New Year’s Eve 1967

After a night in a B&B overlooking Barry docks, we spent the morning going around the scrapyard. It was a cold, bright day with occasional sharp showers.

We had no idea at the time, of course, that these rusting hulks would eventually be saved and become the mainstay of the heritage lines of today.

Boxing Day 1966

Anoraks on Boxing Day, 1966, at 70A Nine Elms sheds. It was very cold - and very quiet. There was nobody else around. 

As far as I can remember, the Battle of Britain No. 34089 602 Squadron, presumably being prepared for duty next to the brazier in the yard - although there is no sign of the crew on the photo - was the only loco’ in steam. Some, like No. 35027 Port Line, had already been withdrawn from service and was noticeably rusting up. Sadly, Nine Elms was already on its last legs and due to close within months.

That shaft of light on the group photo looks like it might be highlighting the start of my bald patch. Photo with thanks to Ian Hughes.

The liners in the river

I probably didn’t take that much notice of them at the time, if I’m honest. They were just a normal part of the scene. My dad would point them out to me when we crossed the river on the ferry or walked down through Vale Park, in the 1950s.

Though they survived into the next decade, their days were numbered. We sometimes combed the docks on our bikes on a Saturday morning around this time and some of the big liners must still have been present, though it was the names of the freighters belonging to the Clan, Blue Funnel and Harrison Line, etc, that we were after to underline in our ship spotting books.

The return of the three Cunard cruise ships in May 2015 served as an appropriate reminder of the ocean liners and their connection with Liverpool. It was, of course, a magnificent spectacle in its own right and there was a buoyant, party atmosphere and big crowds along the water’s edge that stretched for miles.

Where there is now clean sand at this point below the Egremont promenade there used to be some very smelly and slippery rocks at low tide. Water quality in the river is now thankfully much improved as well.  

Whitby 2015

My two eldest grandchildren’s first steam locomotive was The Great Marquess. She was performing on the North York Moors Railway during the summer of 2015 when we stayed in the town for a week.

The Gresley Class K4 2-6-0 is surely a very good engine to begin train spotting with. I’m sure they will thank me for getting them started in the fullness of time.

SVR Miscellany 2010-15

We must really like it there because we just keep on going back.

Here are some photos from various visits I made, at least once a year, in fact, during the first half of the current decade.

The valley itself is very attractive, of course, and we have found Bewdley to be an excellent base from which to watch the action, including the splendidly restored station.

Class of 1960

Though some had earlier ties, we first met up and became a recognisable group when we went up to big school in 1960. That means that over this year we are reaching the seven decades mark, with one or two of our number just a year or two behind. For getting on for sixty of those years most of us have been following steam trains together. As an example, here we are with a full turn out on the Welsh Highland Railway in 2012. We have also kicked a football about for the same length of time and in most of the places we have visited.

Friendship itself has been at the heart of it. For me, that means you can pick up where you left off even if you haven’t seen someone for ages. It also means that you are relaxed enough to speak your mind without fear of offending. It means being forgiving, knowing that you yourself have weaknesses that others have always been able to forgive you for. It means accepting people as they are and keeping in mind the personal characteristics that you have admired for all of that time. It means offering support and empathy in times of need and being there when required. It means enjoying each other’s company on the journey through life. Long may it continue.

For three photos thanks to Dave Beck

Goggles

We travelled behind No. 46115 Scots Guardsman on the Scarborough Spa Express during the 2011 summer season. I spent much of the journey as close as I could get to the engine, with my goggles on and my head out of the window.

I was rewarded with some very sprightly running by the Scot, particularly on the four-track stretch between Wakefield and York and then later on in the Vale of Pickering.

I removed my goggles when we were walking round Scarborough. They really did the trick, though - no smuts in my eye from the engine. I should have had some of those in the 60s. This time the smuts were just in my hair, though there is rather less of that available to intercept airborne particles these days.

Celebration Time

In September 2013, Mallard returned to Grantham for a celebratory weekend, close to that stretch of the East Coast Main Line south of the town where she had broken the steam speed record 75 years earlier.

These pictures were taken at Newark Northgate station as the formation, which also included Deltic No. 55019 Royal Highland Fusilier, travelled south from York behind Class 56 No. 56311. The Deltics had taken over main line express duties from the A4s in the early 1960s.

  

Up to town

A man got off the train carrying two coffee cups. He returned, similarly laden, two minutes later and just as the doors were closing. As he moved forward, the station staff attendant who had blown the whistle, shouted to him to stand back. “You can’t just get on and off when you want”, he added. “Do you think I care?”, replied the man in shirt sleeves, eager not to lose face too much as he disappeared up the footbridge steps. Somewhere in coach E, his companion must have been wondering what had happened to his or her drink as they continued their journey to London alone.

Stragglers were drifting away from the Pro-Brexit demo’. One of the bulky, short-haired, middle-aged men resembling a rather raucous football supporter had a megaphone. There were spasmodic chants of “Oh, Tommy, Tommy. Tommy, Tommy, Tommy, Tommy Robinson.” Thin, disenchanted young men who had found a convenient peg to hang their multitude of grievances on, mooched around, draped in flags - Union, St George, Royal Ensign and a more ominous looking black and white one. Purple UKIP leaflets and a few placards littered the pavement, “Treason May”, “EU dictatorship ruled by a drunk” and “Brexit means Exit”. The police, meanwhile, sat in their large fleet of vans in side streets playing on their mobile phones. It appeared that they had not been required.

The metropolitan elite Remainers in the National Gallery probably outnumbered those on the Brexit demo’. I found two old railway paintings - amongst the oldest of all in fact - Turner’s “Rain, Steam and Speed - the Great Western Railway” was first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1844 and “The Gare St Lazare”, by Claude Monet, dates from 1877.

The glaringly visible problems of homelessness, failing to empty the bins frequently enough, inadequate street cleaning and patchy service in the hospitality sector took the edge off the excitement of coming to town. The sparkling pre-Christmas lights just served to emphasise the contrasts. It’s difficult to see how choosing to make ourselves poorer is going to help with any of that.

At least we won’t be living under a dictatorship any more. Phew!

  

Blog Number 400

I know that I should get out more but actually I quite like it here with my old photos, notebooks and the internet. During the hot summer, I took a book to the beach, or rather I cowered in the shade of the beach house. It was Virginia Woolf’s “To the Lighthouse”. Apparently, it was based on Godrevy lighthouse which faces St Ives and which we know well [from a distance], though in the story it had been transplanted several hundred miles away to the west coast of Scotland.

In her self-absorbed and rather tedious, supposed classic novel, she describes one of her characters, Mr Tansley, a family guest to the house where most of the “action” [yawn] takes place, “If only he could be alone in his room working, he thought, amongst his books. That was where he felt at ease”. Chris says that she could easily have written that bit, herself. She has a point.

 Somewhere in this picture there is a railway line and a lighthouse 

  

British Rail Posters

My collection of pictorial mid-60s to mid-90s railway posters is now all gone. The genre has always been somewhat overlooked compared to the highly favoured art deco [1920s/30s] and “happy holidays” [1960s/60s] images. Nevertheless, they had their own attractions and were just as indicative of their time. They reflected prevalent artistic styles of the times as well as the changing railway landscape. The ubiquitous double arrow symbol meant that they were also instantly recognisable. They did not take off, price wise, in the way that I had initially thought that they might - though perhaps their day will still come.

The book I wrote about them, Double Arrow Double Royal [a clever play on words combining the BR logo with standard poster size and which was therefore probably lost on most folk] was the most expensive and complicated one I produced and proved to be the most difficult one to sell. In fact, I’ve still got some - mint condition and reduced in price….. A snip at a fiver, for heaven’s sake.

Just passing through

Keighley, 2011. Quick stop to look in at the station, like I do. Obligingly, a Jinty puts in an appearance right on cue. Then, we’re off again.

Things don’t always fall into place like that, though.

The Great Gathering, 2013

We got to both versions of the Great Gathering, at York and Shildon. All six surviving Class A4s, including the two temporarily repatriated from America - Dominion of Canada and Dwight D Eisenhower, were on show at both venues.

There was a lot of moaning about not being able to get photos of the locomotives because there were too many people straying into the shots. I’m not impressed with this particular whinge. Trains are all about people, as well as machines. That was certainly the nature of the occasion in this instance.

There are often separate photographers’ viewings, charter trains, high vis’ vest wearers’ passes for the lineside, special night-time openings and, no doubt, all sorts of other accommodation made for people who really can’t countenance other people straying into their view finders.

I didn’t bother much with photos at either venue. I basked in the never-to-be-repeated event, felt honoured to have been able to witness these wonderful locomotives at the head of day-to-day express trains in the early 1960s, relished the company of like-minded friends and just enjoyed the moment.

Original railway art sold at railwayana auctions in 2018

As with the records provided in previous years, only original railway paintings that were sold at the main railwayana auctions during 2018 are included below - GCRA, GNRA, GWRA, railwayana.net, Stafford and Talisman. Postal auctions are not included, neither are results from general auction houses that hold occasional railwayana auctions, nor those that have railwayana sections within mixed sales. Further railway paintings will certainly have changed hands in fine art sales elsewhere during the same period. All the information from which this summary has been taken has been available in the auction houses’ own online archives. There were fewer solely railwayana auction outlets in 2018 than in preceding years. Crewe RA and Solent RA are sadly no longer trading following bereavements. Talisman RA postponed a planned summer auction for health reasons. Bristol [April] and GWRA [November] auctions had no sales of original art work on railway subjects.

1. The number of original railway paintings sold at the main live auctions [and including the one internet railwayana auction house] fell sharply again in 2018, continuing the 2017 reversal of the previously upward trend that was apparent between 2011 and 2016:

2011 - 32, 2012 - 41, 2013 - 61, 2014 - 88, 2015 - 105, 2016 – 136, 2017 – 81, 2018 - 66.

2. Not surprisingly, therefore, in 2018 the number of railway artists whose work was sold at these auctions also continued to fall from its peak in 2016:

2011 - 25, 2012 - 20, 2013 - 27, 2014 - 34, 2015 - 42, 2016 – 48, 2017 – 31, 2018 - 25.

3. In 2018, the number of railwayana auction events that sold railway paintings was less than in each of the previous four years:

2011 - 7, 2012 - 10, 2013 - 13, 2014 - 19, 2015 - 18, 2016 – 22, 2017 – 18, 2018 – 14. 

4. In 2018, the number of artists whose work topped the £1,000 hammer price at railwayana auctions showed an increase from last year. In each year since 2011, the number of such paintings sold and the artists concerned were:

2011 - 3 paintings - by Heiron [2], Broom,

2012 - 3 paintings - by Bottomley, Hawkins, Broom,

2013 - 8 paintings - by Broom [2], Breckon [2], Heiron, Root, Price, Freeman,

2014 - 7 paintings - by Root [3], Elford, Breckon, Freeman, Hawkins,

2015 - 11 paintings - by Breckon [3], Hawkins [2], Root [2], Beech, Ellis, Elford, Price.

2016 - 13 paintings - by Breckon [4], Price [3], Hawkins [2], Freeman, Root, Broom,

                                  Greene,

2017 - 7 paintings - by Freeman [2], Price [2], Broom, Root, Breckon,

2018 - 9 paintings - by Hawkins [4], Breckon [2], Price [2], Root,

Overall, railway paintings continue to make an important contribution to the variety of objects for sale at railwayana auctions. Examples of original artwork are often used as catalogue cover illustrations for these auctions. The period 2011 to 2016 showed a fairly dramatic rise in activity for railway art at such auctions but has been followed by a reduction since. However, the work of certain railway artists is consistently well-regarded by those prepared to buy high quality items for substantial four-figure sums at railwayana auctions. The prolific output over recent years from Guild of Railway Artists associate member, Joe Townend, continued in 2018, during which 18 of his paintings were sold at the live auctions.

My sort of pow wow

The last railwayana auction of the year was at Stoneleigh. As I drove in through the Warwickshire showground gates, a notice said that Archery UK were having a get-together next door, so I wound up my window and sat low in my seat. I made a dash for it across the car park and got to the venue unscathed.

An elderly gentleman stood over a shelf at the foot of the stairs. He seemed to be surrounded by pieces of paper, strewn across the ledge and all around his feet. As I passed him, I could see that they were all bank notes. Was this his life savings? Was he planning a big splash on a nameplate or a totem? Had he just received a surprise windfall in the form of a shower of cash from above? It reminded me of Terry Thomas in Tom Thumb, counting out the loot.

There was quite a good turn-out by those planning Christmas shopping for themselves. I wasn’t buying anything and I wasn’t selling anything. I wasn’t meeting anybody. I had no cash on me for a spontaneous purchase from a side stall. I hadn’t arranged to bring anything for someone or take anything away. Why was I even there?

I had a chat with one of the Stoneleigh helpers. His own interest is in signalling equipment. I’d often wondered who bought all that stuff. At his home, he has recreated the innards of a former BR signalbox, with everything connected up and running to a timetable, complete with bell-codes and recorded sounds of passing steam trains. Now it makes sense.

I spoke to a guy who deals in railway posters, buying at auction and wherever he can and selling largely online. It is a time-consuming labour of love. As he said, he would not do it if he did not have a genuine affection for the posters themselves. Like me, he finds them fascinating items in their own right.

I talked to the acknowledged expert on carriage prints about a request that he had received to assess the value of some railway artwork. I had felt quite humbled when he asked me for a second opinion about it.

In the café, I looked round at all the huddled and animated discussions about collecting old railway bits and bobs. On the next table was a man who had recently sold me the 1920s enamel sign advertising tea that now adorns the wall in our kitchen.  

I’d hardly spent any time at all watching the main event unfolding, yet I already knew why I was there. There is something enriching about witnessing unbridled enthusiasm in action. Added to that, my knowledge about our railway heritage is enhanced by various little snippets every time I venture out.

I made for the exit. Outside, a man and his son walked past me carrying large and colourful archery bows. Although I am from a different tribe, thankfully they kept them down by their sides. 

  

GCR Gala October 2012

Here are a few pictures from yet another successful GCR gala in the not too distant past. It looks like we settled in again at Quorn for our steam fix, which was supplied by the usual combination of some interesting visitors and the home fleet. 

Probably the best railway book in the world

The Railways - Nation, Network and People, by Simon Bradley, is well-written, entertaining and informative. I’m only on page 112, so I’ve still got another 500 to go but its already made quite an impression. At a few pages at a time, it should keep me amused for some time to come.

Here’s a taster [almost literally] on the demise of smoking on trains [p.111]. “Now, even the most lovingly accurate re-creation on the country’s preserved railways cannot bring back the sour smell of wet tobacco ash, smeared thinly in solution with other dirt over the linoleum flooring of a crowded second-class carriage on a rainy winter’s day; nor the grey-black deposit of carbonised tobacco particles inadvertently picked up when the shoulders of coats and jackets rubbed against the tainted condensation on single-glazed carriage windows”.

Certainly brings it all back for me.