This month we complete the postings of Bill Rogerson’s (3 part) article on The Chester and Holyhead Railway and The Britannia Bridge, charting the history of the railway and bridge that connects Anglesey to the mainland and the BTP’s involvement.
One of many that can be found in the Research section of the Historybank pages.
Robert Davison has been appointed as a BTP History Writer, for his continued hard work as a researcher and writer on the history of BTP related matters.
Viv Head reports: “Rob has researched and written for the History Lines newsletter and the BTPHG Year Book over a number of years. He is also a regular contributor to the NARBTPO Retired Lines newsletter with his BTP related history column The Way We Were. Most recently he has been part of research team for the Federation100 project which he has approached with his usual high degree of dedication. He has also now taken over as Editor of the History Group’s Year Book.”
Rob’s appointment was announced in the June edition of the History Lines newsletter.
We are pleased to announce that the History Group have now added to our Social Media presence, so now in addition to the Facebook page we have now joined Twitter.
So if you are a Twitter user, why not try out our new service; and don’t forget to click on the follow button to catch our latest tweets.
Taken only three years before the start of the First World War, one can only wonder what happened to these young men. Accompanied by the London and South Western Railway Constable, an image captured over 100 years ago.
This photo was identified by BTPHG member, and former committee member, Ian Oliver.
LSWR staff Southampton, 1911 is just one of many to be found in our photo gallery.
In a new entry in the StoryBank section, our Secretary, Bill Rogerson shares his memories of being posted to Heysham Harbour in the late 1970’s.
Link: Memories of Heysham Harbour
StoryBank is one of four sections in HistoryBank, which contains many items of interest to the history buff.
UPDATE (13/03/2020)
Message to Members from the Chairman, Viv Head:
“Dear All,
On behalf of the Chairman and committee, it is with considerable reluctance that the History Group has decided that it is in everyone’s best interest to cancel the AGM as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic.
We do not intend to re-arrange a date – any AGM issues that need to be addressed will be dealt with separately.
Regards to you all and I hope that you and your families remain untouched by this world-wide outbreak.
Viv”
An email has been sent to Members.
We hope to see you next year.
Original posting:
Our 2020 Annual General Meeting will be held on Monday 30th March at The Old Joint Stock Pub & Theatre, 4, Temple Row West, Birmingham, commencing at 12.30 hours.
Please note this is a new venue for the AGM!
The pub is a 7 or 8 minute walk from New Street Station, exit Stephenson Street, across the Metro tracks up Temple Street towards the Cathedral. Temple St West and the venue is directly opposite the entrance to the Cathedral. (map).
A buffet will be provided free of charge. All members are welcome but you do need to let Bill Rogerson know at least two weeks beforehand so that food can be ordered appropriately.
Please note, the AGM will not be the day before the NARBTPO AGM this year.
This is the one opportunity in the year when group members have the chance to meet up and chat historically, topically or just plain sociably.
Hope to see you there.
The History Group was recognised in this years Citizens in Policing Awards at a special ceremony held at Islington Town Hall, London on 24th February 2020. The Chief Constable, Paul Crowther, CBE presented a Certificate of Special Recognition to John Owen representing the Group.
The Citation reads:
“The BTP History Group are the recipients for the Volunteer Special Recognition award 2020. The history group have worked incredibly hard over the past few years to ensure the history of BTP is preserved. The team have travelled the length of the country to take recorded interviews with past and present members of staff and they have recorded details of some wonderful BTP memories. To collect the award to celebrate their dedication, commitment and enthusiasm on behalf of the group is John Owen”.
Citizens in Policing is vital to the work that BTP does and the awards are be an opportunity to formally recognise the excellent work that has been completed in the following categories:
Special Constable Supervisor of the Year
Special Constable Certificate of Achievement 5 years in Service
Special Constable Certificate of Achievement Independent Patrol
RSAS Team of the Year
RSAS Member of the Year
Best Cadet Leader
Best Cadet B Division
Best Cadet C Dvision
Volunteer of the Year
Volunteer Special Recognition
Outstanding commitment to an Independent Advisory or Scrutiny Group
Chaplain or Rail Pastor Special Recognition
The History Group were recently invited to attend the BTP’s Make the Difference Awards at the breathtaking Drapers’ Hall in the City of London. Glyn Thomas has written us his account of the ceremony here: Make the Difference
This is just one of many articles available in our HistoryBank.
Time for our occasional reminder that in the ‘Pages’ column to the right of the screen we have a link called ‘Website Updates’.
Unsurprisingly this links to the Website Updates page. If you are a regular visitor to the site it’s a handy page to look at to see what new articles and items of interest have been added to the website recently.
Of course smaller items, such as photographs in the Photo Gallery, are being added all the time – so it’s still worth having a look around the site to see what you might find!
The Chief Constable of British Transport Police has been awarded a C.B.E. in Her Majesty The Queen’s 2020 New Year Honours list.
Paul Crowther has worked for BTP for 40 years and has served as its Chief Constable for the last five years.
His long career has seen him work on numerous incidents, ranging from the King Cross fire and the Potters Bar train crash, to more recently, presiding over the response to terror attacks that have struck Manchester and London.
Throughout his service he has made clear his determination to keep the national rail network safe and secure as well as supporting victims of crime and the vulnerable. He has been awarded the CBE for a substantial contribution to UK policing and his unwavering focus on keeping more than 3 billion passenger journeys safe each year.
Chief Constable Paul Crowther CBE, said: “It has been the greatest honour to serve BTP for the past forty years, and to be the Chief since 2014. Throughout my time at the force, I have seen staff and officers across all ranks tackle and overcome such enormous challenges. Not only have they responded to acts of terrorism, or witnessed devastating scenes following train crashes, they’ve also brought violent offenders to justice and helped protect vulnerable people from harm.
“While this is an individual award, it is clear to me that this honour is shared amongst all the hard working men and women at BTP who carry out tremendous work every day. As we welcome in 2020, I would like to thank those officers and staff for their dedicated service and wish them and their families a very happy New Year.”
Source: BTP
Paul Crowther was previously awarded an O.B.E. in 2014.
The Honours, Decorations and Medals table has been updated.
