Guest Book: Page 28

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Hi! Some friends of mine have recently taken over the Coventry Arms (formerly the Railway Inn) in Rugby Road, Leamington and have asked me if I could provide any photos or information about Milverton Station. I have selected 2 nice ones lnwrwar_stn1405 and lnwrwar_stn1408 from your site and would like to know if I could obtain any copies of these two pictures to be displayed on the wall of the pub. I am quite willing to pay for these and think it would be nice to obtain permission from the owner of the pictures before we use them. Can you help in any way? I think this is a wonderful website and never tire of looking at it. I live in Leamington but work in Alcester and Stratford so have used the site for research on many occasions.

Thanks - Mick Chapman

Mick - For some reason I haven't recorded the source of the photographs so I will have to find the postcards to check. Memory says that they are from Real Photos which I think have been purchased by one of the Railway Magazine publishers or by the NRM who are much more expensive compared to the KRM, Lens of Sutton, Roger Carpenter etc. You maybe interested to know that after I have completed the North Warwickshire line (I am currently starting Stratford on Avon working southwards) I will be starting at Warwick Milverton to work my way towards Coventry.

A great site with lots of fantastic images. I have one very (very) minor bit of useful (useless?) information which you might want to add. The wooden platform at 'Berkswell and Balsall Common' was still there and still in use as late as 1984. I don't know if it is still there. I doubt it. But it was definitely there then, in 1984. I know because I slipped on it in the freezing fog one night and got a sprain for my trouble! There's a bit of local history for you...

David Ewing

Great to see the photos of Alcester station. I can remember going with my father, John, to pick up coal from the station goods yard in the fifties! Shovelled by hand into sacks!

Ian Fisher

It would seem that the gentleman 2nd from the right, back row in image 'lnwrrm885' could very well be my great grandfather Sam(uel) Collier (born 1850). He worked his way up from the bottom to be a station inspector at Rugby. Due to retire just before the outbreak of the First World War he was asked to stay on until the end of hostilities. Eventually dying in the 1920s. There was an obituary in the Rugby Advertiser and a portrait photo in his inspectors cap. The photo alongside the previously mentioned one also appears to have him in its midst . . but a lot younger then! An interesting number of photos and information of Rugby where I was born and grew up . . now in Australia

Maurice A. Collier

First of all Mike can I please say thank you. I was born in 1979 and am now 30 years old so I have missed out on all the memories of railways long since disappeared from the Warwickshire towns, villages and countryside I thought I knew so well. I grew up in Warwick and now live in Rugby. I work in Leamington Spa and as part of my job tour the county every week now trying to spot details from your collection of pictures. If I'm honest then I've never really had an interest in trains, and the trains are not the draw, for me, to your web site. Its more of the way of life the railways had, the buildings that have been lost and trying to plan out the original locations and routes with Google Earth. I also feel huge disappointment over the losses Dr Beeching brought to this and other counties. I know it would never happen but I would love to see all the lost railways re-instated around Warwickshire in order to ease the traffic on today's roads. I sure it gets harder and harder to find new material for the website so good luck with that. Please feel proud that it brings enjoyment to thousands.

Thanks again. - Paul Carey

Paul - Many thanks for giving us the view of the website from someone too young to have seen steam railways in the county. I agree with you that railways are more than just the trains. In many ways it was the infrastructure and social history that attracted me to building the website.

Fascinating and inspiring! Please keep up this good work.

Canon Ian Shelton

Thanks for your hard work in putting this site together. As an Ex Brummie brought up in Tyseley where I was a keen trainspotter, but living in Bolton, Lancashire since 1957 Your site is a Gold mine of info as I'm 2 years into building a OO gauge layout based on Tyseley and Stratford on Avon. I'm now beginning to replace kit buildings by scratch models to improve accuracy, so your photos are very helpful. Well Done.

Regards Colin

Colin - Thanks for the kind words which are now in the guest book. You will have noted that currently I am working my way down from Tyseley to Stratford on Avon station so you will be pleased to know that I have a lot of photographs to add for Stratford on Avon station including aerial shots. Did you know that the Stratford on Avon versus Stratford upon Avon debate is still continued to this day? The district council is Stratford on Avon whilst the town council is Stratford upon Avon. So in GWR days you could travel by train to Stratford upon Avon and get off at Stratford on Avon station and then cross the town to get on the former SMJ now LMS service at Stratford Old Town.

The Warwickshire website is so good and so near-definitive I wish we could have similar ones for other counties. If any web-savvy person wants to do one for any other Midlands county I would be glad to help with info and research.

Geoffrey Kingscott

Dear Mike. I love exploring your Warwickshire Railways site and recently looked at your Birmingham Central Goods Yard photos. It made me recall taking a shot of the offices to the yard in October 1964 just before they were demolished to make way for the inner ring road scheme. After much rummaging in the attic I've found it and attach herewith (see image 'mrcgy691'). On the map shown on your site you will note there is a little triangle of land at the east end of Holliday Street where it joins Suffolk Street. The offices were located on this triangle with roads on all three sides. The building in the background is the former Central Grammar School then housing the Matthew Boulton Technical College. I shot the film to record buildings about to be lost with the redevelopment of the city centre and there are some of New Street Station, Queens Hotel and Snow Hill (none particularly brilliant) but I will copy and forward if you would like to see them.

Michael Ellis

I think your website is great. Of special interest to myself is the information on the North Warwickshire Line as I grew up in Earlswood, went to school in Henley and college in Stratford in the 1980s. My friend's dad was a train driver on the route and used to let me sit in the cab if I got on his train, which was awesome! Not sure if you could do that now though. Thanks for a great informative website.

Nigel Whitehouse

Thanks- love this site- especially the stuff round Leamington, GWR and LMS as I live in Leamington. Born 1970, these photos all pre-date me, so some 'then and now' comparisons would be nice!

Steve Baker

Hi Steve. Many thanks for the kind comments regarding the site. I am afraid that if I added the 'now' aspect to the site I would not stand a chance of completing the 'then' side of warwickshirerailways. If you want a 'now' version you should visit Andy Doherty's http://www.railaroundbirmingham.co.uk/ which provides modern images of most of the stations on this site as well adding others from the north of the West Midlands.

Good morning I am interested in purchasing a book which explains the origins and the demise of the railway lines/stations around the Rugby/Warwickshire area before/after Dr Beeching closed them down in the 1960s e.g. The Great Central Railways now a nature reserve where people walk/cycle/walk their dogs.. I wonder if you could point me in the right direction for the above? Many thanks in advance.

Patricia Boyd

Patricia - Your timing is absolutely perfect as I have recently received a copy of Geoffrey Kingscott's book 'Lost Railways of Warwickshire' published by Countryside Books (ISBN 976-1-84674-174-6) and retailed at £11.99.
Part of the 'Lost Railway Series' its Geoffrey's fourth book in the series and despite his fulsome credit to www.warwickshirerailways.com I had very little involvement in this invaluable source of information. Its a perfect compliment to my website because Geoffrey's book is not the normal 'before and after' photo format frequently seen, its a well researched book that provides a good understanding of the development of each route and the stations along the line.
My only complaint is that publisher was too narrow in their definition of the county of Warwickshire so we have another book covering the parts of Warwickshire swallowed up by the now defunct county of West Midlands. This book 'Lost Railways of Birmingham & The West Midlands' is written by Terry Moors (ISBN: 9781846741098) and retails at £10.99. I have yet to see a copy of Terry Moors' book.
If you visit their website www.countrysidebooks.co.uk, the discount they offer on their on-line orders can cover the cost of post and packing if the two books are purchased.

I have just visited your website. I have recently bought the Colour-Rail business mentioned on the site and thus the contact details have changed. We also now have B&W material back to 1900 and sell prints and downloads as well as slides.

Paul Chancellor

Paul - May I wish you all the success for the future as your taking over the Colour Rail business ensures that this invaluable resource is still available. What I really like now is that I can peruse your website and see what I am buying rather than hope a description accurately portrays the composition of the image. The fact that you also supply black and white photographs and other subjects too makes it a real bonus.

Congratulations on an excellent and interesting website. As a Coventry kid who spent his formative years alongside the Coventry to Nuneaton line may I be permitted to make some observations about two of the photographs featuring Coventry shed. Image 'lnwrcov654' is of, I believe, No 40002 and not No 40032 as stated in the text. Fowler 3MT No 40032 was fitted with condensing equipment and spent most of its' BR life at Kentish Town. The locomotive in the picture is not fitted with the equipment and No 40002, which was never fitted, was a Warwick locomotive in early BR days. May I also point out that image 'lnwrcov659' which shows locomotive No 48526 inside Coventry shed may have been taken at Rugby and not Coventry as the caption suggests. Keep up the good work.

Best regards, Phil King

Phil - Many thanks for the kind comments. Upon closer examination of the two photographs I can confirm that you are indeed correct on both accounts. I have corrected the description of No 40002 and have moved No 48526 to the Rugby shed pages.

I was very interested to find this site as my grandfather, Mr E Kilby, was Stationmaster at Studley for many years, my mother grew up in the station house. I have a couple of pictures of the station while he was active, and as a child, spent many hours with Grampy Kilby on the allotments that used to be on the embankment. Further history of my family is that my Grandfather on my Fathers side was the carpenter at Coughton Court, where my father grew up.

Best regards Mike Boote

I am an amatuer film maker, making a film of the Market Harborough to Northampton railway. I have located a photograph of Lamport Station in a book and it is credited to 'Lens of Sutton' but I cannot locate it on your site. Is this (or any other pictures of this line) available.

Thanks - Colin Sullivan

Colin - Lampton does not fall within the county of Warwickshire so its not on my website. Your best bet is to contact Lens of Sutton or Roger Carpenter as they will have access to the photograph you require and possibly others of the station. Best of luck with the film. Regards Mike

Found your pages on Stonebridge Railway very interesting, having walked part of route. Your website is excellent. You mention a bridge failure at 'Packwood' on the Hampton in Arden station page. I believe this should read 'Packington'. Packwood is several miles away near Dorridge/Hockley Heath.

Noel Kemp

Hi Noel - Many thanks for spotting the typo it should have said Packington.

A wonderful website, and one I visit regularly - many thanks. I would like to advise a small error in one of the captions, as follows: Under LMS, Trent Valley Railway. in Part 3 of the Lineside views, the third photo by G Coltas, ref: 'lnwr tt1218'. The caption reads Town Thoms as a location, but should read Town Thorns cutting. Again many thanks for hours of pleasure.

Roger Clemons

Hi Roger - Many thanks for your kind comments and for pointing out my error. I obviously read the 'r and n' as a 'm' on the reverse of the photograph.

Mike. Thanks for the photos on the Snow Hill page. There are photographs which I have never seen many examples of before such as the 3900 class and some of the 4-4-0s.

Peter A Montarlot

Excellent site and photos! However one small quibble. Hawthorns Halt was not one of the original stations along the line to Wolverhampton as it was opened on 25th December 1931. And no, this is not a mistake! At that time football matches were played on Christmas Day and some trains ran. As the whole purpose of the Hawthorns Halt was to cater for match day traffic, and as West Bromwich played Birmingham City that day, it makes sense. (The return match was on Boxing Day) I do wonder though, how many other stations opened on the 25th December? Information from Main Line to Metro, by John Boynton, Mid England Publishing

Tony Martin

Thanks Tony for pointing out my mistake which I had taken from a book on Snow Hill. Its now been deleted from the list of statioons opened with the line to Wolverhampton.

Excellent website.It brings the memories all flooding back. PS On the Snow Hill section photo gwrbsh1246 is wronly captioned.

Dave Hands

Dave - Many thanks for pointing out my error (I had left the previous photos caption on the thumnail) and for your kind words.

Hello Mike, I for one appreciate your efforts to bring such decent pictures to a wider audience, please continue.

Thank you, Graham Beare

For a historian of canal and railway goods traffic this website is wonderful because it looks at the whole life of the railway. Many sites focus on locos or prestige trains, or on individual wagons. This one sees the railway in the round and is very well presented. A good innovation would be to enable all the photos of a particular location to be viewed sequentially instead of having to go back to select the next shot.

Richard Simmons

Thanks for all your hard work, mike. Your site is a treasure!

Kester Eddy

Hello Mike, Your site is the best I've seen. A really good effort of research and planning and dedication. It is very kind of you to devote so much time to your Warwickshire Archive. I think that the crediting of DS Barrie for some of the Shipston-on-Stour branch pictures is an error - they were supplied by me and were from Dr. Jack Hollick's negatives. All those marked DS Barrie should be credited to Dr or J Hollick. I have three views of 46251 at Snow Hill in June 1964 - are these of interest to you? I can also provide some views of the Warwickshire SMJ including Fenny, EHLR, Stratford and Broom Junction. I have views of the signalling at Leamington north end but towards the end - horrible LMR signals I think I have a view of the Great Alne station from the road approach, Lilbourne appears to be in Warwickshire - just.

Best wishes. Adrian Vaughan

Extremely good website. Particularly interested in pictures of the old Coventry station. Brought back memories.

Paul Waters

Mr Musson: Your warwickshirerailways website incorporates a splendid selection of very fine photographs. Thank you for making it available to a huge audience. May I question the text accompanying photograph 'gwrs1017' (part of your Solihull collection), which you say shows a train on the up slow line. If my memory is correct, the picture will have been taken from Streetsbrook Road bridge, looking towards Leamington. The fast lines are on the left and the slow on the right. The train is therefore on a fast line. I hope that my observation is correct and helpful to you.

Regards John Greenway Billericay, Essex

Many thanks for the kind comments and the correction to the caption which is now updated. Observations such as your helps to ensure that the website is as accurate as possible. If you see any others or can add to the text please do not hesitate to let me know. My knowledge of most lines in the county are very limited so I rely on others to flesh out my brief descriptions.

A splendid and enjoyable site and a good source for reference. Photo's bring back a flood of good memories. I plan to model the North Warwickshire Line at Shirley. I had track plans of Shirley & Hall Green but they have been lost or mislaid so my search goes on.

Robert Hall

Enjoyed the nostalgia as I was a fireman at Monument Lane between 1956 to 1959 after which I then moved to Saltley where I remained until 1993.

Frank J Carter

What a superb site which has brought back many memories and pictures of some of Aston shed's 'Black 5s'.

Paul Underwood

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