The Gas Tram was a short-lived phenomenon which briefly seemed to herald a new way forward in tramcar design, replacing horses and steam locomotives on the streets with quieter and smoother travel. One of the major advantages of the gas tram, according to those who proposed it, was the low capital cost of the conversion, and all without the need to install the expensive overhead catenary required for electric traction. Designs for gas tramcars were patented all over the world, and systems ...

A history of the creation and evolution of the mechanism that brought precision to the steam power and changed the world.Power without control is unusable power, and long after the invention of the steam engine, finding ways of applying that power to tasks where consistency was of paramount importance was the 'Holy Grail' which many steam engineers sought to find. It was the centrifugal governor which brought precision to the application of steam power, and its stor...

This volume of original and historic photographs captures the story of the ingenious bridges that carried us from the Victorian era into modern times.With their moveable platforms designed to traverse busy waterways, Transporter Bridges served a brief but vital need from the late 19th century into the early 20th. Though many were planned, the huge increase in road transport quickly rendered them obsolete. In the end, fewer than thirty were ever completed across the ...

Going Off the Rails: Disaster Postcards from the Trackside by John Hannavay is a compelling exploration of early railway disasters, Victorian and Edwardian transport history and the rise of visual news culture through postcards and ephemera. This unique railway history book examines how rail accidents and incidents were documented, circulated, and often sensationalised through photographic postcards in the early 20th century. Focusing on Britain’s railway system during the Edwardian era, t...

Cast Metal Signs by John Hannavay is a richly illustrated exploration of Britain’s industrial heritage, focusing on the history, design, and craftsmanship of cast metal signage. This unique visual history book examines how iron, brass, and aluminium signs were produced by skilled foundries and manufacturers to serve railways, streets, factories, and civic buildings across the UK. Blending industrial archaeology, typography, and design history, Cast Metal Signs reveals how these durable yet...

‘In no other country in the world is there anything to match Britain’s love affair with the steam train; nowhere else are there so many preserved railways keeping the magic of steam alive.’ In 1896, the Light Railways Act was designed to speed up the official procedures for gaining approval to construct a railway line. Originally intended to lapse in 1901, it was extended instead, and somehow stayed on the statute books long after its use had ceased. In the 1960s, groups of steam railway e...

Brings Scotland’s colourful past to life, snapshots of life, work and play in Edwardian and Victorian Scotland An entertaining and valuable historical and social record

Scotland’s Heritage is a unique book. It combines John Hannavy’s stunning and original photography of Scotland with an engaging narrative on the country’s evolution from 4000 BC to the present day, using both the author’s own account of his travels with those of the great travel writers of the past who have explored and been moved by its landscape, architecture and people. Scotland is a country steeped in history, and blessed with a rich and varied heritage set in a stunning landscape. It ...

The Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography is the first comprehensive encyclopedia of world photography up to the beginning of the twentieth century. It sets out to be the standard, definitive reference work on the subject for years to come.Its coverage is global – an important ‘first’ in that authorities from all over the world have contributed their expertise and scholarship towards making this a truly comprehensive publication. The Encyclopedia presents...

By the time the first photographs were taken at war in the late 1840s, the idea that 'the camera cannot lie' was already firmly embedded in the Victorian psyche. 'Truthful' in a way the work of the war artist could never be, despite the initially long exposures and cumbersome equipment, cameras have been used to document war ever since the celebrated photographs of Roger Fenton in the Crimea. Through a rich selection of images – many of them never before published – this book tells the sto...

A picture can say a thousand words and the images caught on camera during the Victorian and Edwardian periods provide a fascinating insight into the lives of Britons during this time. Take a step back between 1840 and 1910 and explore the pastimes, hobbies, sports and other entertainments enjoyed by the Victorians and Edwardians through the rich variety of photographs and vintage postcards in this beautiful album. A world we usually see in monochrome or sepia is presented here in vivid col...

The coastline of Victorian and Edwardian Britain provided beauty, entertainment and the venue for most people's holidays.But it was also a thriving centre of industry shipbuilding and fishing, plus the numerous trades associated with dockyards, coastal transport and the leisure industry. This book travels around Britain's coast clockwise from London looking at the industries that could be found at many of the cities and towns en route.Illustrated with an am...