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Chichester

Meeting Reports

Wednesday 27th February
The Fascination of the Eritrean Railway
John Scrace

For our February meeting we greeted John Scrace with a presentation entitled 'The Fascination of the Eritrean Railway' which turned out to be both fascinating and enthralling! John's easy speaking style did much to portrayed the excitement of such an adventure with pictures - trains apart - of the domestic scene, to put things into perspective for the audience, a remarkable country and one that must be taken seriously. Cleanliness was striking everywhere and the mixed environment of Italian influence and English signage is truly remarkable. As the title suggested it was going to be a fascinating evening and it was!

Wednesday 23rd January
Castlemans Corkscrew - Southampton to Dorchester
Brian Jackson

For the first meeting of the New Year we welcomed author Brian Jackson with a visual presentation of his book entitled 'Castleman's Corkscrew'. The corkscrew was the original Southampton to Dorchester railway, a line of some sixty miles in length which opened in 1847 through a predominately rural area. However, as Brian explained: to understand the 'why and wherefore' a study of far greater proportions needed to be undertaken. This he proceeded to do, imparting his vast knowledge of the subject in an easy delivery style to the audience. He was backed by some absolutely superb material in the shape of both nineteenth and twentieth century images of locomotives and stations on the lines discussed. All this interspersed with a few splendid witticisms made for an evening of entertainment that one didn't want to end, but end we did, albeit some twenty minutes after the appointed hour.

Wednesday 28th November 2007
Steam in Camera
Mike Hudson

For the final meeting of 2007 we were to have welcomed Graham Stacey but he was unable to be with us due to unavoidable circumstances. Grahams presentation of 'Steam in Camera on Screen' was very ably carried out in his absence by Mike Hudson, who gave a very assured and knowledgeable description of the subject matter.

Formed from the glass plate negative collections of photographers Ken Nunn and his brother together with Harold Hopwood and Angus Lewis the photographs have been transformed into slide form. Covering a period from 1898 to 1960 and ranging allover mainland Britain the audience was enthralled by superb images of early 20th century locomotives working on mainlines, branchlines and the narrow gauge lines.

The assembled on the evening were much indebted to those four men who transported their very heavy equipment into some very rare and long forgotten locations to provide not only such visual pleasure for ourselves, but a record of the time.

Wednesday 24th October 2007
"The Longmoor Military Railway" and "The Carriage of Tanks by Rail"
Mike Walshaw

Our second meeting commenced with almost double the amount of members and visitors present than at the inaugural. Mike Walshaw was the visiting guest speaker who gave an extremely polished and informative presentation entitled "The Longmoor Military Railway" and "The Carriage of Tanks (Military) by Rail".

Military railway installations were not open to public traffic within dockyards, bases or depots of the armed forces, other than on special event open days. Consequently there are few books or articles on this "Cinderella" aspect of railway operations and we were privileged to have an expert with us. Mike covered the complete history of the LMR from its early beginnings as the Borden and Longmoor Military Tramway in 1905 changing its name in 1908 to the Woolmer Instructional Military Railway and finally becoming the LMR in 1935. Shortly prior to this date the line had been extended to Liss but, with war looming further expansion of the line and facilities took place.

It became the largest railway of its kind in the UK before closure in 1969 and finally being dismantled in 1985. Many of the on screen images were clearly not taken on open days but during normal everyday working which helped the audience identify the scale of the operation at Longmoor.

Then followed an intriguing sequence of tanks in transit, being loaded or unloaded by a variety of different methods. To see just the various types of wagons used was a revelation. It was a presentation to match the salubrious surroundings of County Hall, Chichester.

Wednesday 26th September 2007
Inaugrual Meeting

The Society's Development Committee venture to use Chichester as a meeting venue commenced on 26th September. The inaugural meeting was held in the most salubrious of settings in Meeting Room 1 at County Hall, West Street and was a very informal and get to know one another basis with the audience being invited to present subjects of their own choice.

Five members took up the challenge, Michael Harvey, Bruce Down, Ian Taylor, Bruce Oliver and Ken Wilson. Each showed their individuality by the choice of subject matter. The evening ranged through nostalgic images of steam at Fratton Shed and Edinburgh Princes Street Station, derelict locomotives and tenders at Dai Woodhams Yard, Barry, walking the Centurion Way (Fishbourne Junction to Midhurst) to the 21st Century preservation scene.

The speakers all deserved a larger audience than the fifteen present. Two more meetings have been arranged for Wednesday 24th October and 28th November, reverting to the more formal concept, details of which can be found on the Branch Fixtures pages. However, more support is needed to continue venture into the New Year, so come along and join us.

April 2008