Published 23rd. March 2004, Oakwood Press, Usk, ISBN No. 0 85361 619 1.
To order:
PRIVATE ORDERS: Via any good bookseller. I recommend Douglas Blades.
TRADE TERMS: From Oakwood Press.
Taken by Trains:
The Life and Photography of William Nash 1909-1952 is a 192 page A5
landscape format paperback costing £13.95. It
is a volume of
remarkable photographs taken by a teenager in the 1920s. In turn there followed
a successful career with the London Midland & Scottish Railway before
William
was a gifted individual born at St Bees in Cumbria in 1909. Between 1926 and
1952 he worked on the railway starting out in a signalbox at the time of the
General Strike. His talents were recognised with promotion. In World War Two
he was Assistant District Controller at Rugby and around 1950 he was working
in the London Midland Region headquarters planning Royal Train journeys. All
this was cut short when he lost his life at Harrow.
When
only 13 years old in 1922, he started taking railway pictures. Outside the family
circle, these remained unknown until 2000. Nash had, for one so young, a good
eye for composition and a keen awareness of what would be a worthwhile subject.
Great Western Dean Goods, the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway, Sentinel steam
railcars on Jersey, the Ashover Light Railway, Midland Railway Spinners, new
LMS Royal Scots or Southern King Arthurs, all fill his albums.
His
youngest daughter and amateur photographer Kate Robinson and transport historian
Robert Forsythe have shared the task of presenting his material. She
has hand prepared the material for publication using traditional methods. A
catalogue of the collection is accessible. A
series of retrospective exhibitions were staged in Cumbria to mark the 50th
anniversary of his death in 2002-2003. An associated volume entitled Cumbrian
Railway Photographer was published.
This new volume looks at the wider spread of Nash's pictorial material around Britain and examines his professional life as a career railwayman during which he was involved in some pioneering studies including inter-war electrification proposals on the LMS. Newly originated hand prints from the original negatives have been made for the book by Kate Robinson.
What the reviewers say:
"If you have an interest in steam in busy action or a yearning to see and learn about railways in that time span then this is the book for you". The Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway Magazine Spring 2004.
"Unusual record of inter-war British railways......images are high quality....recommended". Modelrail July 2004.
"Captions are comprehensive and informative..............These are exceptional images of pre-nationalisation railways". The Railway Observer September 2004.
"Railway history needs more contributions that are so carefully compiled and edited". Festiniog Railway Magazine Autumn 2004.
"This is a fine book..................thoroughly recommended". Friends of the National Railway Museum Newsletter Autumn 2004.
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