When i did finally get this book a couple of years ago (eBay natch), the vast majority of passenger coaches covered in this book were now long gone (except for preserved railway lines) so there is not much left to recognise!
However, this is a great nostalgic guide to the days when locomotives hauled passengers around, not multiple units which sound like angry wasps. An elegant document from a more civilised age.
I was sent the draft cover design for my second book on the railway stations of Warwickshire by my publisher yesterday. It looks pretty good and i am looking forward to the book coming out, probably about April 2026.
A while ago the producers of a range of British inland waterways maps (Heron Maps) asked me if they could use a photograph i had taken of the Wey Navigation in Guildford. The map is now complete and they sent me a couple of the maps today, and it is really nice to see my photo included. You can get the map here, it is a very nice production indeed.
In this latest volume released by Cinebook, Blake & Mortimer are caught up into a taut cold war drama involving extraterrestrial derived biological weapons (of course), renegade scientists (natch) and KGB agents and a battle of wits across Moscow, London and ..er.. Liverpool on the eve of the space race.
As with all of the Blake & Mortimer books, there is a lot of story squeezed into one volume. At times maybe it may seem the story is a little dense but then again you are definitely getting your money's worth!
It was my birthday last week and i had the week off work. Late in the week i headed down to London to visit my in-laws in east London. I also made the trip down to Southend-on-Sea. I love a bit of faded British seaside glamour (and at this time of year very faded!) I walked along the pier (the longest pleasure pier in the world) and took the train which runs along it back! You can see my Southend-on-Sea photos here.
On the way back to London, i stopped off at Rochford and had a look around there. I also stopped off at Southend Airport station though no planes were currently flying, the airport there is not quite as busy as Heathrow! You can see my Rochford and Southend Airport photos here.
A professional criminal is hired to steal bonds from a rich businessman who lives in a heavily guarded compound. A key part of the security is provided by some large dogs (hence the cover image!)
The actual caper is a bit ridiculous (he is smuggled into the compound with it's highly lauded security in a car boot!) Too much of the story involves him wandering around the house, mostly aimlessly, at night trying to find documents. It isn't the most thrilling crime story you will ever read at times. However, it does built up to a satisfying and action packed conclusion.
The story isn't bad but it is a bit too wordy, it has pages of dialogue which go nowhere but no doubt help pad the thin plot out. The story includes quite a lot of crudity and bad language which leaves me a bit cold.
Although I'm pretty potty mouthed myself, i strangely do not really enjoy reading it!
However, thousands of stations have been closed as well. There were over 9,000 stations in existence during the 20th century. There were also 1,200 stations which opened and closed in the 19th century, this book covers these.
This is an excellent reference work by Paul Smith and Sally Salmon. Each station is given an entry detailing the dates of opening and closing, it's location (sometimes assumed) and also a snippet from a period Ordnance Survey map showing where the station used to be.
Many of the stations were simply replaced by larger, more capable stations as the rail industry developed and expanded. However, other stations too were closed and the line removed. Robbing some communities of a rail connection for over a hundred years.
An excellent little book which i will no doubt find useful in my own railway book writings. Now for some photographs of open stations!
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A controversial book, this is one of the earliest Tintin stories from the early 1930s (though this edition has coloured artwork done in 1946). When originally created, this story depicted the colonial racist attitudes of the time towards Africa, plus a rather bloodthirsty approach to dealing with wildlife.
Later editions toned down both, Herge feeling embarrassed by what he originally drew, but enough remains of both which meant this edition of Tintin was not published in English until 2005 (the original black and white edition was published in 1931). When it was finally published there were attempts to ban it but if you actually read this story it does seem rather like an over reaction.
Tintin goes to the Congo, then a Belgian colony, and soon begins a break neck series of adventures including various battles with wild animals and native people. However, most of the story involves a criminal white man who is finally unveiled as part of Al Capone's operation, and aiming to help the Chicago gangster boss take over diamond smuggling in Africa...
The story lacks the depth of plot of later Tintin stories, being more a series of subplots vaguely linked (and then mostly by geography). The story of course has a very patronising attitude to African people who are largely depicted as being childlike and needing direction from the white man. The book reflected the attitude of Europeans to Africans at the time (1930s) and should be viewed in that light, its not much more offensive than say Carry On Up The Jungle. Of course, Africans are still patronised in the Western media these days, just in a different way.
Some events in the book are rather cringe worthy, such as Tintin being revered as an idol by an African tribe. The slaughter of wildlife i personally found more of a problem but it does date from when the natural world had what appeared to be a limitless abundance of fauna so accidentally slaughtering a herd of antelope maybe was maybe not quite so big a deal!
The book is what it is, and to be honest i quite enjoyed it, view it like that and you might too. Its nowhere near as good as most later Tintin books but is interesting on a number of levels including as a historical document of 1930s colonial attitudes.
This volume presents classic British transports from the 1970s and 1980s including the Andover, Argosy and Comet. The last generation of aircraft from when Britain had it's own independent aircraft industry making it's own big jets and not just parts of other people's (although to be fair making big chunks of Airbuses is a huge industry).
The volume has a number of excellent colour and black and white photographs. The nostalgia factor is high. Luckily many of these workhorses have preserved examples at RAF Cosford, a selection can be seen below.
At the weekend i visited the Buckinghamshire town of Wendover which is near Aylesbury. I have been once before but on that occasion i was more interested in seeing the remains of the Wendover Arm of the Grand Union Canal so missed much of the town out including the church. On this second trip i visited Wendover properly and it is a very fine little place. You can see my photos here.
This amazing volume collects together all of the Ro-Busters adventures from Star Lord and later on 2000AD (which i started reading because Ro-Busters moved there after Star Lord folded).
In many ways, Ro-Busters was inspired by the TV series Thunderbirds though with sarcastic robots instead of puppets obviously. The earlier adventures are fairly simple adventure/rescue stories but later on the stories began to mature, and politics and social comment made their appearance, especially after the move to 2000AD. Despite being a comic strip primarily involving robots the stories managed to include amazing levels of emotion and soul.
Ro-Jaws, Hammerstein and the rather dodgy cyborg boss Mr Quartz are the stars of the strip though as time went on a whole host of secondary characters also began to build up including the deranged Mek-Quake. The collection takes us through to the conclusion of the script in an epic final story where the Ro-Busters are broken up and Ro-Jaws and Hammerstein try and escape the Earth.
Later on they were reunited in Nemesis and the ABC Warriors of course but this is to come...
The plucky heroine has arrived from the US to rescue her young nephew, the heir to a business empire, who is in danger from a brutal gang. With the help of a reporter, they manage to keep one step ahead of the gang of ruffians. Meanwhile, the family patriarch approaches death...
The book has a number of surprises and keeps you gripped, more or less, though can be pretty silly at times.
This is an excellent book by Philip Matyszak which tells the story of the republic from the time the last kings of Rome were overthrown to the time Julius Caesar and Augustus ushered in a new age. The story of the republic is presented in a very approachable manner with excellent illustrations throughout.
It might not have mad emperors but there are plenty of big personalities here too such as Sulla, the Gracchis and Cicero. Oh Cicero, if i had had a son i would have named him after Cicero. Luckily for both of them this probably will never happen.
Last weekend i headed down to Coventry to revisit the wonderful transport museum there. I am currently building a new section of my website which is dedicated to road transport, and one thing i need to do is to update my photography on the many many exhibits there. Coventry Transport Museum has a superb collection ranging from the oldest cars to the fastest ones!
You can see my photographs here.
This wonderful book covers the great man's career as he rose to prominence in the 1930s, designing some of the most famous locomotives ever built including Flying Scotsman and the Mallard, still the speed world record holder for steam.
There was a lot more though to Gresley's legacy, including many humble engines which worked freight and branch lines, as well as other rolling stock. Even one of the earliest main line electric locomotives!
David McIntosh's book is lavishly illustrated, including many colour photographs of preserved engines as well as black and white period photographs when Gresley's creations were running the railway. A fitting tribute to the great man.
This is an interesting read with some great photographs and diagrams. I enjoyed some of the anecdotes about British Army balloons being used for reconnaissance in the Boer War. The Boers expended so much ammunition in a vain attempt to shoot down the balloons it probably had more adverse affect on their war effort than the spotting from the balloons.
A lovely book on the very earliest British military aviation, and often superbly odd.
I am a fan of the B-movie which hit their heights in the 1930s. These were often great films too, made on a small budget and starring second tier stars - often up-and-comers or fading stars on the way down, plus the occasional A-lister just filling in a bit of time. The creation of these films was often fascinating, sometimes re-using the same sets of concurrent main features!
While the major studios themselves created hundreds of B-movies, there were also smaller studios who specialised in churning these kinds of films out. One of the best known of these studios was Monogram who produced many films between 1931 and 1953 when they changed name to Allied Artists Pictures and moved into other areas of the market including TV. TV of course eventually killed off the B-movie.
This book lists every film Monogram released during those years (and that means hundreds of them) and is a great source of information. I watched many Monogram films when i was reviewing 1,999 films on my movie review blog, quite a lot of them are rather good. Though I have to admit, quite a lot of them were drivel too!
The Sea King is iconic of course, originally a US designed and built helicopter, the UK version was built by Westland served in the Falklands, Gulf Wars and Afghanistan and other theatres. However, this book concentrates on the version used for SAR duties.
The book starts with a short general history of the use of helicopters in rescue operations and then the development of the Westland Sea King. Much of the book is taken up with the Sea King's innards and how to maintain it (as you would expect from a Haynes manual!)
What is most interesting here is the more specialised equipment unique to a SAR helicopter and role. The book ends with a few examples of the many rescues and recovery operations the Sea King was involved with during its career. A good book.
Those days have passed of course, though examples of those locomotive classes can still be seen on the national network, but usually hauling a special train such as an excursion. This excellent book by Gavin Morrison covers these locomotives, as well as the earlier classes which were being withdrawn as i started to take a railway interest and the ones which followed (which are easier to see still on the network).
Great photography throughout covering the range of liveries they wore in BR service and into the early years of privatisation, i must admit i like the locomotives most when in their BR blue, with the steel BR symbol on the sides. That takes me back. A more elegant livery for a more civilised age.
This book stands out from much of the rest of the series by virtue of the fact the plot is rather mundane (by Blake & Mortimer standards).
There are no evil masterminds, no exotic death rays, mad science or retro-futurist science this time, instead the plot revolves around basic theft (of a necklace natch).
Much of the story does take on a fairly mysterious and fantastical air though in the catacombs below Paris but at its heart this is a basic crime and chase story and enjoyable it is too if a bit pedestrian compared to some of the other stories.
Its not the best Blake & Mortimer story in the series but still well worth a read.
The parish church of St Nicholas in Kenilworth has uncertain origins though the oldest surviving parts of the church are Norman, the doorway shown below is a good example of the Norman parts of the church though this may have been moved from the abbey which the church was adjacent to. The former abbey was dedicated to St Mary, Kenilworth castle is also nearby. The earliest mention of the church was from 1285. It is likely that the church was built earlier in the 13th century.
The church was widened in the 14th century with a south aisle added to the nave, the spire on the west tower and an octagonal belfry were also added to the church during this period. Much of the church is in the Decorated Gothic style. Later on, the chancel was extended with a two bay aisle added to the south. The spire was rebuilt after storm damage in the 19th century.
The church had a number of royal visits after the Reformation and the closure of the abbey. Queen Elizabeth and King James I are both known to have visited the church.
A fast moving adventure with continuous peril. An enjoyable read though the heroine was a bit wearisome at times as she makes a few decisions which seem a bit odd, though it helps to pad the story out a bit.
The energy of the story helps pull you through.
At the weekend i headed to Attenborough in Nottinghamshire. There i revisited the nature reserve (former gravel pits) and then walked along the Trent until i reached the Beeston Cut (or canal). A nice walk with some good scenery, and plenty of boats too!
You can see my photos of the Attenborough nature reserve here, and my photos of the Beeston Cut here.
