Great Railway Journeys
5 total works
Great Railway Journeys: The Chiltern Line to Birmingham is a record of forty fascinating sites that can be seen from the window of a train travelling from Marylebone Station in London to Moor Street Station in Birmingham. Some will be familiar, like Wembley Stadium. Others will probably come as a delightful surprise, including historic monuments and village churches. The history of the Dashwood Mausoleum and the notorious Hellfire Caves is particularly interesting.
The train passes the structure that contains more bricks than any other in Britain. This is the retaining wall at High Wycombe Station and there are just under 7 million of them. Among the sites featured is the Tesco store in Gerrards Cross. This was built despite much opposition from local people and in 2005 the partly built construction collapsed onto the railway line. A catastrophe was only narrowly averted and the line was closed for some time.
This book is a follow-up to the highly successful Great Railway Journeys: London to Birmingham and Great Railway Journeys: London to Sheffield. It is a must-read for anyone who would like to know more about this wonderful line.
The train passes the structure that contains more bricks than any other in Britain. This is the retaining wall at High Wycombe Station and there are just under 7 million of them. Among the sites featured is the Tesco store in Gerrards Cross. This was built despite much opposition from local people and in 2005 the partly built construction collapsed onto the railway line. A catastrophe was only narrowly averted and the line was closed for some time.
This book is a follow-up to the highly successful Great Railway Journeys: London to Birmingham and Great Railway Journeys: London to Sheffield. It is a must-read for anyone who would like to know more about this wonderful line.
Great Railway Journeys: London to Sheffield is a fascinating record of forty different sites that can be seen from the window of a train travelling from London to Sheffield. The route starts from St Pancras Station and runs through London, St Albans, Harpenden, Luton, Ampthill, Bedford, Wellingborough, Market Harborough, Leicester, Derby and Chesterfield before arriving at Sheffield.
Some of the interesting sites covered include five famous sports stadiums, St Albans Cathedral, Luton Hoo, Luton Airport and the Church of the Crooked Spire in Chesterfield. A particularly absorbing chapter concerns a part of Bedford that some people believed was the precise location of the Garden of Eden. A follow-up to the highly successful Great Railway Journeys: London to Birmingham, this is a must-read for anyone who would like to know more about the line.
Some of the interesting sites covered include five famous sports stadiums, St Albans Cathedral, Luton Hoo, Luton Airport and the Church of the Crooked Spire in Chesterfield. A particularly absorbing chapter concerns a part of Bedford that some people believed was the precise location of the Garden of Eden. A follow-up to the highly successful Great Railway Journeys: London to Birmingham, this is a must-read for anyone who would like to know more about the line.
Great Railway Journeys: London to Sheffield features a series of fascinating sites that can be seen from the window of a train travelling to Sheffield from St Pancras Station in London. Some, like Wembley Stadium and St Albans Cathedral, will be familiar. Others will probably come as a delightful surprise, like St Katherine's Church in Irchester - the spire of which was erected not long after King John sealed Magna Carta at Runnymede.
Among the gems in these pages are the two giant Cardington Hangars, where the ill-fated R101 airship was built. The train passes through what a religious community once believed was the actual site of the biblical Garden of Eden, and the story of this community and its beliefs is told. Also included is the story of the events leading to the burning down of Luton town hall in a riot on Peace Day in 1919. Whether or not you make the journey you will discover much that is interesting and enjoyable.
Among the gems in these pages are the two giant Cardington Hangars, where the ill-fated R101 airship was built. The train passes through what a religious community once believed was the actual site of the biblical Garden of Eden, and the story of this community and its beliefs is told. Also included is the story of the events leading to the burning down of Luton town hall in a riot on Peace Day in 1919. Whether or not you make the journey you will discover much that is interesting and enjoyable.
Great Railway Journeys: London to Oxford and London to Cambridge is the fourth in Roger Mason’s Great Railway Journeys series. It is a fascinating record of things that can be seen from trains running from London to the two great university cities.
The London to Oxford line includes Brunel’s wonderful bridge over the Thames at Maidenhead and the Didcot Railway Centre, which is a living museum of the Great Western Railway. Included here is the story of how the author of a world famous book left the manuscript in a café at Reading Station. He had not kept a copy so he went home and wrote it again.
The London to Cambridge line includes Mountfitchet Castle, a fabulous copy of the one that stood on the site shortly after the reign of William the Conqueror. There is also the Eleanor Cross at Waltham Cross, erected by Edward I in the 1290s as a tribute to his late wife, Eleanor of Castile.
The London to Oxford line includes Brunel’s wonderful bridge over the Thames at Maidenhead and the Didcot Railway Centre, which is a living museum of the Great Western Railway. Included here is the story of how the author of a world famous book left the manuscript in a café at Reading Station. He had not kept a copy so he went home and wrote it again.
The London to Cambridge line includes Mountfitchet Castle, a fabulous copy of the one that stood on the site shortly after the reign of William the Conqueror. There is also the Eleanor Cross at Waltham Cross, erected by Edward I in the 1290s as a tribute to his late wife, Eleanor of Castile.
Great Railway Journeys: The Flying Scotsman Route to Edinburgh is the fifth in Roger Mason’s Great Railway Journeys series. It is a captivating record of what can be seen from trains running from London King’s Cross to Edinburgh.
The forty-one chapters feature statues and monuments, including those paying tribute to the footballer Jackie Milburn and the Prime Minister 2nd Earl Grey. There are cathedrals, castles, viaducts and so much more. These are accompanied by fascinating stories, including how the heroine Grace Darling rowed through a storm to rescue shipwrecked sailors. Another tells of Scotland’s worst-ever fishing disaster in which 189 people lost their lives. There is an account of the 1895 railway races from London to Scotland, which cannot fail to enthral, and nor can the tale of how, in 1926, striking miners derailed the Flying Scotsman train.
In a follow-up to the highly successful London to Oxford and London to Cambridge, this is a must-read for anybody who knows and uses this route.
The forty-one chapters feature statues and monuments, including those paying tribute to the footballer Jackie Milburn and the Prime Minister 2nd Earl Grey. There are cathedrals, castles, viaducts and so much more. These are accompanied by fascinating stories, including how the heroine Grace Darling rowed through a storm to rescue shipwrecked sailors. Another tells of Scotland’s worst-ever fishing disaster in which 189 people lost their lives. There is an account of the 1895 railway races from London to Scotland, which cannot fail to enthral, and nor can the tale of how, in 1926, striking miners derailed the Flying Scotsman train.
In a follow-up to the highly successful London to Oxford and London to Cambridge, this is a must-read for anybody who knows and uses this route.