A Short History of the Archive
The Railway & Canal Historical Society cares for the Collections of historic photographs, plans, maps, artwork, and other visual images covering its areas of interest. It comprises the media Collections of its members, sometimes donated during their lifetimes, and sometimes included as bequests in their Wills. The Archive continues to grow.
Canals & Inland Waterways
The waterways Archive comprise thousands of images of the British scene. There is a postcard collection mainly depicting the inland waterways around 1900, and a photographic collection covering historic features of the canals and associated tramroads mostly from 1950 onwards. It is a varied collection that has been compiled from members’ contributions and put together, initially, by Hugh Compton and enlarged during the period whilst Peter Brown was curator of the Archive. Contributors include: Bertram Baxter, Gordon Biddle, R Brick, Issy Cohen, Hugh J. Compton, Ray Cook, C Faulkener, Kenneth Gardiner, John Spencer Gilks, Charles Hadfield, Peter A Norton, Ronald Russell Alan P Voce, and Rodney Weaver.
Peter Norton was an active waterways photographer. He is noted for his book Railways and Waterways to Warrington (1st Edition RCHS 1974 and subsequently republished/reprinted). Ronald Russell was the author of the book "Lost Canals of England", published by David and Charles, Newton Abbot 1971. Images used in this book are to be found in the collection.
A separate collection was donated by Kenneth Gardiner. He was a long-term member of the RCHS; who bequeathed his collection to the Society in 2003. It amounts to nearly 2000 black/ white and colour photographs of English navigations. The largest groups are: Chesterfield (447), Dearne & Dove (208), Pocklington(149), Leominster(112), Rochdale (99) and Cromford (90).
A third, and separate, collection is the Weaver Slide Collection, donated to the Society by Rodney Weaver, which comprises images of canals such as the Birmingham Canal Navigations, Grand Union Canal, Kennet & Avon Canal, Shropshire Union Canal and the Warwickshire Avon. There is a wide selection of images relating to steam powered craft and steam pumping plant, which the Weavers put together from a wide range of sources.
There is also an extensive postcard collection (from Edwardian times to the modern day), which covers both canal and river navigations across England and Scotland. Principal navigations covered include: Basingstoke, Grand Union, Leeds & Liverpool, Medway, Oxford, Royal Military, Shropshire Union, Thames and Wey. The Scottish collection includes views of Caledonian, Crinan, Forth & Clyde and the Union Canals.
Railways
The Society’s photographic collections include:
Ports and Shipping
British Docks & Ports- these are a mixture of independent, former railway and canal docks, where goods were exchanged for transit in coastal and sea-going vessels and passenger vessels arrived or departed. Various examples of illustrations from different periods are to be found in this collection.
The Railway & Canal Historical Society cares for the Collections of historic photographs, plans, maps, artwork, and other visual images covering its areas of interest. It comprises the media Collections of its members, sometimes donated during their lifetimes, and sometimes included as bequests in their Wills. The Archive continues to grow.
Canals & Inland Waterways
The waterways Archive comprise thousands of images of the British scene. There is a postcard collection mainly depicting the inland waterways around 1900, and a photographic collection covering historic features of the canals and associated tramroads mostly from 1950 onwards. It is a varied collection that has been compiled from members’ contributions and put together, initially, by Hugh Compton and enlarged during the period whilst Peter Brown was curator of the Archive. Contributors include: Bertram Baxter, Gordon Biddle, R Brick, Issy Cohen, Hugh J. Compton, Ray Cook, C Faulkener, Kenneth Gardiner, John Spencer Gilks, Charles Hadfield, Peter A Norton, Ronald Russell Alan P Voce, and Rodney Weaver.
Peter Norton was an active waterways photographer. He is noted for his book Railways and Waterways to Warrington (1st Edition RCHS 1974 and subsequently republished/reprinted). Ronald Russell was the author of the book "Lost Canals of England", published by David and Charles, Newton Abbot 1971. Images used in this book are to be found in the collection.
A separate collection was donated by Kenneth Gardiner. He was a long-term member of the RCHS; who bequeathed his collection to the Society in 2003. It amounts to nearly 2000 black/ white and colour photographs of English navigations. The largest groups are: Chesterfield (447), Dearne & Dove (208), Pocklington(149), Leominster(112), Rochdale (99) and Cromford (90).
A third, and separate, collection is the Weaver Slide Collection, donated to the Society by Rodney Weaver, which comprises images of canals such as the Birmingham Canal Navigations, Grand Union Canal, Kennet & Avon Canal, Shropshire Union Canal and the Warwickshire Avon. There is a wide selection of images relating to steam powered craft and steam pumping plant, which the Weavers put together from a wide range of sources.
There is also an extensive postcard collection (from Edwardian times to the modern day), which covers both canal and river navigations across England and Scotland. Principal navigations covered include: Basingstoke, Grand Union, Leeds & Liverpool, Medway, Oxford, Royal Military, Shropshire Union, Thames and Wey. The Scottish collection includes views of Caledonian, Crinan, Forth & Clyde and the Union Canals.
Railways
The Society’s photographic collections include:
- The Greville collection: around 1000 prints collected in the 1950-70s of closed stations. Some are from commercially available sources, but many were taken by Maurice Greville himself. Print size is small and quality is variable.
- The Cook collection: around 1500 prints/negatives, mostly taken by Ray Cook and of railway subjects, but there are some of tramroads and canals.
- The Spence collection: over 4000 prints and negatives, including those taken by Jeoffrey Spence from the 1930s to 1970s as well as others acquired from a variety of sources, including those being disposed of by the British Transport Museum at Clapham, where he was Assistant Curator.
- The Goddard collection of photographs of closed railway stations (post-Beeching).
- Some material from the collection of Cecil J. Allen
- The Baxter Collection: which is a comprehensive study of early railways, carried out by Bertram Baxter between 1925 and 1965, and recording the then visible remains of these transport routes. He attached each of his 3,000 photographs on to cards which he then annotated with extensive descriptions and notes, and stored in geographical order. The Society is fortunate to have both his cards/prints, and also his negatives, that comprise a unique study of a period long disappeared. He also collected images, maps and notes for the former tramroads and stone block railways, which served industrial locations prior to the development of locomotive traction. Many are described and detailed in his book Stone Blocks and Iron Rails (Tramroads) that was published by David & Charles, Newton Abbot, in 1966.
Ports and Shipping
British Docks & Ports- these are a mixture of independent, former railway and canal docks, where goods were exchanged for transit in coastal and sea-going vessels and passenger vessels arrived or departed. Various examples of illustrations from different periods are to be found in this collection.