A Railway History of New Shildon by George Turner Smith
A Railway History of New Shildon by George Turner Smith* – From George Stephenson to the Present Day – was the perfect book to take with me on my trip to up north. Why? Because on the 27th September 1825 the first public railway steam train left New Shildon for Stockton-on-Tees. New Shildon was born due to the Stockton and Darlington Railway line (see second picture). On top of that, the one driving the train was, amazingly, George Stephenson! The engine was ‘Locomotion No.1’.
The book covers 200 years of history, so you can imagine how interesting it is. I loved the short stories about the people who worked there. While it offers some technical details, most of the details concern the day to day life, so I imagine to be interesting for most readers. At the end of the book the author talks about the town’s railway museum. If you are even mildly interested in railways and their history, it is worth getting this book.
Picture taken in Darlington station while I was on the line towards Durham! I just couldn’t resist taking the book with me on my trip to Durham. On top of that, I was reading about LNER while in a LNER train, on my way back to London.
A Railway History of New Shildon by George Turner Smith
Details about the picture: see above
My rating: 5/5 Stars
Would I recommend it: yes
Published by: Pen & Sword Transport
Year it was published: 2019
Format: Hardcover
Genre(s): History – Broad subject
Pages: 204
About the author: After leaving his home town of Hartlepool, following graduation as a chemist. George spent several years in the chemical industry before turning poacher/gamekeeper as a pollution regulator. He began writing more than twenty years ago, concentrating on railway history, an appropriate choice since both his father and paternal grandfather were railwaymen. He has written extensively for railway magazines and has five published railway books and one fiction book to his credit. Now retired, he lives in the Midlands and is married with three grown up children and five grandchildren, none of whom have the slightest interest in railways.
Website & Social Media Links: Pen and Sword
*I was sent a copy of A Railway History of New Shildon by George Turner Smith for the purpose of this review. All opinions are my own.
I have quite a few railway books about the works at Swindon, as that is where my dad, uncle and granddad worked for their entire lives, even during the war, when coach building was a reserved occupation.
The site is huge and some of the workshops have been kept almost intact and redeveloped, as apartments, offices, a lovely railway museum and of course The McArthur Glen Designer Outlet.
We lived not too far from the works and four times a day the factory hooter called the men to work, at five minute intervals for fifteen minutes. You could set your watch by it!
A lovely nostalgic post for me, thanks 🙂
Yvonne (@Fiction_Books) recently posted…The Night Shiftby Alex FinlayBlog TourReview
How lovely to read about your memories. Thank you for sharing them xx
I bet my son-in-law would find this interesting. He wrote the thesis for his Master’s Degree in history on railways. These days – with a 2-yr old around – he’s into Thomas the Tank Engine. 😉
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Thomas the Tank Engine!! Hahaha!! I love it. I think he would enjoy the book indeed. 🙂