Website Updates

Welcome to the Website Updates page.Blue lamp

If you are a regular visitor to the site this a handy page to look at to see what new articles and items of interest have been added to the website.

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 following articles have recently been added to the website:

January / March 2022

Honours, Decorations & Medals table: Added Detective Sergeant Andrew James ‘Andy’ Winters Q.P.M.  – Congratulations to him;
Research: The Oldest Railway Policeman? Phil Trendall looks at Police Superintendent James Wright…..
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

October / December  2021

Research: The Murder of Mary Money, 1905 – W.O. Gay looks back at an unsolved murder;
Blog: Retired BTP Sergeant and BTPHG member Henry Wreathall had his 100th birthday in October and gave an interview to the Hull Daily Mail;
StoryBank: A celebration was held by former colleagues of Henry at Cottingham and we have updated Henry Wreathall’s Gallery with a picture from that event;
Research: A recently discovered obituary for Detective J.C Morris of L&NWR, published in 1919;
Research: As a companion piece to The Headscarf Revolutionaries (mentioned below), we feature Hell Hath No Fury, a contemporarily written article from the BTP Journal in 1969, written by PCs Bielby and Edson, from Hull Docks.
Research: The Chester and Holyhead Railway and The Britannia Bridge, In an update to Part 3, Bill Rogerson adds a photo from the National Railway Museum;
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

July / September  2021

Research:  The Murder of Detective Sergeant Robert Kidd, 1895 – Phil Trendall updates his 1995 article in time for 126th anniversary of the murder;
Roll of Honour (Line of Duty): added PC Thomas Baker (d.1855) of the North London Railway Police and PC Thomas Wilson (d.1865) of the North Eastern Railway Police;
in the In Remembrance section: added Communications Officer / Retired PC Steve Woodcock, who died in September 2021 from the effects of Coronavirus (Covid-19);
and in the ‘BTP officers killed on duty after having transferred to another force’ section: added Reginald Keith Pickles (d.1965), thanks to Mike Kent for notifying us;
Research: The Mystery of the Bloody Jacket – Long time BTP historian Kevin Gordon looks at the mystery concerning the earliest recorded death on duty of a railway policeman;
The Headscarf Revolutionaries – John Higgins documents the historic events of 1968 at Hull Docks;
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

May / June 2021

Honours, Decorations & Medals table: Added Chief Constable Lucy D’Orsi Q.P.M. and Chief Superintendent Dennis Murray Q.P.M., – Congratulations to them both; also see StoryBank article;
BAME Research: A profile of Guy Williamson;
Added Grimsby Docks and Grimsby Rail to Police Posts table, thanks to Derick Brown for the information;
StoryBank: Memories of the Post Office Investigation Branch – Harry Wynne – BTPHG Ambassador for the North East recalls his time with the POIB;
Research: “The Cry of Distress is the Summons to Relief”, Phil Trendall looks back at the Lewisham Train Crash (1957);
John James – An officer of the British Transport Commission Police and a Veteran of the Great War – Dan Tanner traces the story of an officer whose medals he came to own;
Admin: Following on from our previous notice (below), we have now updated the Privacy Policy to comply with UK GDPR;
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

March / April 2021

Blog: New Chief Constable in situ…..
History of Women in BTP – the BTP launches a media campaign to celebrate Women’s History Month;
Blog: Ex BTP officer, Fraser Sampson, appointed as Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner;
HistoryBank: A new research project is launched: Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic History;
BAME Research: John Kent – The First Black Police Officer: Maryport & Carlisle;
BAME Research: A profile of Keith Jarrett;
Research: BTP Terms; Tony Bennett has compiled a list of terms used within BTP and the railway over the years…..
Also see Railway Terms and Graffiti Terms;
Admin: Due to changes in data protection law we have posted a temporary update to our Privacy Policy;
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

January / February 2021

StoryBank: Chief Constable Paul Crowther retires, on the week of his retirement a presentation marking his 40 years of service was held at FHQ…..
Honours, Decorations & Medals table: Added Deputy Chief Constable Adrian Hanstock Q.P.M. – Congratulations to him;
BookShelf: Added ‘Old Bill’s Tales of the Railway Old Bill – Forty Nine Years of Working for the British Transport Police’ by Bill Rogerson M.B.E.;
Research: The Female Police Association Chief Inspector Melissa Cunningham, Chair of the Female Police Association, gives an overview of this BTP network;
StoryBank:20th Anniversary of the Great Heck Rail Crash, Tony Thompson provides details of the two live streamed commemorative events;
History Group AGM cancelled – due to the Coronavirus outbreak we had to cancel the AGM and committee meeting for the second year running;
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

November / December 2020

Blog: Announcement from BTPA that D.A.C. Lucy D’Orsi (Met) appointed BTP Chief Constable from Feb 2021;
BookShelf: Added ‘Operation Cabinet – The Inside Story’ by Paul Kenyon;
Research: History of the LGBT+ Support Network, Barry Boffy looks at origins of this BTP support group;
Research: The Jewish Police Association, the 2020 issue of the BTP JPA newsletter gives some insight into the association’s history and activities;
Research: As part of our recent look at the various Support Groups within the BTP, we highlight the Christian Police Association;
Research: The National Police Autism Association, John Nelson, Chair of the National Police Autism Association gives a quick history of the NPAA in BTP;
Roll of Honour (Line of Duty): more research has added an additional eight names to the list;
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

September / October 2020

Research: The Chester and Holyhead Railway and The Britannia Bridge, In Part 3, Bill Rogerson completes his story of the Britannia Bridge;
Honours, Decorations & Medals table: Added DCI Kate Forsyth, Q.P.M., DCI Gary Richardson, Q.P.M., O.B.E., Elizabeth McWHIRTER M.B.E., and CC Carl FOULKES, Q.P.M. – Congratulations to them all;
Roll of Honour (Line of Duty): completed a major update to the table and biography document;
Research: The Great Train Robbery of 1867, Nick Fleetwood details events that occurred on the North Eastern Railway;
Posters: Updated the BTPHG A4 promotional poster to the latest version, thanks to Viv Head for the design;
Behind the scenes: Fixed software problem (for now) that affected the usability of several plug-ins, including the photo gallery and tables, which had been caused by a WordPress update;
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

August 2020

StoryBank: A Rookie Police Instructors Tale!, Paul Robb recalls his early days as an Instructor;
Newsletter: The History of the BTP Scenes of Crime Department, Martin Thurston recalls the early days of SOCO…..
StoryBank: Stansted Airport, Steve Daly recalls the BTP post and an incident on a train…..
Research: Her Unfinished Journey: The Murder of Mrs Janet Mary Maddocks (1985), BTP Journal article from 1986;
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

June / July 2020

Research: The Chester and Holyhead Railway and The Britannia Bridge, In Part 2, Bill Rogerson looks at the Britannia Bridge;
BTP History Writer: Rob Davision has been appointed as a BTP History Writer;
Research: Peter Betts shares a couple of images of a 1930s era Ericsson AC400 telephone from Southampton Docks;
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

April / May 2020

Research: A Short History of Policing at Newport (Monmouthshire) Harbour and Docks – Viv Head looks at the history of this force;
Roll of Honour (Line of Duty): added PC’s John Maule (d.1868), William Nash (d.1855), and Alfred Rodaway (d.1864), all of the Newport Harbour Commission Police,
and in the Remembrance section: added DC John Coker, who died in April 2020 from the effects of Coronavirus (Covid-19);
Research: The Chester and Holyhead Railway and The Britannia Bridge In Part 1, Bill Rogerson looks at the history of the railway;
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

February / March 2020

Storybank: Memories of Heysham Harbour – Bill Rogerson remembers his posting to Heysham Harbour;
History Group AGM cancelled – due to the Coronavirus outbreak we had to cancel the AGM and committee meeting;
BTP Citizens in Policing Awards – HG Treasurer John Owen accepted the Volunteer Special Recognition Award 2020 on behalf of the Group;
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

December 2019 / January 2020

Honours, Decorations & Medals table: Added Chief Constable Paul Crowther O.B.E., C.B.E. – Congratulations to him;
HistoryBank: Back to the Future: The Historical Perspective of Collaborative Railway Policing Peter McAndie (BTP Aberdeen) looks at the history of the railway police in Scotland against the backdrop of the formation of the The Scottish Railways Policing Committee;
Roll of Honour (Line of Duty) in the the ‘Non Railway Police officers killed on duty on the railway’ table, added PC Richard Pace of the Edinburghshire Constabulary, killed during a riot of railway navvies in 1846;
Newsletter: British Transport Police – Make the Difference Awards 2019 Glyn Thomas reports from this years ceremony;
Research: The BTP in Northern Ireland – Robert Davison shares his research on the railway police in Northern Ireland;
Together with additional photos in the gallery, including 3 photos of the Southampton Tug of War Team in the Sports & Social gallery.

October / November 2019

Roll of Honour (Second World War) Additional names and causes of death added, and an accompanying PDF giving more details is now available. Thanks to Ed Thompson for his continuing research.
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

August 2019

StoryBank: Ivor Kerslake’s gallery, Ivor’s family share some of his photos;
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

June / July 2019

StoryBank: The Hull and Barnsley, in a 1974 Journal article, Inspector Eugene Oliver traces the history of this railway.
Added the Railway Dogs Benevolent Fund to the Links page.
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

April / May 2019

Honours, Decorations & Medals table: Added Detective Inspector George Edward BEYNON B.E.M. and Inspector Thomas FAREY D.C.M. B.E.M. (both 1943) – thanks again to Glyn Thomas for his research;
Roll of Honour (Line of Duty): Added Albert Edward PICKEN (d.1911);
Police Dogs: PC Wardman commended for rescuing his police dog Jack at Hull Docks, 1926.
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

December 2018 / January 2019

Honours, Decorations & Medals table: Added PC Jessica Bullough, Q.P.M., William Bryden O.B.E., Richard Gill M.B.E., Alan Smith B.E.M., PCSO Lewis Brown B.E.M., PCSO Jon Morrey, B.E.M., and PC Mark Renshaw, B.E.M. – Congratulations to them all;
Roll of Honour (Second World War): Added Sydney Edward STOREY (d.1944). Thanks to Ed Thompson for his continued research;
Police Service Records: The forms and guidance have been updated to comply with GDPR. Make sure you are using the latest versions, available to download from the link (left);
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

August / September  2018

Honours, Decorations & Medals table: Added Hazel DAY M.B.E. and John McGARVIE M.B.E. (both 1994) – thanks again to Glyn Thomas for spotting this omission;
Roll of Honour (Line of Duty): There have been significant updates to this page, including a separate ‘In Remembrance’ table, and as a result of further research the number  ‘Non-Railway Officers killed on duty on the railway’ table has increased the number of officers recorded from four to eighty-one;
BookShelf: Added ‘Policing the West Country: 180 Years of Policing in Devon and Cornwall’ by Mark Rothwell;
Research: Robert Samuel Cowles, Steve Beamon examines a railway policeman from the early 20th century…..
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

June / July 2018

Honours, Decorations & Medals table: Added PC’s Wayne Marques G.M. and Leon McLeod Q.G.M. – Congratulations to them;
Storybank: Retired BTP officer receives the Legion d’honneur, William Tavendale, 97, receives his medal from the Consul General…..
Honours, Decorations & Medals table: Added Special Chief Officer Benjamin Clifford B.E.M. and retired PC Jim Rentell Q.P.M. – Congratulations to them;
Research: Policewomen on the Railways 1917 – 2017, a brief history of…..
Royal Humane Society: Added PC’s Maya Limbani (see ceremony photo) and Ian Gathercole;
StoryBank: The Great War: Peter Zieminski describes placing the BTP plaque at Ypres…..  (updated with photographs)
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

March / April 2018

Blog Update: The gravestone of Herbert John LAUGHLIN has now been amended, thanks to the work of Ed Thompson;
Police Dogs: PD Mojo and Pc Healy receive Humanitarian Award at Crufts 2018;
Royal Humane Society: Added PC’s George Carpenter, Hayden Elvidge and Jason Walters;
StoryBank: My Day’s Work: Detective Constable John Kightley writes about his work at Grimsby Docks in 1941…..
StoryBank: The Great War: Peter Zieminski describes placing the BTP plaque at Ypres…..
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

January / February 2018

Year Book: Images of the BTPHG Year Book covers;
Policing the Ports: Added Methil Docks in Fife, Scotland. Thanks to Bob Davison for spotting this omission;
Royal Humane Society: Added PC’s Steven Williams and James Chatfield;
Meritorious First Aid Awards: Added PC Thomas L. Roney (1955), thanks to Ed Thompson for finding this in the staff records;
Behind the scenes: Changed website and PayPal to reflect membership fee increase;
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

December 2017

Honours, Decorations & Medals table: Added Matthew Wratten Q.P.M. – Congratulations to him;
Research: House of Commons Library – Briefing Paper, a run down on the current state of the BTP;
Research: PC Arthur Tuley – the story behind the picture;
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

October / November 2017

Honours, Decorations & Medals table: Added Chris Webb M.B.E. (2011) – thanks again to Glyn Thomas for spotting this omission;
BookShelf: Added ‘Nineteenth Century Railway Crime and Policing’ by Malcolm Clegg;
StoryBank: Glyn Davies recalls, the reminiscences of an ex-Southampton Docks Officer;
Newsletter: 100 Years of Women in Policing, John Owen reports on the celebratory event;
StoryBank: Eastbourne Police Officer Recalls Storm, Rob Ekins is interviewed by his local newspaper;
Behind the scenes: Implemented the HTTPS (Secure) protocol across the website;
Behind the scenes: Changed the Guestbook software to a new WordPress plugin – now using Gwolle;
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

August / September 2017

Honours, Decorations & Medals table: Added Alan Parker Q.P.M. (1994) and Stephen Mannion Q.P.M. (1997) – thanks to Glyn Thomas for spotting these omissions,
and Amos Stuart Asquith, K Comm (King’s Commendation for Brave Conduct) (1942);
Added four historic entries to the Royal Humane Society Awards page – Paul Kazimierczyk, David Mudd, Julie Marshallsay & Jill Spencer.
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

June / July 2017

Honours, Decorations & Medals table: Added Alun Thomas Q.P.M. and Steve Greenwood B.E.M. – Congratulations to them both;
Newsletter: Augustine Conlon Added recent research by Steve Beamon.
Behind the scenes: Added Cookie Policy.
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

February / March 2017

Honours, Decorations & Medals table: Added Walter Wilson M.B.E. (1946), thank you to his family for bringing this to our notice;
and DCI Gordon Briggs Q.P.M. (2017), who joined BTP in 2016, having retired from the Metropolitan Police.
Research: Port of Achievement Film of Southampton during World War Two.
Newsletter: Zero to Hero
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

December 2016 / January 2017

Honours, Decorations & Medals table: Added Martin Fry Q.P.M. and Mark Walder B.E.M. – Congratulations to them both.
StoryBank: The Bullion Run Brian Gosden recalls the moving of gold bullion by train in the 1970’s…..
StoryBank: The Railway Police An article in The Police Review from 1920.
Projects: The more detailed Roll of Honour (First World War) PDF document has now been updated to include the amendments shown on November’s entry.
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

October / November 2016

Projects: The Roll of Honour (First World War) has been updated. Many thanks to Ed Thompson for the dedication he has put into this project.
Research: Montague Edwin Rousham Steve Beamon continues his examination of old photographs and discovers a sad tale…..
StoryBank: Lilian Daisy Gale  Another sad tale of our only female officer fatality…..
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

May / June 2016

Honours, Decorations & Medals table: Added Mark Smith M.B.E. – Congratulations to him.
Together with additional photos in the gallery, including three photos of Tadworth in 1995, after the completion of an extension and refurbishment of the main building. These were supplied by Peter Williams, the architect. Then of the GMW Partnership, now of wdpk architects limited.

March / April 2016

BTP History Writers: Congratulations to John Owen and Ed Thompson, who have been added to our own Hall of Fame.
Geoffrey Lawrence: Legion of Honour – blogpost amended and updated with photos.

January / February 2016

Together with additional photos in the gallery.

October / November 2015

StoryBank: PC Reuben Miller – the story behind the picture.
StoryBank: The Tadworth Plaque unveiling, another BTPHG project completed.
Behind the scenes: Added Google’s reCAPTCHA tool to the Contact forms.
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

August / September 2015

Newsletter: Promotion Exams
StoryBank: WPc Janet Barker – the story behind the picture.
Behind the scenes: Upgraded website software to WordPress 4.3 ‘Billie’.
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

June 2015

Honours, Decorations & Medals table: Added Detective Sergeant Steven SIMMONS Q.P.M. – Congratulations to him.
Photos of the original St. Cross boarding school in the Tadworth Collection, which now comprises four sub-albums.
There are now sufficient photos of the North Eastern Railway Police to give them their own sub-album within the Constituent Forces album.
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

April 2015

New photos of the housing development in the Tadworth gallery.
More artistic endeavours added to the Cartoons gallery.
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

March 2015

BTP History Writer: Congratulations to Malcolm Clegg, who has been added to our own Hall of Fame.
Projects: The BTP Journal Project has been completed and a DVD now available.
Projects: The Roll of Honour (First World War) has been updated and the accompanying PDF document has been completely re-written.
Projects: The Roll of Honour (Line of Duty) has been updated.
Research: The Force Crest

January 2015

StoryBank: Wipers Lines – a History Lines Special Edition
Added link to the First Railway Murder in Britain article to the Old Bailey transcript of Franz Muller’s trial.
Newsletter: The Great Storm, 1987. Part 2 (as published in HL), now consolidated as a single article.
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

December 2014

Research: Safe and Sound – Stories of Emergency Response in the Tees Valley, an appeal for stories and artefacts of policing…..
Newsletter: The Great Storm, 1987. Part 1.
Honours, Decorations & Medals table: Added Chief Superintendent David Charles Wildbore Q.P.M. – Congratulations to him.
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

November 2014

StoryBank: GWR Police Pocket Book / Warrant Card Holder, donated by Dick Evans.
Roll of Honour: Added list of Railway War Memorials, together with associated links.
Updated: Southampton Docks Police with a note on Harbour Master William Tubbs’ status.
Updated: Henry Wreathall’s gallery with two additional items and accompanying text.
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

September 2014

Behind the scenes:  Upgraded WordPress software to the latest version (4.0).
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

August 2014

StoryBank: PC Ronald Thackery – the story behind the picture
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

July 2014

Newsletter: Charles Albert Tyrell – the story behind the picture.
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

June 2014

Honours, Decorations & Medals table: Added DCI David Shiperlee Q.P.M. – Congratulations to him.
Research: Henry Walter Mustoe – the story behind the picture.
Blog Post: Added our support to the Letter to an Unknown Soldier project.
Blog post updated: The old Cambridge office finally closes.
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

May 2014

A new photo gallery has also been added in conjunction with the ongoing Census Project – featuring officers and staff from around the force. [Update: Oct 2014 – this gallery is now closed]
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

April 2014

StoryBank: The Respirex
Newsletter: Southampton Docks Police (part two) – second instalment (as published in HL), now consolidated as a single article.
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

March 2014

Newsletter: Southampton Docks Police (part two) – to tie in with David Caplehorn’s recent research we look back at his 2012 History Lines article.
A new photo sub-album has also been added – Tadworth -The demise of the chapel classroom – watch it come down, together with additional photos in the gallery.

January 2014

The WW1 Roll of Honour has been revised and updated.
Newsletter: Remembrance
Research: Honours and Awards (Part II)
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

October / November 2013

Two new Project Profile pages have been added: Status & Duties of the early railway policeman and the BTP Census Project.
Old Bailey Trials: David Grimwood – features our first example of a constable from the Lea Conservancy.
Research: Honours and Awards (Part I)
Dock Constable Thomas Flavell added to the Roll of Honour.
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

August / September 2013

I love it when a plan comes together* or in this case a Project.
A BTPHG Project has come to fruition this month as after two years Ed Thompson has completed his BTP Constituent Forces Project. Congratulations to him on a job well done.
Of course, Ed is already preparing to start his next project – more news soon.
A new photo gallery has also been added – Sports & Social collects together various extracurricular activities – much more to come.
Newsletter: Career Memories
Together with additional photos in the gallery.
                                                                                 *Col. John ‘Hannibal’ Smith, The A-Team

July 2013

Newsletter (Southampton Docks Police) Part 2 (as published in HL), now consolidated as a single article.
StoryBank (My Day’s Work)
Together with additional photos in the gallery and the BTP Authority added to links.

June 2013

Newsletter (Southampton Docks Police) Part 1
Photo Gallery – replaced photo of Sgt Betty Marshall with a higher resolution image.
Behind the scenes:
(1) Updated zoom feature in the photo gallery. This means that any new photographs can be enlarged to their true size by clicking on the image in the gallery. Older lower resolution photos will remain smaller, but where we have a higher resolution photo in the archive they will be replaced over time.
(2) Upgraded WordPress software to the latest version (3.5.2).
(3) Replaced the table management plug-in with the new ‘TablePress’, which should make the process simpler. There are currently 20 tables on the website.

May 2013

Old Bailey trials (William Hooker)
The Constituent Forces section in the gallery now has a sub-division for Portraits, plus new photographs added
More news in the updates to The closure of Tadworth?

April 2013

Old Bailey trials (John Harding)

February 2013

Newsletter (Wardens)

January 2013

Old Bailey trials (William Simpson)
New sections in the gallery featuring Vehicles and Tadworth

November 2012

Old Bailey trials (Ethel Courtien)

October 2012

Old Bailey trials (Thomas Cullum)
Newsletter (Docks and Canals)

September 2012

Old Bailey trials (James Johnson)
Newsletter (Southern Railway Police Vehicle), and the new owner of Tadworth revealed in updates for The closure of Tadworth?
Projects – exciting news on the Whitbread Shield / Keith Winter Cup Project
Together with additional photos in the gallery.

July 2012

Old Bailey trials (John Hall)
Newsletter (Down Memory Line)
Research (Arming the BTP)
Together with additional photos in the gallery and more links.

June 2012

Old Bailey trials (Jones & Fisher)
Newsletter (Memory Lane)
StoryBank (London Omnibus)