Last Days of Southern Steam from the Bill Reed Collection

Description

This album of 160 colour photographs was taken in the Southern Region of B.R., which was formerly the lines constituting the Southern Railway. Bill Reed took the pictures between 1958 and 1967 during a number of visits to stations, sheds and areas offering attractive vantage points of locomotives. From Greater London in the north, at sheds and stations including Bricklayers Arms, Feltham and Victoria, to Brighton, Southampton and Bournemouth on the south coast. Dover and Folkestone in the south east were visited as well as Exeter, Yeovil and Wadebridge on the south west. The Isle of Wight is also included as the area was incorporated into the S.R. upon Grouping and later the Southern Region of B.R. This book contains a selection of photographs taken on numerous branch lines around the region and these are particularly evocative of the final years of steam under B.R. operation. From a modern perspective they also give an indication why there was such an eagerness on the part of B.R. for their closure. Many of the lines utilized locomotives that had been in service for a number of years and were perhaps coming to the end of their life span.

Peter Tuffrey was born in Doncaster in 1953 and studied Fine Art at Doncaster College of Art from 1970 to 1971. He held the position of Keeper of Fine and Decorative Arts at Doncaster Museum and Art Gallery. Tuffrey was the PR Media Consultant for Doncaster Rovers and in his spare time, has built up a massive photographic archive of the region's towns and villages. With this, he has produced over fifty publications including Doncaster's Electric Transport and Rotherham from the Scrivens Collection. He has also written many articles for local and regional newspapers.