Around the Great Western Then and Now (Then & Now) Book

Of all the 'Big Four' companies to emerge in 1923, the Great Western Railway-God's Wonderful Railway - was the one that managed to retain its pre-Grouping ambience through to Nationalisation and, arguably, through the Western Region of BR, this individuality was perpetuated right through until the 1960s. The factors behind this survival are multifarious, but the fact that the company's name survived unchanged from the 1830s until Nationalisation in 1948 may well have been a factor. Come the Grouping in 1923, the only significant change was that the GWR got greater, taking over many of the smaller companies that had, particularly in South Wales, provided the company's only competition. Whatever the factors, the GWR and its successor in BR(WR) dominated railway transport to the south and west of London. However, from the Grouping onwards, economics also played their role, and from the early 1920s onwards there has been a gradual, but inexorable, decline in the provision of railway services in the region, a decline which can best be exemplified through direct photographic comparisons. In his second contribution to Ian Allan Publishing's hugely successful 'Then & Now' series, Lawrence Waters has travelled the length and breadth of the erstwhile GWR network, recording the shifting scene. Featuring some 300 locations, from the great urban termini like London Paddington to the rural branch line stations, the book explores how the GWR/BR(WR) network has evoived from the days of steam to today's high-speed era. With 'Then' photographs drawn from a number of sources, in particular the impressive archive held by the Great Western Society at Didcot, the book illustrates the fascinating process of continuity and changes, and how this has impacted on to the railway as seen today. All of the 'Now' photographs, taken over the past two years, have been specially taken for the book, resulting in the author having travelled many thousands of miles to record the changing railway scene. For all those interested in the GWR/BR(WR), Around the Great Western: Then & Now is an excellent examination of the changing role of railways over the past half century. It will appeal to railway enthusiasts and local historians alike.Read More