Joseph Charles Victor Mitchell (1 March 1934 – 18 January 2021) was a
dentist
A dentist, also known as a dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry (the diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the mouth, oral cavity and other aspects of the craniofaci ...
, inventor, and pioneer
railway preservationist. He was the author or editor of, and publisher of, more than 600 books on
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
s in the United Kingdom and Europe.
Early life and career
Joseph Charles Victor Mitchell was born on 1 March 1934 in
Hampton, London
Hampton is a suburban area on the north bank of the River Thames, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England, and historically in the County of Middlesex. which includes Hampton Court Palace. Hampton is served by two railway stations, ...
to Wilfred and Amey Mitchell.
[ His father was a ]dentist
A dentist, also known as a dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry (the diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the mouth, oral cavity and other aspects of the craniofaci ...
whilst his mother worked in photography. Mitchell developed an interest in railways at an early age, through collecting cigarette card
Cigarette cards are trading cards issued by tobacco industry, tobacco manufacturers to stiffen cigarette packaging and nicotine marketing, advertise cigarette brands.
Between 1875 and the 1940s, cigarette companies often included collectible ca ...
s. The father of one of his schoolfriends was chief engineer at the gauge Hampton & Kempton Waterworks Railway. When Mitchell was 9, a week was spent at Axminster, Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
. He spent most of that week riding the train on the Lyme Regis branch line. After the holiday,[ he spent time at his local railway station, ,] assisting the staff with their work and being rewarded by cab rides on steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
s, visits to the signal box
In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...
and being allowed to issue tickets in the booking office. On his 10th birthday, the stationmaster was a guest at his party, the only guest Mitchell was allowed.
Mitchell married his wife Barbara in 1958, whilst doing his National Service
National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939.
The l ...
in the Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
. He served at RAF St. Athan. The initially lived in a caravan
Caravan or caravans may refer to:
Transport and travel
*Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together
**Caravanserai, a place where a caravan could stop
*Camel train, a convoy using camels as pack animals
*Convoy, a group of veh ...
parked in a nearby field, later moving into converted farm buildings. In December 1962, they moved to Midhurst, Sussex
Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...
.[ Mitchell was a dentist. He had a practice at Petersfield, ]Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
.[ Mitchell and his wife Barbara had two daughters.][ In 1972, Mitchell invented a dentist's tool, the Illuminated Probing Handpiece, which won the United Kingdom a gold medal at the ''Exposition de Innovation'' in ]Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
, Switzerland that November and was also shown on the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
television programme ''Tomorrow's World
''Tomorrow's World'' is a former British television series about contemporary developments in science and technology. First transmitted on 7 July 1965 on BBC1, it ran for 38 years until it was cancelled at the beginning of 2003. The ''Tomorro ...
''. In 1974, he invented a composting toilet
A composting toilet is a type of dry toilet that treats human waste by a biological process called composting. This process leads to the decomposition of organic matter and turns human waste into compost-like material. Composting is carried ou ...
which was displayed at the Centre for Alternative Technology
The Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) ( cy, Canolfan y Dechnoleg Amgen) is an eco-centre in Powys, mid-Wales, dedicated to demonstrating and teaching sustainable development. CAT, despite its name, no longer concentrates its efforts exclu ...
, Machynlleth, Powys. Mitchell was introduced to the Duke of Edinburgh
Duke of Edinburgh, named after the city of Edinburgh in Scotland, was a substantive title that has been created three times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not produc ...
when he visited. The toilet was exported to many Third World countries From 1981 to 1984, Mitchell operated a pair of Fowler ploughing engines which he used to dredge lakes.[
Their ]golden wedding anniversary
A wedding anniversary is the anniversary of the date a wedding took place. Couples may take the occasion to celebrate their relationship, either privately or with a larger party. Special celebrations and gifts are often given for particular an ...
in 2008 was celebrated by travelling on a special train on the Festiniog Railway
The Ffestiniog Railway ( cy, Rheilffordd Ffestiniog) is a heritage railway based on narrow-gauge, located in Gwynedd, Wales. It is a major tourist attraction located mainly within the Snowdonia National Park.
The railway is roughly long an ...
, hauled by ''Palmerston'' and carrying the nameboard ''The Half Century''.[ Barbara Mitchell died in September 2015.][ Mitchell died on 18 January 2021 at Middleton Lodge, Midhurst.]
Railway preservation
An advert in the January 1951 issue of ''The Railway Magazine
''The Railway Magazine'' is a monthly British railway magazine, aimed at the railway enthusiast market, that has been published in London since July 1897. it was, for three years running, the railway magazine with the largest circulation in t ...
'' caught Mitchell's eye. There was a proposal to preserve the Talyllyn Railway
The Talyllyn Railway ( cy, Rheilffordd Talyllyn) is a narrow gauge preserved railway in Wales running for from Tywyn on the Mid-Wales coast to Nant Gwernol near the village of Abergynolwyn. The line was opened in 1865Drummond 2015, page 17 ...
and readers were encouraged to write to publicity officer Tom Rolt to pledge their support. Mitchell and a classmate did so. In June, the pair travelled to Towyn, where their offer of help was accepted. A ''Daily Express
The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...
'' reporter visited the line, and the three volunteers appeared in a photograph accompanying the story that was printed. Mitchell returned to the line shortly after with his parents. It was during this second visit that he met Allan Garraway
Allan George Weldon Garraway (14 June 1926 – 30 December 2014) was a British railway manager, responsible for restoring the abandoned Ffestiniog Railway in the 1950s. He was awarded an MBE in 1983.
Early life
Garraway was born on 14 June 192 ...
for the first time. Mitchell is recorded as saying that Garraway "was to have a bearing on my life on a number of occasions subsequently".[
An article in the January 1951 issue of '' Trains Illustrated'' magazine reported an application to the ]Ministry of Transport
A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government age ...
for the abandonment of the Festiniog Railway. It was announced in the March issue that a fund had been started by Leonard Heath Humphrys to preserve the line. Mitchell's loyalties were divided, but he decided that the Festiniog Railway was the better scheme of the two. He told Rolt of his decision to move to the Festiniog, only to be told that by Rolt there was "only room for one preserved railway in Great Britain".[ The inaugural meeting of those wishing to revive the Festiniog Railway was held at a ]Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
college. Mitchell was one of the twelve people to attend. Other attendees included Garraway and former Southern Railway engineer Harold Holcroft
Harold Holcroft (12 February 1882 – 15 February 1973) was an English railway and mechanical engineer who worked for the Great Western Railway (GWR), the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SECR) and the Southern Railway (SR).
At the GWR, Holcr ...
. Mitchell was persuaded to join the management committee. By 1954, at the age of 20, he was a director of the Festiniog Railway in the capacity of sales officer. He performed many tasks on the railway, including acting as a fireman and guard. Mitchell helped the Festiniog Railway achieve its aim of reaching Blaenau Ffestiniog
Blaenau Ffestiniog is a town in Gwynedd, Wales. Once a slate mining centre in historic Merionethshire, it now relies much on tourists, drawn for instance to the Ffestiniog Railway and Llechwedd Slate Caverns. It reached a population of 12,00 ...
, from which it had been cut off by the construction of the Llyn Ystradau reservoir. The town council at Blaenau Ffestiniog was unsure whether the restoration of the Festiniog Railway would be a good thing. Mitchell persuaded them of its benefits, and that of having a joint station with British Rail
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
. The Festiniog Railway reopened to Blaenau Festiniog in 1982.[
]
Author and publisher
In 1978, Mitchell published his first railway item, a route map of the London and South Western Railway. Thus Middleton Press was born, taking its name from his home at Middleton Lodge, Midhurst, West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...
. In 1980, Mitchell was involved in a fundraiser for St. Mary Magdalene and St. Denis Church, Midhurst. An exhibition was held to mark the 25th anniversary of the closure to passengers of the Petersfield–Midhurst–Pulborough railway. One of the exhibitors was Keith Smith. Mitchell got into conversation with him and it was felt that there might be demand for a book on the railways in the area. Three publishers were approached but all rejected the idea. Mitchell spent £5,000 and published the book himself in 1981.[ Titled ''Branch Lines to Midhurst'',] it sold well and Mitchell recovered his investment. Initially, there was no intention to publish more titles, but ''Branch Lines to Horsham'' was published in 1982 and other books followed. By June 2018, Middleton Press had published 617 titles. Subjects covered include British railways, tram
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
and trolleybus
A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...
systems,[ as well as railways abroad.]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Vic
1934 births
People from Hampton, London
English dentists
English inventors
People from Midhurst
English book publishers (people)
20th-century English male writers
21st-century English male writers
2021 deaths