and Swindonweb, a website about all things related to Swindon,  informs me that “The City of Truro” was “not only the first locomotive to reach and pass the magical speed of 100mph, but the first vehicle of any kind to reach such a milestone“. This record breaking time was recorded back in 1904, the same year, according to my “The Chronology of British History” by Alan and Veronica Palmer, that motor vehicle registrations and license plates were introduced and Henry Royce and Charles Royce unveiled the first Rolls-Royce. 

Photo Archive: “Mind The Gap”, Saltaire, 17/05/14.

Tags

architecture, black and white, Mind the gap, Public Transport, Saltaire, Train stations, Trains., Victorian., Victoriana, World Heritage Site