RECOMMENDED READING
“All Stations to Longridge - A History of the Preston to Longridge Branch Line & Associated Railways"
By David John Hindle
224 printed pages, 229 black & white photographs plus additional maps, card covers
RRP £16.99
Amberley Publishing, Cirencester Road, Chalford, Stroud, Glos GL6 8PE
ISBN 978-1-4456-0200-4
Naturalist, historian and life-long railway enthusiast, David John Hindle MA, is already the author of seven very successful books dealing with aspects of natural and social history in North West England, but this is his first excursion into the realm of railways. That said, it is a fact that many of those who were fortunate enough to have been intimately acquainted with this now long-defunct and much-lamented former LNWR branch-line had been eagerly anticipating the publication of David’s remarkably detailed history and their continued patience now seems to have been well worth the wait.
The first railways were crucial in expanding and transforming the social and economic prosperity of towns and villages around the country and this particular example was certainly no exception. The seven-mile combined mineral and passenger route was only the second in the order of railways to open around Preston and, throughout its 154 years, unquestionably sustained a fascinating and complex history, now brought to light by the author’s meticulous researching skills. The author traces the evolution and the complete history of the railway, from its official opening in 1840 until the final trains ran along the last remaining segment of the branch (to Deepdale Coal Concentration Depot) in 1994.
"All Stations to Longridge" is, without a doubt, the most authoritative record of a fascinating line that includes within its 224 information-packed pages no less than 229 photographs, many of which are the work of railway photographers whose names will be familiar to readers of this review.
Included is a substantial chapter describing and evoking nostalgic memories of the integrated and quite unique anachronism that was the Whittingham Hospital Railway, whose free passenger service was once worked by an ex-LBSCR Stroudley D1 0-4-2T and later by a Sentinel VBT.
One thing is for certain, there is something for absolutely everyone here, with, for example, a comprehensive appendix even extending to itemising a listing of known locomotives observed working along the line in the 1950/60s, along with full details of all signalling and operating procedures involved.
It is predicted that this little book will become a railway classic, epitomising the role of an English country branch line of yester-year and there is little doubt that the Preston to Longridge branch has never had its history so comprehensively documented and in such a very readable story form. As such, "All Stations to Longridge" should appeal both to social historians and to railway enthusiasts alike as the most definitive work on its subject.
