Social Evening Talks 2008
At The White Horse, Pleshey, Near Chelmsford

 

Social Evening Talk   January 9th
Entertainment at this Social Evening was provided by the EATES President and Chairman, father and son, Robert and Michael Pumfrey of Little Chesterford. They showed DVD clips of engines and personnel that had been shot from the 1960's onward, mainly by the late Steve Neville.
   They also showed pictures of of their various ancestors and their engines and tackle that they owned. This whetted the appetite for the new book that is being produced for the Club by Pat Freeman and Robert Pumfrey entitled 'A Hundred Golden Sovereigns' detailing the Pumfrey family history.
   The 25 members and friends thoroughly enjoyed the evening and it is hoped to arrange another talk to be given at the next social evening which takes place on February 13th.

 

Social Evening Talk   February 13th

Entertainment at this Social Evening was provided by Derek Legg. He showed sequences of a steam event which he took in Holland in 2006. Also shown were films he took at the 1981 South Woodham Rally and the 1983 Long Melford Rally.

   These two latter showings were especially enjoyed by several of the 30 or so EATES members and friends who had been present at these events. The EATES chairman, Michael Pumfrey, was pleased to see himself on the screen, attending the Long Melford Rally when he was 4 years old.

   The event in Holland was the Dort in Stoom or Dortrecht Steam Festival and was much appreciated for the coverage shown of the many applications of steam power. Several of those present could not help remarking that if such an event took place in the UK, our Health and Safety officials might have asked a few questions!

   Pat Freeman announced that at the next Social Evening, on March 12th, Brian Bourn, who joined EATES in  1963, will be giving an illustrated talk on the Liverpool to Manchester Railway which was the first inter-city railway in the world.

 

Social Evening Talk   March 12th

Brian Bourn's talk at the Social Evening of the 12^th March centred on the construction of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway - the world’s first Inter-City railway.

   He started by saying that the success of the Stockton & Darlington line was the incentive to consider the build and operation of a double-track standard gauge railway line between Liverpool and Manchester.

   The first survey for this was carried out in c1821 and the first purchase of land was in 1826. Brian spoke about the problems that were encountered in obtaining the necessary Parliamentary Act passed and the magnitude of the engineering works needed. These included the Wapping Tunnel in Liverpool, the Olive Mount Cutting, the Sankey Viaduct and the Chat Moss crossing.

 

         

 

 

   Brian pointed out how the pioneering success of the Liverpool and Manchester line affected the use of steam locomotives on a long ( 30 miles or over ) main-line railway and emphasised the part played by Henry Booth, the Company's Secretary and Treasurer, who was the leading partner in the ’Rocket’ and the inventor of its multi-tubular boiler.

   A colour slide was shown of the Iron Duke, one of the last steam locomotives to be built, in 1951, for the railways of Great Britain. It was generally agreed it was symbolic that it was the Duke of Wellington, known as The Iron Duke, who had formally opened the Liverpool and Manchester Railway about 120 years earlier, in 1830.

   During the interval of the talk, necessary of course to re-load the glasses, Brian played a recording of a short talk by Reginald Gardiner on steam railways which was eccentric but full of humour.

   The President of the East Anglian Traction Society, Robert Pumfrey, thanked Brian for the talk which had been well received by the many members and friends present.