Bert Hitchen
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Bert Hitchen
Albert Reginald Hitchen (1938-13 May 2015) was an English professional road racing cyclist, who had also trained as an engineer with British Railways, becoming later known for his work in the preservation of steam locomotives. Cycling Raised in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, Hitchen was a keen cyclist from his boyhood, winning the Yorkshire Junior Championship aged 16. He then toured East Germany the following year, sponsored by the Corona (soft drink) brand. First racing as a semi professional from 1959, he turned professional in 1967, and retired in 1973. During this period he recorded 30 victories, including the UK national title in 1963 and 1965, as well as two Lincoln Grand Prix victories. In 1963 Hitchen made his one and only appearance in the Tour de France, with a best finish of 41st on stage 1a before withdrawing after stage three. The majority of his cycling career was spent with Viking Cycles, with whom he won two editions of the 275-mile London-Holyhead race, and Fal ...
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Mirfield
Mirfield () is a town and civil parish in Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the A644 road between Brighouse and Dewsbury. At the 2011 census it had a population of 19,563. Mirfield forms part of the Heavy Woollen District. Governance From 1894 to 1974, Mirfield was an urban district in the West Riding of Yorkshire until it was merged into the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees. In 1988 a parish council was formed, one of five in Kirklees, the others being:- Denby Dale, Meltham, Kirkburton and Holme Valley. As a parish council an additional tax precept to the Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council tax is levied on the town's residents. It is made up of 16 councillors who serve for a fixed four-year term, and represent wards within the parish. The members elect a town mayor, who serves for a fixed one-year term. Local elections In addition to the town council Mirfield is represented by three councillors on Kirklees Metro ...
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SR Merchant Navy Class 35028 Clan Line
35028 ''Clan Line'' is a Southern Railway rebuilt Merchant Navy 4-6-2 class locomotive. History British Rail 35028 was built at Eastleigh Works in 1948. After a few weeks running in, it was allocated first to Dover and then to Stewarts Lane shed in London, from where it worked heavy trains on the trunk routes to the South East Channel ports, frequently working the prestige expresses, '' Golden Arrow'' and the ''Night Ferry''. After rebuilding in 1959, it was initially allocated to Nine Elms shed, from where it headed such trains as the ''Bournemouth Belle'' and the '' Atlantic Coast Express''. While working the latter in 1961, it was unofficially timed at passing Axminster. On 2 July 1967, ''Clan Line'' hauled a farewell special from London Waterloo to Bournemouth and back and thus ended its British Railways career.Clan Line comes of age ''Railway World'' issue 355 December 1969 page 521 Preservation One month after finishing the farewell special, ''Clan Line'' was bou ...
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Stewarts Lane
Stewarts Lane is a large railway-servicing facility in Battersea in London, England, founded by the London Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) in 1862, to serve London Victoria railway station. It is sited in the midst of a maze of railway lines between 'Factory Junction' and 'Stewarts Lane Junction', adjacent to the site of the former Longhedge Railway Works and the Stewarts Lane Chord formerly used by Eurostar trains from the Kent freight lines to Waterloo International station. Prior to 1962 it was one of the largest motive power depots in the UK. Following the end of steam traction in the early 1960s it was converted into a traction maintenance depot which is currently operated by Govia Thameslink Railway. Motive power depot In 1860 the London, Chatham and Dover Railway purchased of land in Battersea, formerly part of the Long Hedge farm, to establish their locomotive works and the motive power depot, to provide motive power for services from the new London Victoria railw ...
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Severn Valley Railway
The Severn Valley Railway is a heritage railway in Shropshire and Worcestershire, England. The heritage line runs along the Severn Valley from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, following the course of the River Severn for much of its route, and crossing the river on the historic Victoria Bridge. The railway is the sixth-longest standard gauge heritage line in the United Kingdom. Train services are hauled predominantly by steam locomotives, with vintage diesel locomotives hauling occasionally. Diesel locomotives are also used for engineering trains, to replace failed steam locomotives at short notice, and during periods of high fire risk. The railway hosts numerous special events throughout the year, including both steam and diesel galas. History Commercial history The Severn Valley Railway was built between 1858 and 1862, and linked Hartlebury, near Droitwich Spa, with Shrewsbury, a distance of . Important stations on the line were , , and within Worcestershire; and , , , , , ...
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East Lancashire Railway
East Lancashire Railway is a heritage railway line in North West England which runs between Heywood, Greater Manchester and Rawtenstall in Lancashire. There are intermediate stations at Bury Bolton Street railway station, Bury Bolton Street, , Summerseat railway station, Summerseat and Ramsbottom railway station, Ramsbottom, with the line crossing the border into Borough of Rossendale, Rossendale serving Irwell Vale railway station, Irwell Vale and Rawtenstall railway station, Rawtenstall. Before closure, the line terminated at Bacup railway station, Bacup. Overview Passenger services between Bury and Rawtenstall were withdrawn by British Rail on 3 June 1972. Coal services to Rawtenstall ended in 1980 and formal closure of the line followed in 1982. The East Lancashire Railway Trust reopened the line on 25 July 1987. The initial service operated between Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Ramsbottom, via Summerseat. In 1991, the service was extended northwards from Ramsbotto ...
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North Yorkshire Moors Railway
The North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) is a heritage railway in North Yorkshire, England, that runs through the North York Moors National Park. First opened in 1836 as the Whitby and Pickering Railway, the railway was planned in 1831 by George Stephenson as a means of opening up trade routes inland from the then important seaport of Whitby. The line between and was closed in 1965 and the section between Grosmont and was reopened in 1973 by the North York Moors Historical Railway Trust Ltd. The preserved line is now a tourist attraction and has been awarded several industry accolades. In 2007, the railway started to run regular services over the section of the Esk Valley Line north of Grosmont to . In 2014, a second platform was opened at Whitby which allowed the NYMR to run an enhanced service and led to passenger numbers in the same year of nearly 350,000 people. As of 2020, the railway ran for . It is owned and operated by a charitable trust, with 100 staff who work fu ...
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Scrapyard
A wrecking yard (Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian English), scrapyard (Irish, British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ... and New Zealand English) or junkyard (American English) is the location of a business in dismantling where wrecked or decommissioned vehicles are brought, their usable parts are sold for use in operating vehicles, while the unusable metal parts, known as scrap metal parts, are sold to metal-recycling companies. Other terms include wreck yard, wrecker's yard, salvage yard, breaker's yard, dismantler and scrapheap. In the United Kingdom, car salvage yards are known as car breakers, while motorcycle salvage yards are known as bike breakers. In Australia, they are often referred to as 'Wreckers'. Types of wreck yards The most common type of w ...
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Woodham Brothers
Woodham Brothers Ltd is a trading business, based mainly around activities and premises located within Barry Docks, in Barry, Wales, Barry, South Wales. It is noted globally for its 1960s activity as a scrapyard (hence its colloquial name of Barry Scrapyard), where 297 withdrawn British Railways steam locomotives were sent, from which 213 were rescued for the developing railway preservation movement. History Established in 1892 as Woodham & Sons by Albert Woodham, the company was based at Thomson Street, Barry. The company bought old rope, dunnage wood and scrap metal from the ships, boats and marine businesses which used the newly created Barry Docks, which it then resold or scrapped. Albert retired in 1947, when his youngest son, Dai Woodham, Dai, was Demobilisation of the British Armed Forces after the Second World War, demobbed from the British Army after World War II. Dai renamed the business Woodham Brothers Ltd in 1953, creating four lines of business under four separate ...
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SR West Country Class 21C127 Taw Valley
21C127 ''Taw Valley'' is a Southern Railway West Country class 4-6-2 Pacific steam locomotive that has been preserved. It is presently operational at the Severn Valley Railway. Career 21C127 was built in April 1946 at the SR's Brighton Works and was named ''Taw Valley'', the name coming from the name of a river in Devon. She was originally allocated to Ramsgate followed by Exmouth Junction in 1947. In 1948 when British Railways was formed and the four pre grouping companys were merged into one she was renumbered from 21C127 to 34027. She was later rebuilt in 1957 to her current shape and was re-allocated to Bricklayer's Arms, and then followed by a transfer to Brighton in 1961 and Salisbury in 1963 where she was to remain for the rest of her days working for BR until August 1964 when she was withdrawn from service and towed to Barry Scrapyard. Naming ''Taw Valley'' was named after the river that flows through Devon and Dartmoor. She was one of thirty-six "West Country" ...
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SR West Country And Battle Of Britain Classes
The SR West Country and Battle of Britain classes, collectively known as ''Light Pacifics'' or informally as ''Spam Cans'', are air-smoothed 4-6-2 ''Pacific'' steam locomotives designed for the Southern Railway by its Chief Mechanical Engineer Oliver Bulleid. Incorporating a number of new developments in British steam locomotive technology, they were amongst the first British designs to use welding in the construction process, and to use steel fireboxes, which meant that components could be more easily constructed under wartime austerity and post-war economy.Arlett (1989), p. 29–30 They were designed to be lighter in weight than their sister locomotives, the Merchant Navy class, to permit use on a wider variety of routes, including in the south-west of England and the Kent coast. They were a mixed-traffic design, being equally adept at hauling passenger and freight trains, and were used on all types of services, frequently far below their capabilities. A total of 110  ...
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Huddersfield
Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into the similar-sized Colne to the south of the town centre which then flows into the Calder in the north eastern outskirts of the town. The rivers around the town provided soft water required for textile treatment in large weaving sheds, this made it a prominent mill town with an economic boom in the early part of the Victorian era Industrial Revolution. The town centre has much neoclassical Victorian architecture, one example is which is a Grade I listed building – described by John Betjeman as "the most splendid station façade in England" – and won the Europa Nostra award for architecture. It hosts the University of Huddersfield and three colleges: Greenhead College, Kirklees College and Huddersfield New College. The town ...
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