HORACE HORSCROFT 1844-1928 LUGGAGE LABELLER Horace was born at 5 Rock Cottages in Tonbridge in 1844. His father being a carman, a deliveryman. By the age of 17 Horace had worked briefly as a butcher b...

FANNY CHEESEMAN 1818-1893 EXPLOSIVE POWDER MAKER It’s rumoured that Guy Fawkes’s explosives came from an unauthorised maker in Battle. It wasn’t until the late 1600s that official powdermaking l...

HENRY WEST 1829-1880s RAILWAY CARRIER & MESSENGER Henry West, son of Henry West, was born in Speldhurst west of Tonbridge in 1829 and as a boy, certainly of 12 and into his 20s Henry was labouring...

ISABEL TARRANT 1905-1986 PLATFORM GIRL Born in Reigate in 1905, Isabel was one of six children of Amelia née White, a cane chair re-seater and Sampson Tarrant, a glass and china riveter – repai...

JOHN TOWES 1872-1970 ENGINE TIMEKEEPER John Charles Towes, was the son of Martha and William Towes, a railway fireman and later engine driver. John was one of seven children born to them at 15 Garland...

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A racecourse, a ‘Royal Racecourse’ at Ascot was first established in 1711 by Queen Anne. With the coming of the railways Ascot station opened in 1856, welcoming its first race-goers by railway in ...

All systems go for our Rail Fair 200 event at Lewes Town Hall on 1st Aug. We have had a great response from Network Rail, all five of our train operating companies and no fewer that 34 stall holders. ...

ISAMBARD KINGDOM BRUNEL 1806-1859 WINDSOR RAILWAY BRIDGE, opened to rail traffic in 1849 designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for the Great Western Railway line. It’s the oldest surviving wrought iro...