DOCSLIB.ORG

NCS MA Vfinal Rev 5

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
NCS MA Vfinal Rev 5 The Social Anatomy of a Beeching Railway Closure A Case Study of Goathland and the Whitby Area 1963-65 Nigel Sheppard MA by Research University of York History April 2020 Abstract This dissertation is a micro-history of the impact of a Beeching Report railway closure. It documents the powerful but unsuccessful campaign of the villagers of Goathland against the closure of their local railway. This campaign was strongly led and orchestrated by the local newspaper, the Whitby Gazette and community leaders. This orchestration emphasised the hardship that people would experience and was a catalyst for people’s negative perception of the closure and the alternative bus services. These perceptions of an adverse social impact proved not to reflect reality. The perceptions and the impact of a Beeching closure have not been widely studied by historians. However, for Goathland a wealth of archival material from the Whitby Gazette and the letters of protest written by the villagers have survived to form the basis of this study. New tools using the power of HGIS databases and analysis are applied to this material to portray a people-centric view of a closure. These tools are used to model how, in 1963, the railway had an emotional rather than practical value for the local community. From this starting point it shows that local perception of the impact of the railway closure was always going to be at variance with the reality. To the villagers the perception was important, not the reality. Bespoke accessibility models bring an objectivity to the role of public transport in villagers’ lives. These villagers were isolated after closure, but objectively they were isolated before, they just did not perceive that they were. 2 Contents Abstract ....................................................................................................................... 2 Contents ...................................................................................................................... 3 Tables ......................................................................................................................... 5 Figures ........................................................................................................................ 5 Maps ........................................................................................................................... 6 Images ........................................................................................................................ 6 Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................... 7 Declaration .................................................................................................................. 8 1 “Children would be exposed to the very certain risk of death” - Approaches to the study of local railway closures ..................................................................................... 9 Structure ................................................................................................................ 10 Methodology and Sources ..................................................................................... 11 “History remembers the Black Death, not the other plagues” - The Impact of the Beeching Report in Perspective ............................................................................ 13 “That hardship would result from the closure is obvious” - The Closure Process and Hardship ......................................................................................................... 24 2 “A fine display of local campaigning doomed to failure” - The Whitby Gazette. .... 26 “A fair representation of the life of Whitby and District” - The Whitby Gazette and Railway Closure ..................................................................................................... 32 “Rail Closure a Bitter Blow” - The Importance of Headlines .................................. 33 “The paper has its finger on the pulse of country people” - Letters to the paper reflect its readership .............................................................................................. 34 “It is up to you” - How editorials led the public campaign against railway closure . 37 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 45 3 “The loss of the railway would mean the death of many of us” - The Goathland Letters ....................................................................................................................... 47 A methodology to analyse the Goathland Protest letters ...................................... 49 Qualitative Analysis and the HGIS database ......................................................... 53 “A useful living community…a mixed lot of people who thought they made a sensible contribution to the life of the country” - Goathland .................................. 56 “The individual as the subject rather than the object of history” - The protest letters as micro-history ..................................................................................................... 64 “I do not believe that most of the fears you expressed on behalf of your constituents will be realised in practice” - The reality of railway use in Goathland 68 “They do travel by train” - Where did people travel by railway? ............................ 70 “I wish to protest….on the grounds of hardship” - The concerns of the inhabitants of Goathland .......................................................................................................... 72 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 88 3 4 “The railway was not often used because they did not provide services at the time people wanted them” – Accessibility and Change .................................................... 90 Methodology .......................................................................................................... 92 “An area rich in speculation with little real evidence” - Population ........................ 93 “The capacity people have for getting around” - Mobility ....................................... 95 “The ease with which people can reach necessary services” - Accessibility ....... 106 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 117 5 “Alternative Services Largely Fulfilling Need” ...................................................... 119 Appendices ............................................................................................................. 122 Abbreviations .......................................................................................................... 131 Bibliography ............................................................................................................ 132 Primary Sources .................................................................................................. 132 Secondary Sources ............................................................................................. 138 4 Tables Table 1. Whitby Gazette Railway Articles Jan 4, 1963 to Jul 23, 1965 ..................... 28 Table 2. Database fields for Goathland Protest Letters ............................................ 52 Table 3. Letters of Objection to Malton to Whitby Railway Closure .......................... 65 Table 4. Goathland Railway Journeys per week – Spring 1964 ............................... 67 Table 5. Status of Goathland Letter Writers .............................................................. 67 Table 6. Use of common phrases on the letters of objection .................................... 73 Table 7. Place of work of Goathland villagers ........................................................... 86 Table 8. Village Population 1961 and 1971 .............................................................. 93 Table 9. Goathland Distance to Public Transport Access ......................................... 97 Table 10. Village Public Transport Frequency 1963 and 1967 compared .............. 101 Table 11. Village Public Transport Time to Destinations 1963 and 1967 compared ................................................................................................................................ 103 Table 12. Comparative Bus and Railway Fares (new pence) from Goathland 1963 ................................................................................................................................ 104 Table 13. Buckman Accessibility Index applied to Goathland before and after Railway Closure ...................................................................................................... 107 Table 14. Work Accessibility ................................................................................... 110 Table 15. Shopping Accessibility ............................................................................ 112 Table 16. Last evening departure to villages from the nearest town ....................... 112 Table 17. Sunday Accessibility ............................................................................... 113 Table 18. Composite accessibility excluding frequency .......................................... 114 Table 19. Composite accessibility including frequency ........................................... 114 Table 20. Analysis of Whitby Gazette 1962 to 1965 - Railway Content .................. 123 Table
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Exhibit Overview
    Exhibit Overview Exhibit Summary All aboard to explore! Shrill whistles and the unmistakable clatter of wheels rolling over rails float across the pastoral landscape. Friendly chatter fills the air. It is a unique land that has held a special place in the hearts and imaginations of children for generations. Welcome to the Island of Sodor! In Thomas & Friends: Explore the Rails children explore and interact with the familiar faces and sights from HIT Entertainment’s popular series. Designed for children 2 through 7 (and their adult caregivers) the exhibit combines exciting play opportunities with important concepts in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM), and an emphasis on developing 21st century skills. These ideas are woven and layered throughout the exhibit, creating an experience that speaks to a diversity of interests, age groups, and learning styles. As they travel through the space, children help Thomas and his friends solve a variety of challenges. These interactive opportunities range from simple sorting and shape identification to more complicated engineering obstacles. As children confront new challenges and test their skills, the smiling faces of Thomas, Percy, and others are there to offer encouragement and remind children of how “useful” we all are. 6 Rationale “Lying in bed as a child I would hear a heavy goods train coming in and stopping at Box Station…There was no doubt in my mind that steam engines all had definite personalities. I would hear them snorting up the grade and little imagination was needed to hear in the puffings and pantings of the two engines the conversations they were having with one another: "I can't do it! I can't do it!" "Yes you can! Yes you can!" -Rev.
    [Show full text]
  • Britain's Transition from Rail to Road-Based Food Distribution, 1919-1975 Thomas James Spain MA
    ‘Food Miles’: Britain’s Transition from Rail to Road-based Food Distribution, 1919-1975 Thomas James Spain MA Doctor of Philosophy University of York Railway Studies September 2016 Abstract Britain’s railways were essential for the development of the British economy throughout the nineteenth century; however, by 1919 their seemingly unassailable position as goods carriers was about to be eroded by the lorry. The railway strike of September 1919 had presented traders with an opportunity to observe the capabilities of road haulage, but there is no study which focuses on the process of modal shift in goods distribution from the trader’s perspective. This thesis therefore marks an important departure from the existing literature by placing goods transport into its working context. The importance of food as an everyday essential commodity adds a further dimension to the status of goods transport within Britain’s supply chain, particularly when the fragility of food products means that minimising the impact of distance, time and spoilage before consumption is vital in ensuring effective and practical logistical solutions. These are considered in a series of four case studies on specific food commodities and retail distribution, which also hypothesise that the modal shift from rail to road reflected the changing character of transport demand between 1919 and 1975. Consequently, this thesis explores the notion that the centre of governance over the supply chain transferred between food producers, manufacturers, government and chain retailer, thereby driving changes in transport technology and practice. This thesis uses archival material to provide a qualitative study into the food industry’s relationship with transport where the case studies incorporate supply chain analyses to permit an exploration of how changes in structure might have influenced the modal shift from rail to road distribution.
    [Show full text]
  • England | HIKING COAST to COAST LAKES, MOORS, and DALES | 10 DAYS June 26-July 5, 2021 September 11-20, 2021
    England | HIKING COAST TO COAST LAKES, MOORS, AND DALES | 10 DAYS June 26-July 5, 2021 September 11-20, 2021 TRIP ITINERARY 1.800.941.8010 | www.boundlessjourneys.com How we deliver THE WORLD’S GREAT ADVENTURES A passion for travel. Simply put, we love to travel, and that Small groups. Although the camaraderie of a group of like- infectious spirit is woven into every one of our journeys. Our minded travelers often enhances the journey, there can be staff travels the globe searching out hidden-gem inns and too much of a good thing! We tread softly, and our average lodges, taste testing bistros, trattorias, and noodle stalls, group size is just 8–10 guests, allowing us access to and discovering the trails and plying the waterways of each opportunities that would be unthinkable with a larger group. remarkable destination. When we come home, we separate Flexibility to suit your travel style. We offer both wheat from chaff, creating memorable adventures that will scheduled, small-group departures and custom journeys so connect you with the very best qualities of each destination. that you can choose which works best for you. Not finding Unique, award-winning itineraries. Our flexible, hand- exactly what you are looking for? Let us customize a journey crafted journeys have received accolades from the to fulfill your travel dreams. world’s most revered travel publications. Beginning from Customer service that goes the extra mile. Having trouble our appreciation for the world’s most breathtaking and finding flights that work for you? Want to surprise your interesting destinations, we infuse our journeys with the traveling companion with a bottle of champagne at a tented elements of adventure and exploration that stimulate our camp in the Serengeti to celebrate an important milestone? souls and enliven our minds.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 23 the Railways Through the Parishes
    Chapter 23 The Railways Through the Parishes Part I: The London & Birmingham Railway The first known reference to a railway in the Peterborough area was in 1825, when the poet John Clare encountered surveyors in woods at Helpston. They were preparing for a speculative London and Manchester railroad. Clare viewed them with disapproval and suspicion. Plans for a Branch to Peterborough On 17th September 1838, the London & Birmingham Railway Company opened its 112-mile main line, linking the country’s two largest cities. It was engineered by George Stephenson’s son, Robert. The 1 journey took 5 /2 hours, at a stately average of 20mph – still twice the speed of a competing stagecoach. The final cost of the line was £5.5m, as against an estimate of £2.5m. Magnificent achievement as the L&BR was, it did not really benefit Northampton, since the line passed five miles to the West of the Fig 23a. Castor: Station Master’s House. town. The first positive steps to put Northampton and the Nene valley in touch with the new mode of travel were taken in Autumn 1842, after local influential people approached the L&BR Board with plans for a branch railway from Blisworth to Peterborough. Traffic on the L&BR was healthy. On 16th January 1843, a meeting of shareholders was called at the Euston Hotel. They were told that the company had now done its own research and was able to recommend a line to Peterborough. There was some opposition from landed interests along the Nene valley. On 26th January 1843 at the White Hart Inn, Thrapston a meeting, chaired by Earl Fitzwilliam, expressed implacable opposition to the whole scheme on six main counts, from increased flooding to the danger of 26 road crossings, rather than bridges.
    [Show full text]
  • The Commercial & Technical Evolution of the Ferry
    THE COMMERCIAL & TECHNICAL EVOLUTION OF THE FERRY INDUSTRY 1948-1987 By William (Bill) Moses M.B.E. A thesis presented to the University of Greenwich in fulfilment of the thesis requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy October 2010 DECLARATION “I certify that this work has not been accepted in substance for any degree, and is not concurrently being submitted for any degree other than that of Doctor of Philosophy being studied at the University of Greenwich. I also declare that this work is the result of my own investigations except where otherwise identified by references and that I have not plagiarised another’s work”. ……………………………………………. William Trevor Moses Date: ………………………………. ……………………………………………… Professor Sarah Palmer Date: ………………………………. ……………………………………………… Professor Alastair Couper Date:……………………………. ii Acknowledgements There are a number of individuals that I am indebted to for their support and encouragement, but before mentioning some by name I would like to acknowledge and indeed dedicate this thesis to my late Mother and Father. Coming from a seafaring tradition it was perhaps no wonder that I would follow but not without hardship on the part of my parents as they struggled to raise the necessary funds for my books and officer cadet uniform. Their confidence and encouragement has since allowed me to achieve a great deal and I am only saddened by the fact that they are not here to share this latest and arguably most prestigious attainment. It is also appropriate to mention the ferry industry, made up on an intrepid band of individuals that I have been proud and privileged to work alongside for as many decades as covered by this thesis.
    [Show full text]
  • The Elsworth Chronicle
    The Elsworth Chronicle Issue No. 11 December 1997 SPOTLIGHT ON REV. DR. MICHAEL REISS PRIEST IN CHARGE AT HOLY TRINITY CHURCH, ELSWORTH The Rev. Dr. Michael Reiss has been appointed to Elsworth to serve the church and people following the retirement of Rev. Hugh Mosedale. Many readers will have met Michael and, no doubt, been curious about his background in the warm inquiring manner which marks our village. Michael is a scientist and a Christian, being one of many who contrary to seeing conflict between the two, finds they are complementary. He studied biology at Trinity College here in Cambridge both as an undergraduate and post graduate student, being awarded his doctorate in 1982. Subsequently he pursued post-doctoral research, and following studies for the Post Graduate Certificate in Education - also in Cambridge - he taught for 5 years at Hills Road 6th Form College before being appointed to the Department of Education in the University. In 1994 he took up his present post as senior lecturer in biology at Homerton College, Cambridge. Michael's formal preparation to serve God through the church ran in parallel with his scientific research and teaching, studying as a student of theology from 1987-90 under the East Anglian Ministerial Training Course. As such, studies had to be fitted in alongside his everyday work. Since ordination he has helped during the interregnum at Bourn and Kingston from 1993-4 and at Toft in 1995. Again his endeavours had to be fitted in with his full-time work. Now at Elsworth, Knapwell and Boxworth until a full-time minister is in office, Michael has deliberately chosen to integrate his work in the church with his at academic interests rather than pursue a full-time ministry within the church.
    [Show full text]
  • Railways List
    A guide and list to a collection of Historic Railway Documents www.railarchive.org.uk to e mail click here December 2017 1 Since July 1971, this private collection of printed railway documents from pre grouping and pre nationalisation railway companies based in the UK; has sought to expand it‟s collection with the aim of obtaining a printed sample from each independent railway company which operated (or obtained it‟s act of parliament and started construction). There were over 1,500 such companies and to date the Rail Archive has sourced samples from over 800 of these companies. Early in 2001 the collection needed to be assessed for insurance purposes to identify a suitable premium. The premium cost was significant enough to warrant a more secure and sustainable future for the collection. In 2002 The Rail Archive was set up with the following objectives: secure an on-going future for the collection in a public institution reduce the insurance premium continue to add to the collection add a private collection of railway photographs from 1970‟s onwards provide a public access facility promote the collection ensure that the collection remains together in perpetuity where practical ensure that sufficient finances were in place to achieve to above objectives The archive is now retained by The Bodleian Library in Oxford to deliver the above objectives. This guide which gives details of paperwork in the collection and a list of railway companies from which material is wanted. The aim is to collect an item of printed paperwork from each UK railway company ever opened.
    [Show full text]
  • Transport Act 1985
    Transport Act 1985 CHAPTER 67 ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS PART I GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO ROAD PASSENGER TRANSPORT Abolition of road service licensing Section 1. Abolition of road service licensing. Meaning of " local service " 2. Local services. Traffic commissioners 3. Traffic commissioners. 4. Inquiries held by traffic commissioners. 5. Assistance for traffic commissioners in considering financial questions. Registration of local services 6. Registration of local services. 7. Application of traffic regulation conditions to local services subject to registration under section 6. 8. Enforcement of traffic regulation conditions, etc. 9. Appeals against traffic regulation conditions. Taxis and hire cars 10. Immediate hiring of taxis at separate fares. 11. Advance booking of taxis and hire cars at separate fares. 12. Use of taxis in providing local services. A ii c. 67 Transport Act 1985 Section 13. Provisions supplementary to sections 10 to 12. 14. Operation of taxis and private hire cars in Scotland for the carriage of passengers at separate fares. 15. Extension of taxi licensing in England and Wales. 16. Taxi licensing: control of numbers. 17. London taxi and taxi driver licensing: appeals. Modification of PSV requirements in relation to vehicles used for certain purposes 18. Exemption from PSV operator and driver licensing requirements of vehicles used under permits. 19. Permits in relation to use of buses by educational and other bodies. 20. Further provision with respect to permits under section 19. 21. Permits under section 19: regulations. 22. Community bus permits. 23. Further provision with respect to community bus permits. Further amendments with respect to PSV operators' licences 24. Limit on number of vehicles to be used under a restricted licence.
    [Show full text]
  • Register of Licensed Caravan Sites CARAVAN LICENCE NAME of SITE ADDRESS of SITE NUMBER
    Register of Licensed Caravan Sites CARAVAN LICENCE NAME OF SITE ADDRESS OF SITE NUMBER Primrose Valley, Filey, North Yorkshire, YO14 001 Primrose Valley Holiday Village 9RF 002 Blue Dolphin Holiday Park Gristhorpe, Filey, YO14 9PU Howlgate Lane, Newholm, Whitby, YO21 004 Newholm Green Caravan Site 3QU Ladycross Plantation Caravan 005 Site Egton, Whitby, YO21 1UA East Keld Farm, Robin Hoods Bay, Whitby, 006 East Keld Farm Caravans YO22 4PE 007 Jacobs Mount Caravan Park Stepney Road, Scarborough, YO12 5NL 008 Muston Grange Caravan Park Muston Road, Filey, YO14 0HU Killerby on the Cliff Caravan Killerby House, Killerby Cliff, Cayton Bay, 009 Site Scarborough, YO11 3NR Lythe Caravan and Camping 010 Site High Street, Lythe, Whitby, YO21 3RT Rear of Bank Foot Cottage Land to Rear of Bank Foot Cottage, Ellerby, 011 Caravan Site (OS Field 7953) Saltburn, TS13 5HS 012 Glen Esk Caravan Site Larpool Lane, Ruswarp, Whitby, YO22 4NE Limestone Road, Burniston, Scarborough, 013 Applegrove Country Park YO13 0DD Mill Lane, Cayton Bay, Scarborough, YO11 014 Cayton Bay Holiday Park 3NN The Coach House, 53 Rosedale Lane, Port 015 Coach House Caravan Park Mulgrave, Saltburn, TS13 5LD Clarendon House Caravan Rear of 42 Hinderwell Lane, Runswick Bay, 017 Park Saltburn, TS13 5HR Abbots House Farm Camping Abbots House, Goathland, Whitby, YO22 018 and Caravan Site 5NH Airy Hill Farm, Prospect Hill, Whitby, YO21 019 Airy Hill Farm Caravan Site 1QD Larpool Hall, Larpool Drive, Whitby, YO22 020 Larpool Hall Caravan Site 4JE 021 Lowfield Farm Caravan Park Bridlington
    [Show full text]
  • FEN BOG from the Website North Yorkshire for the Book Discover Butterflies in Britain © D E Newland 2009
    FEN BOG from www.discoverbutterflies.com the website North Yorkshire for the book Discover Butterflies in Britain © D E Newland 2009 The North Yorkshire Moors Railway passes along the western edge of Fen Bog Fen Bog is 20 ha (50 acres) of This well-known site in TARGET SPECIES boggy marshland at the head Yorkshire is noted for its Large Heath (June and early of Newtondale, near Pickering many different species of July), Small Pearl-bordered in North Yorkshire. It is 3 butterflies, moths and and Dark Green Fritillaries; miles south of Goathland and dragonflies. There is a deep commoner species. lies on the route of the North bed of peat where many Yorkshire Moors Railway different bog plants flourish. It from Pickering to Grosmont. lies within a wide valley with heather, hard fern, mat grass and purple moor grass all growing stongly. The reserve is cared for by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. The North York Moors became one of our first National Parks in 1952. Its moors are one of the largest areas of heather moorland in Britain and cover an area of 550 square miles. It is hard to imagine that they were once permanently covered in ice and snow. When global warming took effect at the end of the Ice Age, the snowfields began to melt and melt water flowed south. It gouged out the deep valley of Newtondale where the Pickering Beck now flows. Newtondale runs roughly north-south parallel to the A169 Whitby to Pickering road and is a designated SSSI of 940 ha (2,300 acres).
    [Show full text]
  • Victorian West Sussex Booklist
    Victorian West Sussex Booklist General & Pictorial Histories M. Andrew, Francis Frith's Victorian and Edwardian Sussex (Frith Book Co., 2000) H. Barty-King, Sussex in 1839 (Osprey Publishing Ltd., 1974) J. Farrant, Sussex in the 18th and 19th Century: a bibliography (University of Sussex, 1982) J.S. Gray, Victorian and Edwardian Sussex from Old Photographs (Batsford, 1973) D. Hardy & C. Ward, Arcadia for All: the legacy of a makeshift landscape (Mansell, 1984) R. Heath [edited by K. Dockray], The Victorian Peasant (Alan Sutton, 1989) K. Leslie & B. Short (ed.), An Historical Atlas of Sussex (Phillimore, 1999) J. Lowerson, Victorian Sussex (B.B.C., 1972) University of Sussex , Sussex: environment, landscape and society (Alan Sutton, 1983) Home Life N.P. Blaker, Reminiscences (Southern Publishing Co., 1906) [Mid-Sussex] J. Halsham [see 3 titles under Lindfield below] R.B. Lees, Extracts From the Diaries, 1893-1916, of Brenda Cicely Loder (author, 1999) [Handcross] C.E. Salter [see title under Cuckfield] School Life B. Heeney, Mission to the Middle Classes: the Woodard Schools 1848- 1891 (S.P.C.K., 1969) S. Johnson & K. Leslie, Scholars and Slates: Sussex schools in the 1880s (WSCC, 1989) J.M. Virgoe, Between Plough and Pen: the biography of a Victorian country schoolmaster [William Kneller] (author, 1986) [Goring] See also under places: Bognor, Pulborough Church Life D.R. Elleray, Victorian Churches of Sussex, (Phillimore, 1981) M.J. Kitch, Studies in Sussex Church History (Leopard’s Head Press, 1981) [Salvation Army etc] D. Morse-Boycott, Fields of Yesterday (Skeffington, 1932) [Worthing] www.westsussexpast.org.uk © West Sussex County Council Library Service M.
    [Show full text]
  • Railway Services for Rural Areas
    S Rural Railways pecial Feature Railway Services for Rural Areas John Welsby Railways in Britain were nationalised in ous 50 years or more, with steam trains, Early Days 1948, and the British Transport Commis- full signalling and even the smallest sta- sion was established to plan and coordi- tions being staffed, often with four or more The railway network in Britain was at its nate transport by rail, road, sea and ca- men. Timetables reflected pre-war travel most extensive in 1912 when 23,440 nal. At this stage, the only problem with patterns and services tended to be slow miles of route (37,504 route km) were the rail network was perceived to be un- and infrequent. open and every city, town and most vil- der-investment, and a major moderniza- The Great Western Railway had intro- lages were served by train. At this stage, tion programme was drawn up in 1955 duced a small fleet of diesel railcars in the railways were the dominant mode of for electrification of key routes, new sig- 1934 and British Railways introduced the transport in the country, with little com- nalling at major stations and replacement first of its DMUs in 1954, initially on the petition from road or the canals, which of steam locomotives. Carlisle-Silloth branch (now closed). The they had superseded. The railway was a With relatively few cars on the roads, and modernization programme, was imple- general purpose “common carrier” and, limited availability of new cars in post- mented before any decisions were made as well as passengers, the country station war Britain, the competitive threat from about the future of rural railways, or of would have handled the freight traffic of the explosion in car ownership in the the overall size of the rail network.
    [Show full text]