JUBILEE DAYS

Chance find is a timely coincidence.


The bank holiday weekend saw me sifting through mounds of junk in my workshop and study. Whilst sorting the wheat from the chaff, as it were, I came across a couple of copies of British Railways Magazine; the old staff publication of the nationalised railway. By pure coincidence, the first issue that I found was a special 'Coronation Number' from June 1953, marking the official crowning of Queen Elizabeth II. Indeed, it's a Royal-themed issue all round, with a gripping lead article by Hamilton Ellis outlining the history of the royal train and its carriages (or should that be saloons?), a feature on Wolverton Works' involvement in Royal transport and the Royal Locomotives of Crewe. Great stuff!

These old mags are a real goldmine for contemporary information and its the smaller, staff news stories that particularly grab my attention. For instance, the write-up of Bescot Loco winning the London Midland Region soccer cup and the Eastern Region running streets ahead in the boxing finals. There's also a story of Doughboy, a prizewinning bulldog belonging to joiner A. Andrew of Manchester Victoria who won 3 cups in the LMR Fur & Feather Society's annual show at Derby. I can't imagine any of the current TOCs having a Fur & Feather Society. Or boxing clubs for that matter. What a shame...


The rear cover of British Railways Magazine regularly featured a 'Spotlight' on specific stations. To suit the Royal theme, the focus is on Wolferton, the station for Sandringham House.


On the sport pages, Bescot Loco win the LM Challenge Cup after a hard-fought final against Derby whilst F. Shepherd of Crewe gained a decisive points victory in a LMR lightweight bout against Stacey of the Southern Region.

Comments

  1. Hi George!

    Just a quick comment to say how much I've enjoyed reading your blog recently - it's been a great source of inspiration for me in my current 'layout daydreaming' phase!

    Keep up the great writing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi,
    Many thanks for the kind comment. I'm glad you enjoy the Blog. I think we're all in a perpetual 'layout daydreaming' phase!
    Cheers,
    George.

    ReplyDelete

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