Great Western Railway


The Campden Tunnel, two miles south of Mickleton, has been called the site of the ‘last pitched battle between two private armies on UK soil’. The ‘battle’ was between rival railway contractors and demonstrated both the fierce, belligerent loyalty of the navvies and their taste for fighting. Navies played a vital, if not critical role in the development of Britain’s roads, canals and railways. Navvies were […]

The Battle of Mickleton


The proponents of High Speed 2, the planned railway connecting London with Birmingham and the north, face considerable public opposition. This is nothing compared to the nineteenth century when angry aristocrats tried everything to put the breaks on developments on or near their estates. From their first beginnings, railways have divided the public and attracted formidable opposition. The Earl of Darlington opposed the initial plans for […]

Noblesse oblige



York, Swindon, Crewe, Derby, Peterborough, Wolverton and Eastleigh are very different places, cities and towns spread across Britain. From ancient cathedral cities to metropolises that barely existed two centuries ago, they all share one thing; they are amongst Britain’s railway towns.  Railway towns owed their economic success and booming populations to the arrival and patronage of the railways. To be a true railway town, it wasn’t enough […]

Makin’ all t’railways cum to York


Vaguely Interesting Snippets | 10 January 2013 The UK’s state pension age would have to be 80 if it were to be restricted to the same percentage of people as received the original old age pensions provided in 1908, according to a study by Longevitas. Also vaguely interesting that the original pension age was set at 70 – fully two years more than will be reached […]