Speaker event: ‘Lyme Billy - did Beeching get it wrong?’
Tuesday 5 November 2024 - 6.45pm
George Hotel, Axminster
The closure of the Axminster to Lyme Regis Railway and others in the area was a devastating blow to many. It brought to an end one of the most romantic eras in local history and one that many still talk about. But was the wholesale Beeching closure of lines in this area an economic inevitability or was it in reality based on figures that were ‘fiddled’, poor marketing and short sightedness? Colin Divall, Professor Emeritus of Railway Studies at the University of York and former Head of the Institute of Railway Studies is one of the most authoritative people you could ask. He has kindly accepted an invitation to come and talk in Axminster and to do so free of charge so that we have an opportunity to raise funds.
To book your seat please email fortheloveofarailway@gmail.com.
Tickets: £15 (includes buffet)
COLIN DIVALL
Colin Divall’s main research interests are in the history of transport and mobility, the history of technology (particularly in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries), and the public histories of both of these fields. He is a member of the editorial board of the International Journal for the History of Engineering and Technology and was on the board of the Journal of Transport History from 1997 to 2015. He was until recently a contributing editor of Technology and Culture and until 2013 a Vice President of the International Association for the History of Transport, Traffic and Mobility (T2M). He is a member of the Institute of Railway Studies run jointly with the National Railway Museum, and also of York Management School’s Centre for Evolution of Global Business and Institutions.
Bingo for Lyme Billy
Friday 18 October 2024 - 8pm (bar from 7pm)
Axminster Town FC
Enjoy a great evening of bingo while supporting us in our mission to revive the legend of the Axminster to Lyme Regis Railway. We are hugely grateful to Axminster Town Football Club for allowing the money raised from this bingo evening to our cause, and also to our own Terry Guppy (a former fireman who worked on the Axminster to Lyme Regis line) for organising it for us. We are also lining up some tasty raffle prizes. So the evening could be an all round ‘win’ for you!
Location: Axminster Town FC, Tiger Way, Chard Road, Axminster EX13 5HN