Western Times 6 - Preview

The history periodical for students of the GWR and BR(W)

ISSUE No.6 - SPRING 2023

ISSUE No.6 - SPRING 2023

Contents

Hungerford Through Time Western Standards: From the Archives of R C Riley

The Hawksworth Coaches: Part 2 -

Tothill Cutting: The Challenges of a Civil Engineering Project

1953 Remembered: The Last Coronation Year

The Great Western Trust (GWT) - Bulletin No.5

The Guard’s Compartment

Located in the west of Berkshire, Hungerford traces its history back at least to 1241 when it was described as a borough, although its name is omitted from the Domesday Book of 1086. The town started to achieve significance for inland transport with the development of the London-Bath road in the 17th Century and its evolution as a staging post for exchange of horses. Further importance came in 1811 with the opening of the Kennet and Avon canal which passed east-west through the town. However, the importance of this artery started to decline with arrival of the railway in 1847 from Reading through Newbury to a terminus just east of the High Street.

The original plans for the Berks and Hants Railway (B&HR) envisaged routes from Reading to Newbury, and to Basingstoke. Additionally, Brunel had recognised the potential for extension of the Reading-Newbury connection to provide a direct route to the South West as an alternative to that via Bristol. The GWR directors presumably endorsed this vision as the company funded the notionally independent B&HR with Newbury as the westward terminus. Precisely when the 9-mile extension to Hungerford was agreed is uncertain.

Genesis of the B&HR thus fostered a lasting misnomer in railway geography as even today ‘Berks & Hants route’ commonly refers to the Reading-NewburyWestbury-Taunton line which has never penetrated Hampshire. The original B&HR only entered the county just south of Mortimer on what is known as the Basingstoke branch.

The prospect of Hungerford’s joining the railway was warmly welcomed by influential local landowners who saw the advantages in faster and cheaper movement of goods than either road or canal could provide. With this support, land purchase was straightforward with capital £40,000 raised for the Basingstoke and Hungerford routes which more than covered the land acquisition, and without dissent over the proposed route’s dissection of part of Hungerford Common. In 1845, the requisite Bill was passed for a railway from Reading to both Newbury and Hungerford, to be completed within seven years.

Engineer Rowland Brotherhood of Chippenham was appointed as contractor to build the new lines, which encountered few major problems beyond tackling marshland in some areas and the building of numerous bridges. Hungerford was reached by following the Kennett valley in parallel with the canal. The 25½ miles of railway from Reading to Hungerford were opened on 21 December 1847, well within the authorised completion deadline and in contrast to the delays that plagued many other new ventures. Rather strangely there appears to have been no local press comment

about the opening, nor of the extension beyond the town in 1862. Contemporary records imply that a year passed before freight was accepted. The reason for this delay is unclear after opening but it must have displeased local commercial interests. It is speculated that locomotive and rolling stock deliveries had failed to match the speed of construction. The B&HR was absorbed through the GWR Act of 1846 even before completion of the new line which was laid to 7' 0¼" gauge.

Where the railway crossed part of Hungerford common, a low arch was provided to allow cattle access between the two tracts of land. Whether this arch was also used later by the tramway mentioned below is uncertain but seems likely. A short distance further west, the terminus was constructed and Henry Dyer was the first Station Master, or ‘Agent’ in the prevailing vernacular. The onesided station possibly had an overall roof that covered just the platform road and was a smaller version of that first used at Reading. The railway terminated where it would have otherwise crossed the High Street. Goods facilities when eventually established were west of the passenger station and close to the present day level crossing. The later replacement station was located further east.

Personnel and Rationalisation

Some information has been traced concerning staff employed at Hungerford. Listed below are known Station Masters and relevant dates:

Name Dates served as Station Master

Henry Dyer by 1850

Mr Harper by November 1867

Mr Carpenter circa 1898

Frank Hunt Appointed 1908 departed 13 December 26

P C Pyke 13 December 1926 to 31 December 1936 (retired)

‘Archie’ J Allen November 1936 to 3 April 1939 (died in harness)

C Redman April 1939 to ?

L Green November 1953 to February 1960

S Knapp January 1960 to September 1960

Relief staff Sept 1960 to December 1960

W R Gregory December 1960 to September 1964 (last post holder)

Having previously worked at Windsor, Archie Allen arrived at Hungerford in 1926 as Goods Clerk and ten years later was promoted to Station Master. In reporting his promotion, the Marlborough Times noted that it was unusual for a man to be promoted to this level at the same station. Allen was keen on first aid and formed his own Railway Ambulance team in the 1930s. His son John later recalled that on Sundays he would accompany his father to replenish stocks in the chocolate and cigarette machines on the platform. In early 1939, Allen was assisted by two booking clerks (one was Derek Stoneham). Fred Cox as senior porter was responsible for the Parcels Office, assisted by two junior porters. One of the latter was Reg Knight who later left to join the services.

The position carried considerable status in the town. Frank Hunt, who energetically cultivated his contacts within and outside the railway, was the incumbent during the Royal visit of 1912. He was apparently well acquainted with Felix Pole, General Manager who was a frequent visitor to the station. At his retirement in 1926, the contents of his office were described in a local newspaper report. These included a signed photograph of Felix Pole, a canary, a quaint horn, a life preserver, a monster watch inscribed to him by US President James Garfield, and a truncheon of the type issued to policemen who in the early days had guarded the works of the railway!

approach local train crews with two empty fire buckets and ask for a top-up which request was usually granted. Each day a ‘balance’ had to be prepared correct to the nearest one penny. Unofficially, a small tin was kept containing a few coins in case of a shortfall. This was quickly hidden upon the arrival of an auditor.

The junior clerk had to learn the working of the booking office, the issue of tickets and how to deal with telephone enquiries. Hours of work were 7.00 am to 4.00 pm or 12 noon to 9.00 pm, each with a one-hour break. When he had ‘taken-on’, this included a split shift on Sunday 8.00 am to 11.30 am and 6.30 pm to 9.00 pm. John later moved to Thatcham and subsequently worked at Newbury and Reading. He retired from the railway after 50 years’ service. John Allen collection.

Staff outside the goods shed, circa 1937. Left to right: Edward Franklin clerk, Archie Allen station master, Fred Didcock lorry driver, Bill Hiscock (later signalman Burghclere), Harry Buxey, and Bert Humphries. John Allen collection.

Left: John Allen, son of Archie, started at Hungerford as a junior clerk on 5 December 1939, splitting his time between the booking and goods offices which were both heated by coal fires. Towards the end of winter with stocks running low, it was a regular task for the ‘lad’ (junior porter) to

Above: Fred Cox, station master Mr C Redman, and Bert Humphries. The view is undated but would be post April 1939. John Allen collection.

Driving wheel diameter was significant. The small size on Class 44xx was a Churchward standard that was little used while Class 39xx retained a diameter that was rather large for duties typified by continual stopping and starting. The clear star of the trio was Class 45xx whose sparkling performance is reputed to have inspired awe among crews and observers alike. Timing was often critical in locomotive histories and here the introduction of 39xx was premature or alternatively 45xx arrived too late. Swindon was committed to processing the 20 Dean Goods before the impressive performance of the 4’ 7½” engines was fully recognised. A few months’ difference might have resulted in the programme proving unnecessary as 45s could have met the traffic need.

Class 39xx’s styling reflected its makeshift background. Whether a tank capacity 50% greater than 44xx/ 45xx was needed seems questionable, particularly as it helped make access to the motion difficult. The hole-inthe-wall might have eased the problem but working on the motion must still have been uncomfortable. Pannier tanks were then in their infancy but partial adoption of that brilliant innovation at the front end might have produced a better result.

Changes to the class followed the contemporary developmental progress applied across-the-board. The earlier photograph above (a postcard by F. Moore) depicts No. 3902 in as-built condition. The second opposite (Photomatic) is undated but was taken at Old Oak Common, probably in the early 1930s. Top feed and a bunker extension had been added. The latter modification, which might not have been applied to all 20 engines, added room for about 6 cwt more fuel but records are rather coy about coal capacity when new.

Another modification was the fitting of superheating and here lay an oddity. The first to be so equipped was No. 3916 in July 1914 and the programme was completed

in July 1917 with Nos. 3908/ 9/ 20. In contrast, superheating of the forty members of Class 45xx built in saturated form commenced in January 1914 and fifteen still awaited attention in January 1920 with the last (No. 4530) processed in October 1926. Focus on an interim type with limited career expectancy at the expense of a versatile, efficient performer destined for a long working life seemed a strange order of priority.

Most of Class 39xx were initially deployed on commuter work in the Birmingham area but five went straight to the Neath division and a couple to Gloucester/ Worcester. More emigrated to South Wales later. Single examples were at Westbury and Taunton in the mid-1920s and the class was displaced by large prairies in the Birmingham area in 1929 leading to dispersal in the Neath and London divisions. Mileages as 2-6-2Ts varied between 400,000 and 500,000; in their previous existence as 0-6-0s they had averaged 250,000-300,000. No. 3902 started life as an 0-6-0 in September 1896 and was withdrawn in August 1932. Class 39xx became extinct in November 1934.

A point of detail concerns No. 3902’s early livery. That invaluable tool for every enthusiast, Great Western Way by John Lewis and the HMRS Stewards (Historical Model Railway Society, 2009) states on Page 24 ‘In 1903…the monogram on the tender…was replaced by the Garter Crest between the words GREAT and WESTERN. Tank engines followed suit in 1906 but without the Garter Crest. The lettering on the tank sides however always provided spacing for the crest to be added if required.’ The image states otherwise but this was an official photograph and No. 3902 presumably worked in ordinary service without this decoration.

A few years after No. 3902, another medium-sized passenger tank engine emerged from Swindon. This may be accorded its own critique, once suitable images turn up in the Archives.

WEST COUNTRY CLAY TRAFFIC PART 2 - CHINA AND BALL CLAY IN DEVON STUART MALTHOUSE

CHINA CLAY FROM DARTMOOR

There have been two main areas of commercial china clay exploitation on Dartmoor, Lee Moor (the most important) and Redlake. Both have connections with the history and operations of the Great Western Railway.

Lee Moor

Lord Morley, the local landowner, began the development of the china clay industry on his estates around Lee Moor village from around 1830. By the 1960s the quarries and processing plants, by then in the ownership of English China Clays, was a significant local employer and over 70% of the output was destined for export. The business here was notable for being the first site where much of the waste material, instead of being dumped or sold on to the construction industry, was used in integrated works alongside for the production of bricks and tiles. This practice only occurred in a limited number of instances elsewhere.

From 1858, the workings at Lee Moor were connected by the Lee Moor Tramway, also owned by his lordship, to the Plymouth & Dartmoor Railway at Rising Sun Junction for onward movement of the clay to Laira Wharf for shipment. (The tramway was responsible for working this section of the P&D from around 1900 onwards.) The Plymouth & Dartmoor being incorporated into the Southern Railway as a subsidiary at the 1923 Grouping, it may seem that the story of this china clay system is purely one of a private industrial railway and the Southern. However, a number of points mean that Lee Moor clay and the tramway play a part in Great Western history.

In the first place, the beginnings of the Lee Moor line were such that it could well have fallen into the GW fold. By the 1830s, Lord Morley was already involved in constructing railways connecting with the Plymouth & Dartmoor at Rising Sun Junction. The line from the junction to the Cann Quarry Canal basin at Marsh Mills had been opened in 1829, and four years later the line northward to Cann Quarry from just short of Marsh Mills replaced the canal. The basin branch was also extended to Plympton and this line handled Lee Moor clay delivered to it by packhorse. The South Devon Railway purchased the branch in 1847 to facilitate the company’s approach to Plymouth.

In return for Lord Morley’s support, the South Devon & Tavistock Railway (from the South Devon main line at Tavistock Junction) included a branch from Plym Bridge to Lee Moor via a cable-worked incline through Cann Wood in its proposals, and this was included in its Act of 24 July 1854. In fact, at an earlier stage in the discussions it was possible the new railway would replace the line to Cann Quarry completely for the first two miles above Marsh Mills. Work on the Lee Moor branch began, but was carried out so poorly by the contractor that because of this and other problems, the Tavistock company was relieved to transfer the line to Lord Morley’s ownership. When opened in 1858, therefore, the branch was connected to the surviving Cann Quarry line at Plym Bridge rather than the Tavistock line nearby, and the outlet for Lee Moor clay came to be via this route and Rising Sun Junction as the Lee Moor Tramway. The Plymouth & Dartmoor and all Lord Morley’s railways including the completed Lee Moor Tramway were horse-worked and built to the socalled Dartmoor gauge of 4’6”. Accordingly, between Plym Bridge and Marsh Mills the tramway maintained

THE LEE MOOR TRAMWAY AT WEIGHBRIDGE COTTAGE

Taken in early 1968 looking east, this view shows the remains of the Lee Moor Tramway alongside the building known as Weighbridge Cottage. Coming up from Rising Sun Junction (about 500 metres behind the photographer) the line passed over the River Plym on the bridge in the foreground. Beyond, the original route to Marsh Mills Canal Basin and Plympton continued straight ahead, while the later route to Cann Quarry which became the ‘main line’ of the tramway diverged left to pass behind the cottage. It then assumed its northward course to run near or adjacent to the Tavistock and Launceston branch. The sand-loading siding which became the terminus of the tramway after the second world war was a short distance beyond the cottage on this line. Marsh Mills station on the Launceston branch is in front of the large building in the middle distance, this line passing from the right to the left of the photograph. The two ventilators and chimney of the signal box on the platform of the station can just be made out straight ahead. Bernard Mills.

THE TORRIDGE VIADUCT IN STEAM DAYS

In the 1950s, No. 32608, a Barnstaple Junction based E1/R 0-6-2 tank, approaches Torrington with a short clay train from Marland or Meeth. The train is approaching the road bridge before Torrington station on what was the first section of the Torrington & Marland Light Railway until it was replaced in 1925. To be precise, the narrow gauge line ran in front of the standard gauge formation through the later infill and had its own viaduct over the River Torridge on the upstream (left) side of the new 1925 viaduct. R E Vincent (REV 269-2).

WESTERNISATION ON THE TORRIDGE VIADUCT

D6300 Class diesel-hydraulic No. D6320 crosses the Torridge Viaduct on 23 March 1967 with ball clay from Marland and Meeth. From this angle, the remaining piers in the river of the original Torrington & Marland viaduct can clearly be seen. Torrington station is to the right of the A386 road bridge beyond. Bernard Mills.

TORRINGTON

Looking towards Bideford and Barnstaple, Torrington station is seen on 23 March 1967. The passenger service had ended on 4 October 1965, although there were subsequently excursions and emergency services in severe weather. D6300 Class diesel-hydraulic No. D6320 stands in the up platform with ball clay from Marland and Meeth. Public goods services here had ended in September 1965 and the former goods yard was being used as a private siding for milk traffic. Bernard Mills.

TOTHILL CUTTING THE CHALLENGES OF A CIVIL ENGINEERING PROJECT

Tothill, now where on earth might that be? Certainly, there was never a station on the Great Western Railway with that name.

Dig a little deeper however, and the location will be found - without a station or stopping place – but south of Newbury and just north of Highclere station on the erstwhile Didcot, Newbury and Southampton line. To be geographically accurate, Highclere station was in the village of Burghclere and had only been named as the latter as being the closest stopping place to Highclere Castle (in the 21st century doubling as ‘Downton Abbey’), back in the 1880s the ancestral home of the Earl of Carnarvon who had contributed financially to the railway. In true railway fashion the station north of Highclere, aka Woodhay, should have been given the name Highclere as this was closest to said village, whilst south of Highclere came Burghclere station, again hardly correct as it was in Old Burghclere /Sydmonton. We might conclude this unintended confusion by noting that Royal trains carrying Queen Victoria were not infrequent visitors to Highclere station and castle in the latter years of the 19th century.

The railway south of Newbury had been built by the contractor Falkiner & Tancred, its history well covered by existing published works and so apart from the brief dalliance above need not be repeated here. However, as with almost any research new material can sometimes spring surprises and this came in the form of a book left to the Stephenson Locomotive Society and kindly brought to the attention of the present writer courtesy of Gerry Nichols from the SLS.

Extracts from plans contained within the book show the route of the railway in red. Although once laid with a single track except at stations, sufficient land had been obtained to allow for a double track later although this was never provided throughout. The varying width of the formation is accounted for by the need to slope the cuttings in the area. The covered way / bridge would take the road running centre left to bottom centre over the railway, this would later be designated the original A34. Highclere station was off the plan to the right.

1953 REMEMBERED THE LAST CORONATION YEAR

Coronations are occasions for looking both backward and forward. Against the self-imposed limitation of 1977 for the remit of Western Times, consideration of the events of 2023 is left for contemporary publications focussed on the 21st Century railway. In recognition of 70 years of change and progress, it is more appropriate for this short essay solely to reflect upon the way things used to be.

A graphic memory of the last coronation year was the impact of vivid colour (red, white and blue naturally) upon a world that hitherto had seemed drab, grey, and dirty. The blue’s vibrancy matched the hopes for the new reign in symbolic contrast to the faded hue worn by the King that had paused at Dawlish on a Down service the previous summer.

Living then beside the SE&CR mainline, Coronation blue heightened appreciation of colour generally, especially on the railway. The ‘Golden Arrow’ with coaching stock in almost correct livery was regularly hauled by No. 70004 William Shakespeare, a glitter machine still in its special Festival of Britain finish of lined mid-chrome green. The ‘Brits’ were synonymous with expectations for an exciting future, as reminded by ubiquitous BR station posters that displayed Britannia itself and implied steam’s permanence. However, another poster offered an alternative technological world through the recently introduced overhead electrics on the Woodhead route, leading to wonder which would win that competition.

The Golden Arrow, the Night Ferry (which often ran late in winter), and the other boat trains with a Pullman or two in the consist definitely injected glamour into the daily spectacle but Kent felt like exile. The best train of the day was undoubtedly a through service every afternoon from Birkenhead whose coaches were different from the constant diet of Maunsell, Bulleid and SE&CR ‘birdcage’ stock.

‘Going home’ meant school holiday visits to Gloucestershire and Home started on the Lawn with the obligatory admiration of the glass-cased model of KGV with its Collett Brake Composite before taking the train west. By then blood and custard was prevalent but looking along the varying profiles of the rake, coaches whose tumblehomes swelled slightly beyond the others looked just like those on that service from Birkenhead. Some years passed before the realisation that the ends bent outwards also – in the form of a bow.

Every journey was pure joy in a secure, snug, familiar atmosphere. Being too young and too timid ever to consider a shed ‘bunk’, the highlight of every trip was

the passing of motive power depots. Departure from PDN immediately meant high alert for OOC where among the crowds, tenders could be glimpsed showing evidence of previous ownership: ‘G coat of arms W’ and even perhaps a jaded shirt button. There might have been evidence of the BR standard fleet but that was of no concern.

Once in full flight, the ambience was special within the train itself from the compartment’s sepia photographs of beauty spots to the red carnation in the Guard’s buttonhole. Through the window the lineside pageantry unfolded with signal boards that moved the right way on posts properly surmounted by spike and finial; the platform furniture; the signal box nameplates; the ‘28’ waiting patiently with its vast load in the loop for the ‘passenger’ to overtake; the ‘45’ and B-set standing in the bay platform. It was all pure Great Western.

Certain itineraries outside the usual pattern brought particularly cherished memories. On one occasion a Temple Meads-Paddington journey revealed (to the subsequent disbelief of fellow spotters) ex-Cardiff Railway No. 1338 standing in Swindon works yard. Another time, a parental decision to avoid Gloucester on the way to Cheltenham led to a lengthy interlude at Kingham, to curiosity about the purpose served by the flyover, and then to a leisurely prairie-hauled trip by way of Burton-on-the-Water, Notgrove and Andoversford Junction. And another trek from Kent revealed the existence of a place called Didcot.

The favourite holiday haunt was atop the waste ground just north of Lansdown Junction, Cheltenham and at commencement of the quadruple route south to Gloucester. From there it was possible to watch services to/ from St James’s and the Honeybourne line, to catch a Southern Mogul coasting down from Leckhampton to terminate at Lansdown station at the end of its wanderings from Andover or further south, and to watch the antics of the other lot who seemed so often to delight in using two underpowered locomotives when a proper one should have been more than adequate. Passage of time renders many memories a blur but two remain evergreen: No. 6827 Llanfrechfa Grange coming down the Midland on a heavy freight and No. 5031 Totnes Castle forging south with ‘The Cornishman’. Was it really seventy years ago?