History of the Gravesend Railway Enthusiast’s Society by Geoff Miall
CHAPTER 1
Thirty years on, I feel gratified that the third Society of which I have been a Founder Member is still flourishing. The other two societies are Christ Church Amateur Dramatic Society, formed in the 1930’s and also St. Aidan’s Church, founded from St. Mary’s Church, Chalk.
However, to return to GRES, an abbreviation which soon caught on after an attempt to change the societies name failed.
In the 1960’s Patrick Whitehouse had a Television programme called Railway Roundabout which fascinated us and we never missed watching it.
Then in 1962 when my son was about 10 years old my next door neighbour wanted to sell his sons Hornby Railway Double O gauge Railway Engine. This was followed later by the acquisition of a 6ft x 4ft layout in OO gauge. This was damaged and had to be repaired and rebuilt. I turned our largest bedroom into a railway room so that I could run a model railway all around it, with storage space underneath. My next function was to build Super-Quick cardboard models which were so lifelike and looked right on the layout. From then we were really “hooked” on Trains.
At this time we started going on camping holidays just to see Steam Trains. I acquired a Frame Tent which was much more comfortable for us, and as my daughter had decided that she did not like camping with us and went on holidays with her school friends, we found we could please ourselves where we went. I had read Tony Rolt’s book on the restoration of the Tal-y-Llyn Railway which fascinated me so what was more natural than we should go to Wales to visit the Railway, and it all took off from there.
From the Tal-y-Llyn the natural progression was to the Ffestiniog Railway and then we found the Welshpool & Llanfair Railway. Finally, we reached Barry in South Wales and spent some time visiting Dai Woodhams Scrap Yard. We were horrified to see that they could do such terrible things to the “Giants of Steam” stored there, but at least some of them were going away for restoration.
We next visited one of my war time friends, Bill Hooper, who was the Saw Doctor at a Timber Yard in Whitehaven, only to find that he had often driven Black Five loco’s in his earlier days, and he introduced us to the steam loco’s of Haig Colliery. We learnt of Fletcher Jennings of the Lowca Works nearby, sadly by then disappeared, but their products were still surviving on the Ffestiniog Railway – the Double Fairlie’s and also Dolgoch, my favourite Slate Locomotive.
Discovering the workings of Slate Quarries became a natural progression and we visited as many of these as we could find. We eventually unearthed details of a strange locomotive called Fire Queen which had been built by Alfred Horlock of Northfleet Iron Works, Kent in 1848. It had a sister called Jenny Lind but unfortunately this has been scrapped. I wrote to the Gravesend Reporter to see if anybody had heard of any other locomotives built by Alfred Horlock but this drew a blank. However one of my friends, Barry Phillips, has pursued the Alfred Horlock trail and discovered that Fire Queen was built after seeking advice from G & J Rennie who retained T.R. Crampton as their designer. We found that the first of Crampton’s improvements was his fourth patent concerning design of a four coupled locomotive having the driving wheels at the extreme ends of the chassis, inclined cylinders midway along the boiler driving the rear axle and link motion driven off the front axle (but the Fire Queen has no chassis, the axles are bolted to the boiler).
But I digress and I can enlarge on this matter at a later date.
About this time, I realised that many of my friends were interested in the same things and we talked about Railway Clubs but did nothing. So, in 1969 I decided that if nobody else would do anything it was up to me, and accordingly I invited about twenty five friends to a meeting at my house to discuss forming a Railway Society in Gravesend.
I then contacted the principal of the Adult Education Centre at 38 Pelham Road who was agreeable to let us have an Inaugural Meeting there. He offered to lend us the 16mm Talkie Projector which we used to show British Transport Railway Films. And so, G.R.E.S was born.
But do not forget, behind every Railway Enthusiast is an understanding and sometimes just as enthusiastic wife!
CHAPTER 2
On Monday 19TH January 1970 I wrote “The Gravesend Railway Enthusiast’s Society held its first meeting at 49 St. Gregory’s Crescent. Present were Fred Wilmshurst, Ken Hearnden, David Ashenden, Ian & John Davis, Leslie & Geoff Lofts, John Hill, Geoff & Robin Miall, Frank & Robert Featherstone”.
All these people were friends of mine and all interested in Railways in all shapes and sizes, and indeed in Transport in general. We discussed the forming of a Railway Society and I agreed to contact the Principal of the Adult Education Centre at 38 Pelham Road to see if he would let us have our first meeting there.
The actual Inaugural Meeting of our Society was therefore held on the 5th June 1970 at the Adult Education Centre, and 89 people were present. I welcomed everyone and then outlined the reasons for the meeting. Whereon some members of the Gravesend Model Marine & Engineering Society got up and stated that we did not need another Railway Society as we already had one in themselves. Accordingly, I asked them what the aims of their Society and they replied “to build engineering models and run them”. This meant that there was no contest between us as we were interested in all forms of Transport, but railways, and we wished to meet together to talk about Railways and show Railway films. Also, to run Model Railways, visit Railway sites to see engines and ride behind them. Reluctantly the Model Marine & Engineering Society backed down and withdrew their objection and opposition to us.
We then showed a British Transport Film called The Elizabethan on the Adult Centre’s own Bell & Howell projector (16mm talkie) and this was really something, everyone was enthralled. We next got down to the business of choosing a Chairman. Ian Davis was proposed, and he accepted the office being duly elected. I was proposed as Secretary and as we could not find a Treasurer, I agreed to take on this post as well until we really were on our feet as a Society. (Strange to say I kept these offices for about five years before I managed to persuade Ray Shields to take over as Secretary and I remained as a humble Committee member.)
However back to the first meeting, after the official business was over, we showed another film entitled This is York, another film classic which we have shown many times since.
The decision was taken to meet every month at the Adult Education Centre, and this we did with a programme of BT Films. Then David Ashenden and Fred Wilmshust offered us a Friday evening at the Northfleet Football Club Supporters Hut at Stone Bridge Road where we could run Hornby OO gauge trains on an old Table Tennis table, and Tom Hanks even brought along his O gauge clockwork trains. The track was laid down at every meeting but not fixed as the table had to be removed after each meeting. One of the junior members, David Howard, managed to keep knocking the Engines off the track by running them too fast and acquired the name Wrecker for his pains. This name stuck – so train buffs beware
From the beginning in 1970 my son Robin and David Walton had been visiting Ashford Steam Centre at Willesborough, which was the old Ashford Works Running Sheds. Esmond Lewis-Evans, who had come back from many years in Kenya, had started a Preserved Railway Centre with a locomotive No. 65 an 0-6-0 South Eastern loco which he had acquired. He was the Curator of a Steam Museum of sorts and had quite a collection which included a Traction Engine and several Pullman coaches, and it was all manned by volunteers. There was about a quarter of a mile of track on which to run and we used old railway sleepers for firing as they were plentiful, and this is when my son Robin learned to drive a loco. David Walton drove the steam crane built by Smiths of Rodley, which was called Horace. It is still in operation in preservation somewhere.
We would drive down to Ashford on a Sunday morning and work all day on various Railway projects. My wife, Hilda, and I used to work on two Pullman coaches called Sapphire and Lucille where we cleaned the brasswork (bronze really), dusted the seats and generally cleaned the wood paneling etc. Remarkably interesting too. I believe that these coaches are also still about somewhere. They were very elegant and even had stained glass windows.
These were activities later for GRES Members and we had quite good support. Trevor Hurdle came with us before he joined the Signalling Staff at Dartford when they changed to Colour Light Signalling. I think he is now based at Ashford and someone saw him not long ago on Television driving a loco, so good luck Trevor wherever you are.
CHAPTER 3
Our first Chairman, Ian Davis, was also Chairman of the Medway Military Modelling Society which built Military Plastic Models (originally Airfix – of course). Also they were into War Games and making small Panorama’s as well, with model Tanks and other vehicles, and we also used to visit the International Plastic Modelling Society (IPMS) meetings once a month on Friday evenings at a Church Hall near to Selfridges in Oxford Street. My son Robin and I were Members of these Clubs but eventually GRES became our only interest as there was not time to support all these activities.
When Ian Davis wanted to give up the Chairmanship of GRES I managed to persuade Tom Hanks to take over as Chairman, a job he held for ten or more years – very efficiently too.
The Gravesend West Branch, which ran from the bottom of Stuart Road out to Rosherville, Southfleet, Longfield & Fawkham Junction to Swanley – then onto Bromley South and finally Victoria, was in the process of being closed and demolished. I discovered the Gravesend Hospital had purchased the station site and goods yard at West Street to build a new Nurses Home for the Gravesend New Hospital. I wrote to the Hospital Board and obtained permission to visit the site, and the old Gravesend West Station, to see if there were any relics of the Branch Line remaining. I was able to get into the cellar underneath the Station and found a pile of damp papers, waybills, goods receipts etc, dating back in some cases to 1897 and 1913. Some I managed to save while others I photographed. The final object I was able to retrieve from my search was the half of the Gravesend West sign which used to be on the platform approaching West Street Station. All I got was ESEND WEST, the GRAV part was missing. We think it was used by one of the coal merchants at the Goods Yard to reinforce the bed of one of their lorries. Anyway I made some enquiries but it was never forthcoming.
I recently gave a lecture to the Gravesend Historical Society on the Gravesend West Branch, which was attended by about 120 people – and was well received. Afterwards a lady came up to me and said “I noticed that one of your slides showed a weigh bill signed by someone named Nevill, well that person was my Mother’s cousin and was the Clerk in the Goods Office at West Station”. She asked for a copy of the weigh bill.
Back to the 1970’s, David Walton and my son Robin discovered that the Blue Circle Cement Works at Swanscombe were getting rid of their Saddle Tank locos, which used to draw the chalk from the quarries to the cement plants in Swanscombe. The quarries were nearing the end of their lives and they were using Rolls Royce engine diesel locos to do what was necessary. So, the lads managed to get an introduction to David Workman, the Managing Director of Swanscombe Cement Works, and explained that they belonged to a properly constituted Railway Society and they thought it would be a nice idea if our Society could preserve one of the steam locos. David Workman wrote to me, as Secretary, and Tom Hanks, as Chairman concerning this to arrange a meet to discuss the matter.
I approached one of my school friends, Ridley Bruce (who was a Solicitor), to draw up a Constitution for our Society which, with alterations to bring it up to date, is still in force today. He would not take a penny for his efforts so we were well away. David Workman was impressed by our Constitution and seeing that we were really in earnest we were invited to choose one of the five locos, all Hawthorn Leslie 0-4-0 of around 1928 vintage. No. 1 was the one we chose as it was still working and we thought it would be the best. In hindsight we should have chosen No. 4 which was the last one to be disposed of and finally ended up on the Sittingbourne & Kemsley Railway as a static exhibition on a 20ft length of track as they could not use it on their narrow-gauge line.
In due course a presentation ceremony was organised, with the press present, and a photograph appeared in the Daily Telegraph showing the official handover of the Loco to our Chairman – Tom Hanks. David Walton and Robin were also present as they really were the instigators of our acquiring a Standard Gauge Steam Loco for GRES. Unfortunately, I was in bed with the Flu so I never actually saw the handover.
We now had to find somewhere to keep the loco. We approached Esmond Lewis-Evans at Ashford Steam Centre to see if we could take No. 1 there. He was fully in agreement and we next had to find a Transport Contractor who would collect and deliver the loco from Swanscombe to Ashford. We found one in Norfolk with a suitable low loader trailer. It was a tricky operation to get the low loader into Ashford Yard then we used a loose length of track bolted to the rails leading up onto the trailer and No. 1 was finally installed at the Ashford Steam Centre. The whole operation was captured by a bevy of GRES photographers and we were able to relive the event many times over at subsequent slides shows. Both Tom Hanks and I still have our slides of this event, a landmark in the evolution of the Gravesend Railway Enthusiast’s Society.
CHAPTER 4
From 1971/72 until 1976 there were working parties from GRES going down to Ashford Steam Centre, mostly on Sundays, to work on No. 1 and other projects – such as the Wheel Drop Pit which had not been used for some time and needed a lot of work to get it going again. I seemed always to have been using the long rod with a wire brush on the end pulling through the tubes of No. 1 to clear the rust and/or corrosion.
Whilst we were at Ashford there were several other Steam Projects going on. A body of people from a Society formed to preserve a NORD Pacific from France managed to get their loco shipped over and installed at Ashford whilst they worked on it, getting it ready for steaming. It had not been long out of use so they were very lucky and in no time at all were running up and down on the quarter of a mile of sidings and track which were there. We all managed to get a footplate ride and it was a big engine. Eventually I think it went to the NENE Valley Railway at Wansford where they operated for some time.
Then a Society was formed to preserve a Bulleid Pacific Loco straight out of service from Nine Elms Depot. Eventually 35028 Clan Line (a Merchant Navy Class) came to Ashford Steam Centre and was another Project which originated here. It made the visits to Ashford much more interesting and we were fortunate to be there to see it. I think Robin managed to get a footplate ride though I was not so lucky.
All went very happily until May 1976 when we were informed by Peter Rogers, one of the Trustees of the Steam Centre, that it was closing as Esmond Evans, the Curator, had not managed to get his investments out of Kenya which should have paid for the rent of the Steam Centre from British Rail. Accordingly, we were advised to get No. 1 out of the Centre as soon as possible as BR were sending their Bailiffs in. This would mean commandeering everything at the Centre so we would have to get our Loco away, and with a weeks’ notice we actually managed to do this.
Once again the problem arose – where should we take No. 1? Quainton Road (Buckingham) Steam Centre were approached but I thought of the Colne Valley Railway, being established at Castle Hedingham in Essex which was not so far away. I had made friends with Dick Hymas, their Manager, and he was quite interested in giving our Loco a home. He came to my house to meet our Officers and to talk about the possible move to the Colne Valley Railway. Accordingly, Tom Hanks and I were able to persuade Dick and his Officers that it would be an asset to their Railway, and they agreed that we could move No 1 to Castle Hedingham. There we could work on our Loco with a view to Steaming it so we agreed to become members of the Colne Valley Railway.
Once again the same Transport Contractor who had moved No. 1 to Ashford came to our rescue and we had another Photographic Session for all the Society on the move from Ashford to Castle Hedingham. This was in July 1976 and from then on the weekends seemed to be occupied in getting ready for our visit to Castle Hedingham on the Sundays, where we were involved in helping lay track or other projects connected with building the Station which had been transported from about three quarters of a mile further up the track towards Halstead.
Dick Hymas and his Father worked for a Timber Merchants who had bought the original site at Castle Hedingham Station, and the station buildings etc. were in the way so Dick managed to get permission for the station to be demolished brick by brick and transported to the new site where it was going to be a completely new Castle Hedingham Station. I am pleased to say that we were fully involved in the rebuilding and operation of the new station. They were also given a Signal Box from CRESSING on the LT&SR line, which was lifted and put on a Lorry and brought to the site and erected as Castle Hedingham Signal Box.
It is not often that one gets involved in the evolution of a new Railway.
CHAPTER 5
Before we get any older and progress to the Colne Valley I wish to tell you of the first tours of Historical interest that we were involved in.
One of our original Members, Derek Harris, operated two Citroen Safari Taxis as well as a light Removals contract which also involved a School Meals Service. My son Robin and I used to help Derek when his drivers were off sick or otherwise engaged. Derek dreamed up an idea of operating Tours to places of Railway interest on a Sunday or weekend in one of his taxis i.e. looking at some of the Railway lines axed by Dr. Beeching or otherwise had ceased to exist. This is how GRES DH Tours was born.
On the first one we went to Colonel Stephens line, the Kent & East Sussex Railway. First to Headcorn to see where the branch parted from the line to Ashford. This was quite evident running away to the south but we could not find Frittenden Road Station or Biddenden, but we did find High Halden Station looking all forlorn with no track to it. Then onto St. Michaels where we discovered the old tunnel underneath a Housing Estate, which had just been built, but no trace of the station. Next was Tenterden Town Station, complete with a Coal Contractors still using the Goods Yard and large Coal piles which had been whitewashed all round the front to prevent people helping themselves.
There was not much stock in evidence, so we went to Rolvenden Station over a level crossing near a Water Mill. Here we found a collection of wagons and coaches and also quite a number of original Loco’s. Lots of Terrier Tank engines and two USA Dock tanks named Wainwright and Maunsell in large letters on their sides. There was also a Great Western Diesel Railcar powered by AEC bus engines and a Ford Motor, which I think was diesel powered.
They had managed to clear the line as far as New Mill where it needed a bridge over a stream before they could proceed as far as Wittersham Road, which was the extent of the existing track. This was altogether a particularly good trip and was enjoyed by all who went.
As far as I remember, the main people who went on these Tours were Freda & George Shields, our family, Dave Fisher and Chris Turner because we were all people without our own transport.
We went to the Staines West branch to see what remained because Chris Turner wanted to write a book about it as someone was trying to restore what was left. At Colnbrook, the Station was still extant but not much else, so we moved onto Quainton Road where they were in the early stages of trying to run a railway into Aylesbury Station. Here we found the first APCM Hawthorn Leslie Loco which had been preserved from Swanscombe Cement Works No. 3. I think it was in good running order. They had as yet only lengths of track and sidings and part of a goods yard but so far no buildings, and were erecting an Engine Shed to cope with a Beattie Well Tank loco which was happily running up and down the lines. They were also erecting a station platform but so far only of sleepers. They called this the Buckingham Branch.
One thing they had in parts and very rusty was the stripped down boiler, wheels and many parts of a GW King ( I believe it was King Edward I ).
Another GRES DH Tour took us to the Nene Valley Railway at Peterborough, or rather Wansford, shortly after its inception. Here we could not use Wansford Station building as it was owned by a Transport Contractor so they were busy building a platform opposite the other station with a portable shelter. Britannia Loco No. 70000, the first Standard Class loco, was in store in a Railway Tunnel adjoining Wansford Station prior to being restored to full running order. There were other interesting goodies, but we did not get a train ride that day.
GRES DH Tours visited Haverthwaite and then a trip on the line to Lakeside where we crossed Lake Windermere on a Steam Vessel still operated by BR-TERN, the last of the steam ferries to Bowness. Here we had a look at the Steam powered vessels and one of Henry Segrave’s racing launches, Miss Britain III. That evening we stayed at Carnforth at the Station Hotel. The food was very good and Robin asked for a second helping of the Sherry Trifle after dinner. The waitress said “I’ll bring you some later to your room”. Later there was a knock on the door and the waitress brought in a whole dish of Trifle “But don’t tell anyone I’ve done this” she said. It was very good.
Next morning, we went over the Carnforth Goods Yard where the McAlpine family had a collection of loco’s, including 4472 Flying Scotsman just back from America where they had to settle debts run up on its visit to the USA. I still have slides of that visit.
CHAPTER 6
Continuing with the GRES/DH Tours, another one took us to Malton in Yorkshire where we stayed overnight at a nice pub. I forget its name but it had Roman remains in its back garden. We visited Rillington Junction signal box, later modelled by Paul Hanks. Then we went to Pickering and the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, having a train ride to Grosmont whilst Derek took the Citroen Safari round by road to pick us up and bring us home.
I have a slide showing Freda & George Shields walking through the tunnel at Goathland to the engine sheds where they stabled the Lambton Tank Engines which they were working on. Some of the slides we took were used for a Photographic Competition run by GRES.
Derek Harris certainly filled the need for Railway oriented Transport for people without their own. Without Derek we would not have seen half of the Preserved Railways of Great Britain. He even took Robin, driving the other taxi, when they visited The Hague and the Hoorn Medemblik Stoomtrams in Holland.
Our first visit to the Bluebell Railway was with Derek. We called at Horsted Keynes but it was not open so we progressed onto Sheffield Park and had a look round. There were no trains running that day so we looked over the Engine Sheds and were very pleased to see the H Class Loco we had last seen running at Ashford Steam Centre. I do not remember what all the engines were, but I do remember the Terrier Tank Bluebell was really painted Blue and looked in good condition. Birch Grove was there, several very large engines in pieces, one or two traction engines and even old double deck Buses.
We progressed to the next station down the line which was Barcombe where a Coal Contractor was using the Station as his Office, and at Barcombe Mills the track still ran through the Station which was in quite a good state of repair. I thought it would make a good house if only I could buy it, but that never happened. The Station buildings at both stations were the same as at Sheffield Park.
Now for another visit we made to the Keighley & Worth Railway. We stayed at the Airedale Guest House overnight and spent all day on the Railway. At that time the Railway had just purchased an AC Railcar and that was running quite well.
Another time we made our first visit to the Leighton Buzzard Railway. At Pages Park where Pixie was the loco running that day to the Stonehenge Works of a Sand Quarry. (Editors note Pixie was featured on the front cover of the June Newsletter). There was a De Winton, one of the first Slate Quarry Locos used at Dinorwic Quarry at Llanberis. This had an upright Coffee Pot Boiler
GRES later had a tour by Portsmouth Corporation Double Deck Leyland PD1 to Leighton Buzzard, and our second Bus Tour there was by London Transport RTL preserved by the Dartford Branch of LT. We were friendly with Peter Stanier who was an Inspector for LT and he arranged this for us. Peter owns a Traction Engine and more interesting a Leyland Lioness open tourer Chrabanc, the only one in existence. On this second Bus Tour I have slides of George & Freda Shields watching us put the Coaches on the track after rails spread at 5mph. But this was an interesting weekend and the De Winton Loco was in process of being steamed for the first time since restoration and I attempted to record the trip sitting on the loco, but the Safety Valve stuck just open and ruined all the tape. But apart from the De Winton Chaloner ran very well.
We had a weekend with Derek in Cornwall and the first line we looked for traces of was at Plymstock, but there was nothing worth looking at so we went to view I.K Brunel’s Saltash Bridge, which was a very good Engineering feat. We saw a Great Western Warship run over the bridge. We then went onto look at Bodmin Road where the station had just been acquired by a preservation group. Back at Launceston we stayed overnight with Andrew & Marina Webb. In the morning it was a visit to Liskeard for a ride on the Liskeard & Looe Branch in the pouring rain. Chris Turner and I got soaked looking for the “Loo”. Going to St. Austell we put the Citroen Safari on the Motor Rail and this meant on long drive back home. We arrived at Addison Road, Olympia from where we made our way home after a particularly good weekend.
Derek Harris was certainly a pioneer of GRES visits to preservation and extinct Lines.
CHAPTER 7
Our first visit to Chapel & Wakes Colne on the Colne Valley Railway was with Derek Harris. Here the line runs through Marks Tey to Chappel & Wakes Colne over a red brick viaduct and is quite impressive. They were using Chappel Station as a Bookstall to raise funds for their preservation effort and the goods yard had quite a comprehensive selection of stock of all kinds, including a Traction Engine. They were hoping to get permission from BR to operate the line as far as Sudbury, but BR were reluctant to part with a still profitable branch line.
It was here we made friends with Dick Hymas and his father, and shortly after a visit here we heard that a breakaway section of this group had purchased a length of the old Colne Valley branch between Halstead and Castle Hedingham. This was about a mile of the trackbed up the line from Castle Hedingham towards Yeldham.
About a month later we made a visit to the site where they had decided to rebuild Castle Hedingham Station. Dick Hymas worked for a Timber Merchant who owned the site. They were developing it for their timber yard and did not want the station. The new project were offered the station buildings at Castle Hedingham. They demolished them and transported them to their own site. This they were in the process of doing when we visited and two platforms had just been built. But the main problem was that the bridge over the River Colne had been taken away when the line was closed, so this had to be replaced. Then after this there was only about ¾ mile of trackbed before it reached a main road and the bridge this end had also been removed.
When we arrived about 5 people were trying to move a steam loco along a short length of track by pinch bar and brute force. So, we added our weight but it still took about three hours before we managed to move the loco away from the roadside. We had made new friends and really worked hard, but surely building a railway was never an easy task.
One interesting trip we made with Derek was St. John’s Station, which has been altered a lot since the Lewisham train disaster in SE&CR days. We then went onto Holborn Viaduct where we were to meet Gordon Mackley, one of our early members, a friend of Andrew Goodwin, also an early member of GRES. Gordon went to University to get his degree and then was employed by British Rail and he rapidly moved up the ladder until now he was Stationmaster of Holborn Viaduct Station. At that time, he was actually living in Westenhanger Stationmasters house and working between Ashford and Holborn Viaduct.
Gordon took us down lots of steps into nether regions under Holborn Viaduct Station. After collecting two Tilley Lamps and high visibility vests we walked through a system of tunnels no longer in use, which were very interesting. This was an early cross London route which had been forgotten about but was destined to become the NEW Thameslink route in 1988. The last we heard of Gordon he was Station Master at Ashford so GRES never did him any harm.
Another visit we made was to the last day of running of the BRIDPORT Branch to Maiden Newton. This was via Toller and Powerstock. The people of Bridport were upset because they had no Bus Service either, so it was a sad day for them.
Sadly, I have to announce that Derek Harris passed away two or three years ago, but we certainly owe him a great deal for his foresight. One of his main interests was Ticket Collecting and he wrote a classic book on the subject, and I did manage to get a pre-publication copy. It is well worth getting if you are interested in Edmunson style Railway Tickets.
Well that about concludes GRES DH tours
CHAPTER 8
I remember one day we set off for Castle Hedingham when we heard that the Army had managed to put a bridge over the River Colne. That morning I spoke to the Army Officer. He explained to me that before anything else could be done all the rust should be chipped off from the main girders of the bridge and then it would need painting. After this the bridge support beams could be laid to carry the railway track. Whilst the rest of our party employed themselves on other duties, including work on No. 1, I was asked if I would start this work, so I spent all day sitting astride the main girders chipping away all the rust, and following that a Work Promotion party was employed to paint the girders with bitumen paint – a necessary coating.
The next project the Railway was doing was setting up a Picnic Area close to the station, where visitors could relax when they came to view or to work. This was just over the other side of the River Colne. Surely this would be an asset in the Summer and useful for children to play in.
So far the station building from Sible & Castle Hedingham had been dismantled brick by brick and re-erected on the new platform, which had been built to receive it. It looked exactly as it did before and there was room for a Signal Box and other railway buildings.
In the meantime Dick Hymas had been working on a Coach with a Kitchen, to be installed at the beginning of the line so that visitors could obtain food at any time. This was operated by my Wife.
I have already mentioned how our Loco No. 1 came to be at Castle Hedingham. Well from then to 1976 I think we used to go every Sunday morning to work on it. Firstly, we took off the saddle tank and then Ken Chalk and Ian Rushforth removed the tubes from the Boiler. I spent many hours inside the Boiler chipping the hard water scale from its inside, which took about three weeks (or rather three days). Then the Firebox needed attention, so I climbed inside for more chipping. I certainly was a glutton for punishment in those days. Eventually we had the Insurance Inspector down to inspect both the boiler and the firebox. He said that it was alright to start re-tubing the Boiler but the Firebox there were three areas of about 1½ square feet each which were very thin and needed patches, and they must be of arsenical copper – the same as the firebox itself. We never did manage to get any arsenical copper sheets but then Cornhill Insurance Society took over our original Insurance firm and sent their own Inspector to re-examine the Loco. They condemned the Firebox out of hand and said we needed a new one. The scrap value of the present copper one was only worth £750 while a new steel firebox would cost at least £2000. So far, by various means, we had managed to raise enough to re-tube the boiler, but we could not stretch to paying for a Firebox – and all this in about fifteen years. Reluctantly we had to agree we would not be able to see No. 1 in steam soon. The Colne Valley Railway agreed that we could put it together so that it looked a complete Loco ready for when they could find the funds and time to restore it.
The monies we had raised for No. 1 were put towards obtaining Jupiter, a Robert Stevenson & Hawthorn Loco at Chappel and Wakes Colne, which had been put up for sale at what is now the East Anglian Steam Museum. This was a Loco which did not need much work on it and could be used right away.
So I think the last time I was at Castle Hedingham Station we went as a family. My son, my wife and myself to see Jupiter in steam and ride behind it. That was a memorable day, to see the latest improvements to the line and we enjoyed our visit very much. There was another platform opposite the original one linked by a footbridge. This had a station building, which had been made to look like an original Colne Valley building. This was used as a shop and was brilliantly stocked.
That was the end of my Steam Preservation days because then I had to have a Gall Bladder operation, so I concentrated my efforts on local restoration of the New Tavern Fort for the Gravesend Historical Society
After my operation I did manage to get a month on the Steam Railway of India by way of recuperation in November 1978. My brother Peter, Laurie Marshall and Peter Spencer, who were also GRES Members, accompanied me on this trip – Laurie being the organiser of the whole project. It was called the Great Indian Train Journey and really was the trip of a lifetime – which I still talk about today.
That is where I leave my recollections of the beginnings of the Gravesend Railway Enthusiast’s Society.
CHAPTER 9 – The final instalment
When the Club had to leave Northfleet Football Ground I happened to know the Trustees of the Comrades Club in Queen Street who had a vacant floor at the top of their building, and managed to persuade them that it would be to their advantage to have a Railway Club above them. The room was in a derelict condition, so we volunteered to refurbish it, replace plaster in places and generally make the room usable. We were there for three years or so, until a new Caretaker arrived. He lived on the middle floor and after a time his wife complained that when our Members walked up the stairs, past their flat, it woke their baby up! We were hauled before their Committee who gave us notice to quit. So, we had to find somewhere else to meet.
My wife did part-time work for Holy Trinity School and I knew the Headmaster – Alan Connick – and I asked him if we could use one of the Classrooms or the small Hall at the Primary School in Milton Road. With his agreement we began to meet in their Hall.
The School then built a new Junior School on ground which used to be the Barracks off Wellington Street and appointed a new Headmaster, Cyril Ford, who I knew as he was a member of the Gravesend Historical Society. I did quite a lot of work for the school and later we moved to meeting in the new School. During that time, we kept our meetings going at a very reasonable rent.
Cyril Ford eventually retired and there were new demands on the use of the school hall during the evenings. The new Headmaster was less inclined to a railway society and the other prospective users could afford to pay more than we did. So once again we were evicted and required to find a new venue.
Strange to say, I had nothing to do with finding the present Meeting Place at Singlewell Road Presbyterian Church, however I think you will agree that I have served the Society faithfully through the years.
During the years I was on the Committee, whenever the Editor could not, I did manage to carry on with the Newsletter as I have always believed that this publication is the life blood of the Society, so if members could not get to meetings GRES News would keep them in touch with what was going on.
I do not have a computer though I did purchase a Duplicator to be able to keep our Newsletter going. This means I cannot help in any way with the production of our present Newsletter. However, I should like to congratulate Ray Puddy and George Clark for their sterling work in producing a very fine and worthwhile Newsletter, which we can be proud of and with very fine illustrations. Well done Ye! (in the words of Canterbury Cathedral Choirboys)
That concludes my Saga of GRES.
Geoff Miall
