Search results for ""Author Malcolm Batten""

Secret Newham explores the lesser-known history the London borough of Newham through a fascinating selection of stories, unusual facts and attractive photographs.

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During the 1970s and 1980s the Port of London, and shipping on the River Thames was in a state of transition. New methods of cargo handling, in particular the introduction of containers and Roll-on, Roll-off vehicle ferries called for new investment and a rethink on the way dock traffic was traditionally managed. As a result, The Port of London Authority decided to run down and close the various London docks and concentrate all new investment downriver at their Tilbury docks. These photographs, along with some from earlier decades, and mostly previously unpublished, are a fascinating insight into this period, when traditional ships and cargo handling methods worked alongside the new technology. Ships designed for carrying cargo in their holds were sometimes adapted to carry containers as deck cargo. There were also shipping types now lost to history, including colliers and sludge boats. Not forgotten are the passenger ships -cruise liners to ferries. The various vessels that serviced the port from tugs to salvage craft and floating cranes. Finally, the heritage craft from traditional Thames Sailing barges to former paddle steamers now adapted as floating pub/restaurants.

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When bus and coach manufacturers or bodybuilders brought out a new design, they would usually provide a demonstration vehicle for would-be purchasers to try out before buying. These vehicles would later be sold off after a few years and were sometimes snapped up by small companies that might not have been able to afford the cost of a new vehicle. Some of the larger companies would buy a small selection of vehicles by different makers to compare in service before deciding on which type to standardise on for mass purchase. Other innovative companies might rebuild existing vehicles in their own workshops in an attempt to improve their performance or extend their life, or to try out new ideas. This book looks at a variety of demonstration vehicles, on display, in use, and after being sold off, as well as vehicles that were bought experimentally or modified extensively during their service life.

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There have always been small buses used by bus companies for a variety of reasons, but in the 1970s a number of companies employed van-derived minibuses on experimental services such as Dial-a Ride schemes. These were small-scale operations. From around 1984 the majority of British bus companies started buying minibuses in bulk. They began replacing full-size vehicles and soon whole town local networks were being converted to their use. At first these continued to be on small, van-derived chassis – Ford, Freight-Rover and Mercedes-Benz – seating around sixteen passengers, but soon larger, purpose-built vehicles began to appear from companies sometimes unfamiliar to the British bus market. There were also attempts to produce ‘midibuses’ – larger than a minibus but smaller than a full-size bus. By the mid-1990s the boom had come to an end. Larger vehicles started to replace many of these minibuses. Although modern accessible minibuses are still produced and still have a role to play, it is a far cry from their heyday. This book looks back at the rise and fall of the minibus in British bus services.

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The first standard gauge heritage steam railway in Britain, the Bluebell Railway, opened in 1960. Since then, over eighty have opened to the public. While each of these has its individual characteristics, nearly all are former British railways branch lines or parts of secondary routes, closed either under the Beeching axe or under subsequent cutbacks. The six-mile-long Epping Ongar Railway is different and unique. Despite its location in rural Essex, this was not part of the British Rail network at closure but was an electrified section of the London Underground. Its rundown and closure was a protracted affair spanning twenty-five years. On closure it was earmarked to become a heritage line, but it would be another eighteen years before it re-opened in its current guise with steam and diesel traction. This book tells its story up to the re-opening in 2012 and of the ten years of progress since then.

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What happens to old buses at the end of their career, when they are replaced by newer vehicles? Some inevitably go to scrap, especially if they have been cannibalised for spares. Some see further service with other bus companies. A few lucky ones pass directly into preservation. But many find further employment with so-called ‘Non-PSV’ users; some of these may continue to carry passengers, perhaps as works transport or for a community group. Some may be used for driver training. However, others will be converted to fulfil a whole variety of roles – catering or hospitality vehicles; advertising promotional vehicles; ambulances; mobile homes; playbuses; horseboxes; vehicle transporters, and more. This book looks at a variety of old buses and coaches and the varied roles they have fulfilled over the last fifty years.

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The borough of Newham in East London was largely built up from the 1800s onwards. Early industry on the river included tide mills and the Royal Docks and their ancillary services provided employment. Large areas of housing also followed the building of the railways with new industries and commerce developing in the area. Transport is still conspicuous in the landscape, not least at Stratford. The municipal pride of this era can be seen in the civic buildings in centres such as East Ham and elsewhere, as well as the public utilities. Culture and recreation, and places of worship, are also in evidence in buildings around the borough and the regeneration of recent decades following the closure of the docks and the 2012 London Olympics also define Newham. Newham in 50 Buildings explores the history of this fascinating area of East London through a selection of its most interesting buildings and structures, showing the changes that have taken place over the years. The book will appeal to all those who live in Newham or who have an interest in the area.

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London Transport was created in 1933 with monopoly powers. Not only did it have exclusive rights to run bus (and tram and trolleybus) services in the Greater London area, it also ran services in a Country Area all around London. Green Line express services linked the country towns to London and in most cases across to other country towns the other side of the metropolis. This country area extended north as far as Hitchin, east to Brentwood, south to Crawley and west to Windsor.But what of the towns at the edge of the country area? Here the green London Transport buses would meet the bus companies whose operations extended across the rest of the counties of Berkshire, Surrey, Kent etc. In some cases the town was at a node where more than one company worked in. Elsewhere, such as at Guildford there were local independent operators who had a share in the town services.It would all change from 1970 when the London Transport Country Area was transferred to the National Bus Company to form a

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The railway lines of London and the South East include tracks from all four of the constituent companies that made up British Railways and subsequently became the Eastern, Midland, Southern and Western regions. Each region took a separate approach when diesels and electrics replaced steam in the 1950s and 1960s. In June 1986 Network SouthEast was launched to collectively market passenger services throughout this area, with a distinctive livery applied to locomotives, rolling stock and stations. This lasted until it was disbanded from 1 April 1994 in preparation for privatisation, since when a variety of companies have held franchises for particular areas. This book features a selection of diesel and electric locomotives in an area of some 50–60 miles from the capital, over a period beginning in 1969. It takes the form of visiting the lines from each of the main London termini, showing a typical selection of the freight and passenger workings to be seen.

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London Transport was created in 1933 with monopoly powers. Not only did it have exclusive rights to run bus (and tram and trolleybus) services in the Greater London area, it also ran services in a Country Area all around London. Green Line express services linked the country towns to London and in most cases across to other country towns the other side of the metropolis. This country area extended north as far as Hitchin, east to Brentwood, south to Crawley and west to Windsor. But what of the towns at the edge of the country area? Here the green London Transport buses would meet the bus companies whose operations extended across the rest of the counties of Essex, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire etc. In some cases the town was at a node where more than one company worked in. At Luton there was a municipal fleet. Elsewhere, such as at Aylesbury there were local independent operators who had a share in the town services. It would all change from 1970 when the London Transport Country A

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The Routemaster bus has become synonymous with London and is recognised the world over. Although fewer were built than of the preceding RT type, their uniqueness and longevity made them instantly identifiable as the typical London bus. First conceived as a replacement for the trolleybuses, the prototype was unveiled in 1954. Main production did not start until 1959 but they would then continue to serve London's passengers until 2005. From the 1980s, they began to be withdrawn from London, but many found further use with bus companies throughout Britain and beyond.Now, seventy years since the prototype first emerged, some Routemasters can still be found on sightseeing work in London. Others are in use for such purposes as corporate hospitality, film work and wedding hires, while hundreds survive in preservation. This book celebrates this iconic symbol of London through a collection of outstanding images and informative captions.

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The preservation of our transport heritage is something that the British excel at. The Buses magazine Museum & Rally Guide 2020-21 lists forty museums in the United Kingdom plus one in the Republic of Ireland with collections of buses (and sometimes trams or trolleybuses) amongst their exhibits. The rally calendar section lists hundreds of events taking part every year. This has all developed since the 1950s. Prior to this a few far-sighted companies such as The London General Omnibus Company (later London Transport) had put aside some old vehicles but they were not on regular display. Private preservation started in the 1950s and the first clubs for preservationists were established such as the Historic Commercial Vehicle Club in 1958. A few early events were held, but the first regular event was the HCVC (now HCVS) London to Brighton Run which began in 1962 and has continued ever since. Museum sites were established in the 1960s - The Museum of British Transport opened in stages between 1961 and 1963 and would lead eventually to the London Transport Museum. The East Anglian Transport Museum at Carlton Colville and the Sandtoft Transport Centre both opened in the 1960s. But it would be the 1970s when the rallies and Open Days' we know today really began to take off. This book looks back at the formative years to 1980 when the seeds of the preservation and rally movement of today were being sown.

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London’s docks were once the busiest in Britain. They had developed piecemeal from the beginning of the nineteenth century as the existing riverside wharves became too congested and pilfering became rife. Dock systems were built on both sides of the Thames. The largest group, ‘The Royals’ comprising the Royal Victoria, Royal Albert and King George V docks, created the greatest enclosed dock area in the world. Changes in cargo handling methods, such as containerisation, led to all new developments being concentrated at Tilbury from the late 1960s and the closure of the London docks, along with nearly all of the private riverside wharves and canal wharves. The London Docklands Development Corporation was set up to redevelop the dock sites. So what replaced the docks, and what remains to remind us of what was there before? This book follows the Thames Path, which has opened up much of what was once a largely hidden world, from Greenwich to Rainham and Erith to examine the changes and the heritage that remains on both sides of the river. Also included is the network of rivers, canals and sewers in East London that linked into and made use of the Thames. Finally, it looks at Tilbury on the north bank, where the docks are now concentrated, and Gravesend on the south side, a town with long maritime connections to London.

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The steam lorry (or wagon, as it was more commonly known) developed in Britain alongside the internal combustion engine truck. Its heyday was between 1900 and the early 1930s. But there could be only one winner, and by the mid-1930s, with the adoption of the more efficient diesel engine and with punitive legislation passed, the end was in sight for steam.There had been two main manufacturers of steam wagons and eventually both turned to diesel. Other makers had already switched or fallen by the wayside. By 1960, the commercial life of these wagons had almost come to an end, but hundreds have survived into preservation to tell their story.Malcolm Batten explores the history of these remarkable vehicles through a host of previously unpublished images and informative captions.

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The term steam roller' has become part of the English language, rather like Biro or Hoover. Steam rollers themselves began to be made during the 1860s. It was Thomas Aveling who perfected the most common three-point design with a wide steerable roll at the front and a roll either side at the rear. His company, Aveling & Porter, became the largest manufacturer of steam rollers, although most other traction-engine builders also produced designs, some quite innovative.Steam rollers were the last type of steam-powered road vehicle in general use, some remaining in service until the mid-1960s. Consequently, many hundreds have survived into preservation and can regularly be seen at rallies and other events.This book illustrates many of the examples from different makers that can be seen in Britain and details their history into preservation.

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The London to Brighton Historic Commercial Vehicle run is one of the premier events in the calendar for preserved commercial vehicle owners and enthusiasts alike. First held in 1962, this annual event has continued to feature every year since. Until 2019 traditionally held on the first Sunday in May, vehicles travel from London the approximately 60 miles to Brighton where they line up on Marina Drive for judging and prizegiving in the afternoon. There is a rolling minimum age limit of twenty-one years, but vehicles may date back to the very origins of the internal combustion engine, while steam-powered traction engines and wagons are also included.Malcolm Batten first visited Brighton for the run in 1971, and has been back every year it has been held since then. In this second book he features some of the highlights of the years from 1996 to the 60th anniversary run in 2022.

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The busy London Underground may seem an unlikely location for heritage train operation, especially involving steam. However, this was the world’s first Underground railway network, and the original sections were built to main line gauge using steam traction. London Transport and its successor London Underground Ltd have been acutely aware of the significance of this and have strived to preserve and present their heritage. Over the decades, open days and special trains operated over parts of the system. This included the running of steam-, diesel- and electric-hauled trains for the public to ride on, while at the same time maintaining the normal level of Underground train service on these lines. These special trains ran not only in the open-air outer sections of the network, but even on occasion through the cut-and-cover tunnel sections of central London. New signalling systems mean that this is unlikely to happen again, but the London Transport Museum continues to offer a programme of exhibitions, guided history tours and open days at the Acton museum depot. This book looks back at the principal events since 1963.

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In the days before privatisation, many bus companies adapted old buses for a variety of specialist uses as service vehicles. Using the skills and ingenuity of their workshops, buses might become, among other things, stores vans, tree loppers or uniform stores. Trolleybuses may have been converted to tower wagons to maintain the overhead wires. Some bus operators converted old buses to towing lorries to rescue broken down vehicles. Others preferred ex-military trucks such as the AEC Matador. These came with somewhat austere cabs, but here again the body shop would often come up with a custom-built body using various bus parts. Buses would also be adapted to serve as information offices or publicity buses, promoting such things as holiday tours or special ticket offers. Since privatisation, such practices have died out for a variety of reasons. Expensive, in-house workshops have largely been closed. Construction and Use Regulations have been tightened up. Emissions zone restrictions may limit the use of older less clean engines in city centres. Furthermore the modern low-floor rear-engine buses are probably less suited to such conversions. Companies will use the services of specialist commercial bus and truck rescue services rather than retaining their own towing vehicles. This book looks at a variety of service vehicles from around the country over the last fifty years, including examples that have survived into preservation.

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The larger bus operators, whether municipal or company owned, have traditionally trained their own new drivers. Normally older vehicles from the fleet were retained and adapted for training, adorned with ‘L’ plates. In earlier days they would usually just retain fleet livery. Sometimes they might receive a separate livery, to warn other road users. When the National Bus Company introduced corporate liveries of red or green for its fleets, many of their constituent companies used yellow for their training and service vehicles. Then, as recruitment became more difficult from around the 1980s, colourful liveries with invitational recruitment slogans tended to appear and this has continued since. Rather surprisingly, companies often bought in buses for training from other companies rather than converting their own, and these might be types not otherwise represented in their fleet. This book looks at a variety of training vehicles from around the country over the last fifty years, including examples that have survived into preservation.

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When London Transport was formed in 1933 it became the world’s largest municipal transport undertaking, peaking at some 9,000 buses, trams and trolleybuses. London Transport inherited a small selection of historic vehicles that had been retained for preservation and continued this process of retention and display, leading eventually to the establishment of the London Transport Museum. With the growth of private preservation from the 1950s, it is no surprise that there are now more ex-London Transport vehicles preserved than from any other company and that these can be regularly seen both static and active at heritage and museum sites and at many enthusiast-themed events.

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London’s docks were once the busiest in Britain. They had developed piecemeal from the beginning of the nineteenth century as the existing riverside wharves became too congested and pilfering became rife. Dock systems were built on both sides of the Thames. The largest group, ‘The Royals’ comprising the Royal Victoria, Royal Albert and King George V Docks, created the greatest enclosed dock area in the world. Changes in cargo handling methods such as containerisation led to all new developments being concentrated at Tilbury from the late 1960s, and the closure of the London docks, along with nearly all of the private riverside wharves and canal wharves. The London Docklands Development Corporation was set up to redevelop the dock sites. So what replaced the docks, and what remains to remind us of what was there before? This book follows the Thames Path, which has opened up much of what was once a largely hidden world, from London Bridge to Greenwich to examine the changes and the heritage that remains on both sides of the river. Also included is the Regent’s Canal, which took goods onwards into London and linked to the Midlands, and the sewer network that makes use of the Thames.

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Londoners, and London-bound commuters, rely heavily on the railways, the London Underground and Docklands Light Railway to get around. This means there is a constant need for maintenance, and sections of lines are often closed at weekends for track work and other enhancements to take place. Rail replacement buses are employed whenever there is not an easy alternative rail route. This book features a variety of companies and vehicles engaged on rail replacement services around London and the South East over the last fifty years.

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