New book (Update)

Book Cover - BTP by Malcom Clegg
BTP by Malcom Clegg

Malcolm Clegg advises that his new book: “British Transport Police – A definitive history of the early years and subsequent development”, which was due to be released on 30th October was released early on 4th October 2022. It is available to purchase now.

For those of you who took advantage of the pre-order discount from Amazon, at the time of writing this blogpost Amazon are still showing the release date of 30/10/22. Not doubt this will be amended once Amazon receive deliveries of the new book.

For more details see our original blogpost: British Transport Police – A definitive history of the early years and subsequent development

Thanks also to BTPHG member Derick Brown, who advised us that he received his copy in the post today.

New Book

Another new BTP related book has been placed on our Virtual Bookshelf.

This time from our very own Secretary, Bill Rogerson M.B.E.

Old Bill

Old Bill’s Tales of the Railway Old Bill

Forty Nine Years of Working for the British Transport Police (1971 – 2020)

Description:

“Interested in the reality of policing? Interested in railways? The heart-warming tale of the life of a British Transport Police Officer and steadfast community worker. Bill looks back at his 49 years working with the British Transport Police working as a warranted officer, a civilian and a volunteer, which was sometime humorous and sometimes serious. Unlike a lot of police related stories, Bill’s is not one of high-speed car chases, high level drug busts, shooting bank robbers and the like, but details the everyday life of an ordinary railway copper, policing Britain’s railways in England, Scotland Wales and on the high seas to Ireland, along with a couple of trips to the Netherlands. There are some gentle humorous memoirs from Bill contained in the book including his experiences of teaching well over one million school children on the dangers of the railway. Why not purchase the book to relive Bill’s tales.”

The book is available to purchase now from Amazon.

This is not Bill’s first book, having co-authored two books – ‘Police Dog Heroes‘ and ‘The Hooligans Are Still Among Us‘ – with Michael Layton.

 

New BTP related book

Nineteenth Century Railway Crime and Policing

A new addition to the BTPHG virtual Bookshelf has been made.

BTPHG member and BTP History Writer, Malcolm Clegg, who has researched and written several articles for our newsletter History Lines has recently published a history of railway crime and policing in the nineteenth century.

From the publisher’s website: ‘A fascinating historical insight into the role played by the early railway policemen and the types of crime which they encountered. Their endeavour to maintain law and order whilst at the same time performing operational duties to keep the railways running.’

BookShelf

img_0203In recent years there has been a marked uptake in books published about or featuring the British Transport Police, mainly by retired officers and – I’m pleased to report – by BTPHG members.

To that extent, and in order to keep track, a new webpage seemed to be called for to chronicle this new phenomenon. Not to forget the older volumes either, of course!

So, in the column on the right you will now see BookShelf, which will take you to the new page.

And continuing on that theme, Graham Satchwell’s book, An Inspector Recalls: Memoirs of a Railway Detective, was prominently featured in a recent Guardian newspaper article on the increasing trend of police reminiscences: Police memoirs: how officers are making crime pay

The Railway Policeman’s Casebook

Railway Policeman's Casebook
The Railway Policeman’s Casebook

A new BTP related book is to be published on the 15th September 2015.

Written by BTPHG member Richard Stacpoole-Ryding, author of The British Transport Police: An Illustrated History.

From the book jacket:

“The opportunity to commit crime on the railways began from the day they were being built. The crimes both mirrored the range of those committed outside and existed in a microcosm of their own. It was the work of the various railway company police forces and predecessor forces to investigate and bring to justice the perpetrators. This book takes us back from the very early days of railway policing to the halcyon days of the 1940s to the 1980s when policing methods, image and perception were reflected in television series such as Dixon of Dock Green, Z Cars and The Bill. The cases in the book are authentic and reported by investigating officers from the age of steam locomotives, stations, goods yards, left luggage offices and dining cars, and those nostalgic images of railways. They bring to life the devious and clever methods devised by criminals to obtain success in their activities and how they were thwarted by the railway policeman.

Here, then, is a fascinating and diverse collection of cases from a past era that were committed in a unique environment and solved by a body of dedicated and highly trained officers of the railway police.”

It is available in paperback to pre-order from all good booksellers and internet sites, including direct from the publishers Amberley Publishing (special pre-order price of £9.74) and Amazon.

Police Dog Heroes

Police Dog Heroes
Police Dog Heroes (Front Cover)

Another new BTP related book has recently been published.

Written by two retired BTP officers and BTPHG members, Mike Layton and our very own Bill Rogerson (BTPHG Secretary), it collects stories of the railway police dogs and their handlers.

From the book jacket:

“The British Transport Police became the first Police Force in the UK to establish a dog section when Airedale terriers began to patrol the docks of Hull in 1908. Since then, dogs from the force have served in two world wars, aided police in combatting terror attacks, and hunted down countless criminals.

Here, Layton and Rogerson trace the history of these faithful servants and bring us over forty thrilling, shocking, and sometimes humorous firsthand recollections from retired officers and handlers who fought crime and protected the public alongside man’s best friend. As those on the wrong side of the law become ever more sophisticated in their methods, the dogs have kept pace, and today form a key part in the fight against drugs and terror on the rail network.

Included here are accounts of such atrocities as the Lockerbie bombing and the 2005 terror attack in London, where the heroic actions of these unsung heroes of the force and their handlers were epitomised by BTP police dog Vinnie, recipient of the PDSA Gold Medal – the animal equivalent of the George Cross.”

It is available in paperback from all good booksellers and internet sites, including direct from the publishers Amberley Publishing and Amazon.

An Inspector Recalls: Memoirs of a Railway Detective

An Inspector Recalls

Another new BTP related book has recently been published.

It is a personal memoir written former BTP officer Graham Satchwell.

 

This is how he describes it:

“Several books describe the organisation and structure of the BTP. But how many have told the inside story?

My book gives a fresh perspective on policing the railways in Britain from the 1960’s to the 1990’s and describes the internal workings of the Force against a backdrop of significant crime.

The style is light and self-deprecating, and so far as the topics allow, amusing.

The publishers describe the book as ‘laughing out loud funny’ and say it provides, ‘dollops of humour, painful truth and a true description of the macho policing culture of the time.’

In any event it starts with a description of my cheating to pass the police entrance examination, aged 18, and ends with my being refused permission to leave the force upon reaching retirement age!

I describe my involvement in dealing with serious and not so serious matters (e.g. train robberies, corporate manslaughter, child abduction, terrorism, bomb threats, police corruption, the odd politician and even The Queen, drunks, vagrants and petty thieves). It also covers my periods in uniform, at Tadworth, my time at university and whilst on the staff of the Police Staff College.

Most of all it is a book about people – mostly you! For whilst it is a personal account, it is also the story of every officer who served during that period.

As you will know, this is the first book by a senior British Transport Police detective about personal experiences investigating railway crime.”

 

It is available in hardcover from all good booksellers and certain internet sites, including Amazon, from which a Kindle version is also available.

To accompany the book Graham has a website – GrahamSatchwell.com and he recently gave this interview to a local TV channel:

Tracking the Hooligans: The History of Football Violence on the UK Rail Network

Tracking the Hooligans
Tracking the Hooligans

Another new BTP related book has recently been published.

It is written former BTP officers by Mike Layton and Alan Pacey.

From the cover:

“On an average Saturday, some thirty trains carried police escorts of between two and eight officers. Officers sometimes reached the destination with their uniforms soiled with spittle, and other filth, burnt with cigarette ends, or slashed.’

Charting the history of violent acts committed by football hooligans on the British rail network and London Underground, numerous retired police officers offer a frightening, and often humorous, insight into how they battled ‘the English disease’. Recalling incidents of random, mindless violence, as well as organised acts carried out by some of the country’s top hooligan firms, the authors document the times where nothing but a truncheon and the power of speech stood between order and chaos.

Exploring a period of fifty years, retired officers Michael Layton and Alan Pacey pay particular attention to the turbulent and dangerous times faced by the police in the 1970s and 1980s, when hooliganism in the United Kingdom was at its peak, as well as exploring more recent instances of disorder. Tracking the Hooligans is an essential account of the uglier side of the beautiful game, and a fitting tribute to those who gave their time, and sometimes their lives, keeping the public safe.”

It is available in paperback from all good booksellers and certain internet sites, including Amazon, from which a Kindle version is also available..

The British Transport Police: An Illustrated History

BTP Illustrated History

After months of waiting we are pleased to announce that the new book is published this week on Thursday 15th October 2015.

Written by BTPHG member Richard Stacpoole-Ryding, and assisted by fellow members Ed Thompson and Rob Davison, it draws from the rich photographic history of the BTP and its forebears. We thank Richard and his team for all their hard work. This is the first book on the history of the force since Pauline Appleby’s ‘A Force on the Move: The Story of the British Transport Police, 1825-1995’, published twenty years ago.

From the book jacket:

“The British Transport Police has the most diverse history of any police force in the world. It can trace its origins back to 1826, and is made up from over 240 railway, dock and canal forces. Early railway companies maintained their own police forces, but following the First World War these smaller companies were amalgamated into four large companies. In 1948 following the nationalisation of the transport infrastructure the force took responsibility for policing the railways, ports and canals as the British Transport Commission Police, the first national police force in the United Kingdom. The BTC was dissolved in 1963 but the force remained as the British Transport Police.

From the beginning the force has been at the forefront of policing innovation such as being the first force to use dogs, employing women as uniformed officers, the introduction of a computerised crime reporting procedure and the first to use technology to arrest a murder suspect. Although diminished in size and areas of responsibility since privatisation of the UK transport infrastructure, the force has moved with the demands of modern policing. This book is an illustrated history of this unique force working to keep the travelling public safe.”

Richard Stacpoole-Ryding served in the British Transport Police (1972 – 1979), before pursuing a career in H. M. Prison Service. He has been published in military and medal journals at home and abroad and had the book ‘Maiwand: The Last Stand of the 66th (Berkshire) Regiment at Afghanistan 1880’ (History Press), published in 2008.

The book has a RRP of £14.99, but is currently available direct from the publishers Amberley Publishing at £13.49*. It is also available from Amazon, and can be ordered from as they say ‘all good book shops’.

*History Group members have already been advised on how to order this book at a special discount.