Lancashire and Yorkshire led Britain and the world into the
industrial revolution, yet were long cut off by the Pennine chain.
The railway age finally brought the two counties together and
ensured the continued growth of Manchester as Britain's second
city. It was linked to Leeds and Sheffield by a series of heroic
railway tunnels, three of which were successively the longest in
the world when completed in the 1840s. Often taken for granted,
this book portrays them as extraordinary achievements against
seemingly insuperable odds that deserve the fullest recognition.
These pages look not just at the tunnels and the men who created
them but also at how lines built through them connected key
stations either side of the Pennines. They step back further in
history to show how canals paved the way for the railways and also
look forward to the future with its brave talk of HS3 achieving
journey times that seem unimaginable. There is a remarkable
collection of illustrations ranging from period lithographs through
to present-day photographs. The many varied themes in this book
include: * The vision of George Stephenson - 'Father of Railways' *
Navvies left to fend for themselves in huts thrown together with
loose stones and thatch * Drunken riots following pay day * Death
and chronic illness at Woodhead tunnel on top of the Pennines *
Enginemen coming close to suffocation when working heavy freights
through the tunnels * Early travellers who preferred to get off and
walk rather than travel through a tunnel behind a 'steam monster' *
Branwell Bronte, errant brother of the literary sisters, dismissed
for constant carelessness at a Calder Valley station * The
magnificent Huddersfield station - a stately home with trains * The
Midland Railway with almost eight miles of tunnel between Sheffield
and Manchester * Inferno in a tunnel when a derailed tanker train
caught fire and temperatures reached 1,500 degrees C. * The superb
new Woodhead tunnel with its electric services that closed to
passengers after only 16 years
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
