Buildings in Britain were first set aside for storing firefighting equipment in the seventeenth century, in the wake of the Great Fire of London. These were often storage sheds or farm buildings, but as technology became more advanced specialist buildings were needed to house it: fire stations. The golden age of fire station design was the late Victorian period and a wonderful and eclectic collection of buildings from the time still stands in Britain. The changing threats dealt with by fir...

Brutalist architecture is ever-present in the British urban landscape, from car parks and bus garages to schools, universities and cultural centres, from the small college campus to vast residential mega-structures. Taken from the French phrase ‘béton brut’, meaning raw concrete, the name brutalism identified an emerging style of angular and sculptural form and rough, exposed industrial materials. The pioneering architects of the style such as Peter and Alison Smithson, Erno Goldfinger and...

Did you know?In 1884 the Circle Line opened and was described in The Times as 'a form of mild torture which no person would undergo if he could conveniently help it.'According to one psychologist, Tube commuters can experience greater levels of stress than a police officer facing a rioting mob or even a fighter pilot going into a dogfight.Underground trains have only twice been used to transport deceased people in coffins: William Gladston...

A charming history of one of the long closed rural branch lines on the Great Western Railway. The Lambourn Valley was one of the most quintessentially English branch lines in the days of steam.The Lambourn Valley Railway was born as an independent little railway that ran from Newbury up Berkshire's scenic Lambourn Valley to Lambourn. On the way it passed through 9 rural stations and ran through beautiful countryside.In this book we learn when the line was built and why. The...

A fascinating account of how the railways came to Surrey and the impact they had on the people who lived in the countyThe book the great days of the steam railways in the county. It shows how and why the lines were built, giving an account of the people who laid the lines and built the stations.

From the author of ‘Britain BC’, ‘Britain AD’ and ‘Britain in the Middle Ages’ comes the fourth and final part in a critically acclaimed series on Britain's hidden past.The relevance of archaeology to the study of the ancient world is indisputable. But, when exploring our recent past, does it have any role to play? In ‘The Birth of Modern Britain’ Francis Pryor highlights archaeology’s continued importance to the world around us.The pioneers of the Industrial Revolution wer...

Used extensively and somewhat taken for granted by millions of commuters and tourists every day, the London Underground has long been a part of our national heritage and way of life. It was the first underground railway in the world, and is now central to lives of millions of Londoners. Here Ben Pedroche explores the realities of building the railway from the beginning, 150 years ago, exploring this dangerous, back-breaking job and how it culminated in the rail system we s...

A dedicated history of a once busy rural station on a branch line of the Great Western Railway.Boxford was for many years a bustling little rural station on the branch line from Newbury to Lambourn. It is closed now, but some of the older residents can still remember the trains rattling through the station.In this book we learn when Newbury West Fields was built and why. The impact the station had on the surrounding area is explained and the type of freight and passengers t...

The name 'Great Western Railway' immediately conjures up images of Stars, Castles and Kings, the legendary express passenger locomotives that were the envy of the world in their day. However, the Swindon empire also produced extensive fleets of all-purpose tank engines - everyday reliable workhorses and unsung heroes - which were standout classics in their own right. The most distinctive and immediately recognizable type in terms of shape, all but unique to the GWR, was the six-coupled pan...

A well researched history of one of closed branch line stations on the Great Western Railway.Welford Park Station is no more. This was once the busiest of all the stations on the Lambourn Valley Line serving as it did the huge RAF base nearby as well as the village of Welford. But now there is little left on the ground to show where this railway station once stood. Some of the older residents can still remember the trains rattling through the station and over the bridge crossing th...

A dedicated history of one of the vanished Great Western Railway stations that closed in the 1960s.Speen for Donnington Station is no more. This small rural station once had its own full time staff and a thriving traffic of passengers and agricultural produce. Some of the older residents in the villages can still remember the trains rattling through the station, over the level crossing and through the tunnel on their way to Newbury, Berkshire.In this book we learn when Spee...

From the Edwardian golden age of steam to the present, the railway has captured the hearts and imaginations of the British people like no other mode of travel.In wartime and peace, along major routes and minor, steam, diesel and electric trains have carried commuters to work, families to holiday destinations and provided the means to myriad other adventures – the train a constant presence in an ever-changing way of life.A Century of Railway Travel ...