A lavishly illustrated title from acknowledged railway expert Colin G. Maggs, presenting the story of Somerset’s branch lines.

Julian Holland's Dr Beeching's Axe 50 Years On is a unique memorial to all that was lost following the publication of the ‘Beeching Report’ on 27 March 1963. Uniquely, the author has tried to include every railway line that was closed as a result of the ‘Beeching Report’, and more. They are all shown on Map 9 in Part 2 of the ‘Report’ and have been annotated for clarity at the beginning of each regional chapter in the book. Needless to say it is not plain sailing: there are lines that were marked for closure on the maps but were closed before publication of the ‘Report’; there are lines that were not originally on Beeching’s original hit list but which were closed anyway; there are lines that were originally marked down for closure but which were fortunately reprieved. There are even one or two which seem to have not existed at all! The author has included them all.

The Directory of British Railway Companies of Great Britain is a record of all the companies who sought to build a railway in Great Britain, both successful and unsuccessful. The Directory contains a full list of every company that obtained an Act of Parliament for the construction of a railway. If a railway was built without an Act of Parliament and played a part in the greater picture of Great Britain’s railway system, it is also included, which gives a fascinating glimpse into Great Britain’s colourful public transportation history. Readers will learn about each railway’s origin, opening, route, gauge and growth and its amalgamation with others, and find out which grouping company it finally ended up in. In an interesting additional section, the routes that unfinished railways and railways that never came to fruition would have taken are also included. The Directory of British Railway Companies of Great Britain has been meticulously researched, and as a result includes all railways, built or not, in the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands and Scottish Islands. Also included are brief descriptions of the most pertinent Acts relating to railways in Great Britain, providing readers with an insight into the complicated legal processes involved in the creation of a railway. The Directory of British Railway Companies of Great Britain is an all-in-one, easy to access and invaluable reference source. It will appeal to historians and transportation enthusiasts alike, as well as those who have always wondered how Great Britain’s railways came to be.

This is a story about the passage of time, from a Norman invasion to a narrowly-avoided German one. It tells of the joys and hardships of life in rural southern England through the seasons and through the centuries. It relates how a family coped with poverty and penury, and how one day in the 1930s a daughter went off to work in a mill. In due course this particular young woman went on to become a lady’s maid and eventually a London suburban housewife – and the author’s mother. The tale is set in and around the town of Chard in the West Country, although many of the events described could have taken place almost anywhere in England. The family in the spotlight, the Collins family, were in the main men of the soil and women who toiled at home. Some were miners, made shoes or clay pipes, or repaired machines for the two main local industries, weaving and butter making. The lives of those men and women, and the lives of the community around them in a rural England which is now largely forgotten, are brought vividly and touchingly to life through this well-studied and meticulously-documented tale.