DOUBLE BOOK LAUNCH !

The RISE & FALL of NOTTINGHAM'S RAILWAY NETWORK

The Launch of Volumes One and Two at the 2007 Show !

To coincide with the 150th anniversary of the Great Northern Railway's arrival in Nottingham, and the opening of the City's London Road Station, at our show earlier this year Book Law Publications launched their latest titles,

This exciting, new, illustrated, two-volume work is by Hayden J Reed, published by Book Law Publications and printed by Amadeus. They have full colour covers and, according to Book Law, these latest titles will prove to be '... their best ever,..', covering every aspect of both the still-open and the disused lines, buildings and infrastructure of Nottingham's railways. 104 Pages with approx 250 photographs (Vol 1) and 112 Pages with approx 250 photographs (Vol 2).

The Book Launch

The two volumes were launched at the NOTTINGHAM East Midlands EXHIBITION. in March 2007. Both the author (for book signings) and the publisher were on hand throughout the event. There were full supporting displays with photgraphs, information panels, artefacts and exhibits, complete with sections of the Nottingham (Bulwell) MRS's latest work-in-progress project, Trent Lane Junction - a former Great Northern junction on the east side of Nottingham.

The Author

The author, Hayden Reed, grew up within sight of the ex-Great Northern Railway facilities at Colwick, on the eastern side of Nottingham. Alas, by then, steam was long gone and both the locomotive depot and the huge, bustling marshalling yard were closed; silent and, sadly, still.

It's 1955 and an ex-LNER Class 04/1 2-8-0 descends from Mapperley Tunnel and passes Gedling Colliery, with an up coal train for Colwick Yard that had probably originated on the ex-GN Leen Valley line. [Photograph by D R Morley]

Early Years

Even so, being able to see this expanse of former railway facilities from his childhood home must have sown a seed or two, for the Author developed an interest in Nottingham's railways from an early age. As these disused sites around the city began to be redeveloped, so Hayden's interest matured, ultimately to become a passion for all things railway in and around Nottingham. His thirst for knowledge of what had once been, proved to be invaluable for the research that he was eventually to undertake.

Being born mid way through the Sixties, Hayden was too young to remember steam engines, or the myriad of lines that radiated from the City. He grew up in an area close to several disused lines, and developed an interest in them from an early age. By the late Seventies these disused sites were starting to be redeveloped. He had been given a camera by his parents at about this time, and began to photograph abandoned bridges and trackbeds, without really giving much thought to it.

Along the Way

The Author has been a member of the Nottingham (Bulwell) Model Railway Society for over 20 years and has previously given others the benefit of his research by producing displays for the NOTTINGHAM East Midlands MODEL RAILWAY EXHIBITION, featuring such topics as Mechanical Signalling, Nottingham Victoria Station and the Great Central's London Extension. He has contributed to the Society by researching and helping to construct several model railway layouts, including the nationally acclaimed "Deepcar" featuring the erstwhile 1500V dc Woodhead Route, and the latest project, "Trent Lane Junction", based on the real ex-Great Northern junction in Sneinton, where the former Nottingham Suburban line left the Nottingham to Grantham route, at the point where it also crossed over the Midland's route tol Newark.

At the east end of Nottingham Midland Station, during the Spring Bank Holiday weekend of 1981, with two of the Midland Mainline stalwarts, BR Sulzer Class 45s on duty: Nos 45114 and (believed to be) 45001. [Photograph by Hayden J Reed]

The Network Succumbs

In the ten years between 1960 and 1970, the railway network in Nottingham underwent the most radical change it had seen since it had been created. Stations, lines, sheds and yards that had been part of everyday life for a century or more disappeared virtually overnight.

Seaside excursions from Nottingham Victoria were replaced with traffic queues on the A52, and fast trips to London on the Master Cutler gave way to the relentless grind of the M1 motorway. It wasn't just train services that were affected. Steam engines had been part of the sight and sound of the City since the first half of the Nineteenth Century, and 1966 saw the end of steam working around Nottingham. The sound of a distant whistle, clank of couplings, bark of an exhaust and plume of steam were consigned to the history book. The powerful machines that had enthralled generations of schoolboys were dispatched to the likes of William Rigley's Wagon Works at Bulwell for scrapping.

The Seeds are Set

With his father's encouragement, the author's interest in photography developed (no pun intended). As he acquired better equipment Hayden set out to record the remains of Nottingham's once extensive railway network, together with aspects of the then contemporary railway scene. Armed with a Practica LTL, an Ordnance Survey map and his bicycle, Hayden spent many hours travelling round the City taking pictures. Many more followed in his parent's blacked out kitchen, with trays of silver nitrate and other noxious chemicals. The author rapidly built up a substantial portfolio of photographs, which may have seemed of doubtful value at the time, but which now record the final shadows of the steam age in Nottingham.

An Interest Blossoms

College, other interests, work and eventually having a family of his own, all provided distractions from Hayden's interest in local railways, but it never entirely went away. Working as a Civil Engineer for the Local Authority was to offer surprising opportunities to continue recording old railways. This would often be in the context of demolition, prior to building a new road or development, but a key role in the construction of Nottingham's tram (NET) was an even more positive experience.

Some 20 odd years after the author started taking pictures, it occurred to him that the archive he had built up might be of interest to others, and the idea of writing a book was born. It soon became apparent that a book about old railway bridges would make very dry reading, and might have difficulty in attracting a publisher. Hayden, therefore, cast the net a little wider, and began sourcing unpublished old photographs showing the lines in use. He found material at specialist auctions, collector's fairs and even junk shops. The most valuable contributions came, however, from friends and colleagues at the Nottingham (Bulwell) Model Railway Society, who collectively had an enormous amount of material. As the book evolved, a clear set of objectives emerged. These were to not use previously published material, to consider every line in and around the City individually, and to combine a mix of technical and anecdotal information with plenty of photographs and plans, to make the work easily accessible.

A Labour of Love

These volumes are most certainly not a dry rendition of notes on obscure railway bridges. Well researched, they have been a labour of love for Hayden and this shines through in his every word.

It took five years to research and to assemble all the additional material, and, in early 2006, a milestone was reached, when Book Law Publications of Nottingham agreed to publish the work. The book had by now grown into two volumes, owing to the size of the subject area. In recognition of the contribution and support of the Nottingham (Bulwell) Model Railway Society, it was decided to launch both volumes at the 2007 NOTTINGHAM East Midlands MODEL RAILWAY EXHIBITION .

2007 marked the 150th anniversary of the opening of Nottingham's second major railway station, at London Road (Low Level), and expansion of GNR services into the City. The books include much about the GNR in Nottingham, so the idea was hit on to present a substantial display of photographs, drawings, plans, information panels, artefacts, memorabilia and models at the Exhibition to mark the anniversary, and combine this with the book launch. The contents of the books, and 25 years of accumulated keepsakes and mementos formed the basis of the display, together with part of the Nottingham MRS's new "Trent Lane Junction" layout, which is presently under construction.

So, where next? Despite including 500 odd photos in the books, many times that number remain unused, together with numerous plans and architectural drawings. The books have effectively been 25 years in the making, so it is difficult to draw a line under the project. Maybe a third volume will eventually emerge, looking at the subject areas there wasn't room for in the first two, or perhaps something entirely different.

It is said that everyone has one good book in them. Whether "The Rise & Fall" qualifies is for others to judge, but if readers draw just a small fraction of the satisfaction from the books that the author gained in writing them, then they will have been worthwhile.

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