Peter Gray’s West Country Railways

AUTHOR: Amyas Crump and Kevin Robertson

PUBLISHER: Crécy Publishing ISBN: 978-1-91080-962-4 PRICE: £25.00

WEB: www.crecy.co.uk

ANYONE WITH an interest in railway photography should recognise the name Peter Gray, who is famous for his images of the West Country’s railways. The authors have compiled this work from the huge number of his images now in the hands of the Great Western Trust at Didcot – in effect it is a tribute to the great photographer. The selection, many previously unpublished, covers railways across Somerset, Devon and Cornwall, and dates from the 1950s into the 1960s. They are simply superb and include main line shots and also many from the long-lost branches of the south west. The latter provide a superb record of what those isolated but vital branch lines provided for the local population, something sadly lost due to the Beeching cuts.

Steam and early diesels all feature and are brought to life by the excellent captions. This is a wonderful work dedicated not only to Peter Gray but also to the railways of the West Country, and so it is easily worth a slot on the bookshelf. All proceeds from the book, including the compilers’ fees, are going to the Great Western Trust to support its goal of preserving the memory of the Great Western Railway. (MN)