BTPHG member Mike Joyce found this interesting piece in the Edinburgh Evening news from Saturday 14th August 1920.

The accompanying text reads:

“POLICEWOMEN AT RAILWAY STATIONS.
The Caledonian Company is the first in Great Britain to employ policewomen in railway service, and our photograph is of one at the Central Station, Glasgow. Ladies travelling on the railways know how objectionable it is to have rub shoulders with undesirable characters who may have escaped the observation of the male staff on the platforms and who loiter and the waiting rooms with no intention travelling by the train services, although they provide themselves with tickets give them a footing in the waiting rooms, and the difficulty eradicating this element is one which has been receiving the attention of the railway authorities. The Caledonian Company have instituted a staff of women police and secured the services a number of women who have been trained for the Women’s National Police Service and who have had practical experience among women in munition and military centres, and who are, therefore, specially suited for this work. These women police will be able to identify and clear out any objectionable female characters who may make use of the waiting rooms the stations however well they may be attired to give them the air of respectability.”

We know, of course, that these were not the first policewomen on the railways in Great Britain, many having served in WWI (see Police Women on the Railways).

However, this may be the first recorded instance of a railway company recruiting females during peacetime. Also interesting that they were using officers who had experience working during the war.

See other examples of early policewomen in our Photo Gallery.

In response to our request for Royal Anecdotes, Len Causton has written an article about his time with the Royal Train in the 1970s.

You can find it here: Memories of the Royal Train. Just one of many articles in StoryBank.

If you have any anecdotes, stories, or even fancy writing an article you can contact us at any time.

Inspired by some entries in BTP related Facebook groups, we thought it might be a good idea to collect any anecdotes members might have about meeting the Queen or other incidents related to the Royal Family whilst on duty. These could be humorous, but it would also be good to capture the more serious side as well, planning, the cordons, working with other forces, etc. All these would be good to have in the archives, and we can put a selection on the website. Anything from the sixties or even the fifties would be great.

Of course, if you have something more substantial to relate, we always welcome the submission of articles for the website or our publications – History Lines or the Year Book.

You can make your submissions in the comments below, or use the Contact form, or you can add to the post on our Facebook page.

Thanks to Colin Sinclair for the suggestion.

British Transport Police – A definitive history of the early years and subsequent development

Another new BTP related book joins the virtual BookShelf this month.

Retired BTP officer and BTP History Writer, Malcolm Clegg, gets his second entry on the shelf. This time looking at the force history.

The book is published in hardback, by Pen & Sword Books. The RRP is £25.00, available from the publisher and all good book shops, but Amazon are selling it with a 12% special discount introductory offer for £22.00.

The book is due to be released on 30^th October 2022. It can be pre-ordered now. Kindle and ePub eBook versions will also be available in January 2023.

Malcolm says: “The book which consists of 256 pages, is quite comprehensive and traces the history of the BTP from its roots in 1826 right through to the present day. It should be of particular interest for both serving and retired staff of the BTP.”

Malcolm Clegg had a thirty year career as a Constable and Sergeant in the British Transport Police. The majority of his service was spent both in Uniformed and CID policing of the railways and docks at Newport, Cardiff and Swansea. He spent ten years in London, stationed at Paddington, Liverpool Street, Stratford and on the London Underground. His final years were spent working as a Detective Sergeant in Swansea, investigating crimes in South and West Wales.

After his retirement, he became an active member of the British Transport Police History Group. He has carried out extensive research on behalf of the group and has written a number of articles. He has written four other books entitled: Nineteenth Century Railway Crime and Policing, British Steam Locomotives before Preservation, The Last Days of British Steam, and LMS and LNER Steam Locomotives.

Also see: J.R. Whitbread Uncovered

On Monday 18^th July 2022 BTPHG and BTP signed a Memorandum of Understanding outlining the relationship between the group and the force. It marks an important stage in the development of the BTPHG and comes about after years of work by members of the group (and especially the founding members) to demonstrate to the force that BTPHG is a serious partner when it comes to preserving the history of railway, dock and canal policing. The MOU covers issues such as the provision of accommodation for our archive, joint working with BTP Records Management and Learning and Development departments and how data will be handled. The Chief Constable was very open to the creation of an MOU and ensured that discussions about the content were speedily processed. We are especially grateful to the Chief of Staff at FHQ (Steff Sharp) for all her work to get a form of words that is both meaningful and helpful. More information will appear in the next edition of History Lines.

Philip Trendall (Chair)