Southeast Communities Rail Partnership

Highlight of the week Awards for SCRP

September 26, 2025, by Fiona Morton

We were honoured to receive awards from Voluntary Action. This award reflects our engagement with a range of community organisations, schools & colleges to connect people to their railway. Crowbor...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaques: Charles ‘Monte Carlo̵...

July 31, 2025, by Michael Olden

CHARLES ‘MONTE CARLO’ WELLS 1841-1922 FRAUDSTER AND GAMBLER THE MAN WHO BROKE THE BANK AT MONTE CARLO IN 1891 Had to leave the London & Paris Hotel at Newhaven Harbour Station because of his r...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: James Carpenter

July 29, 2025, by Michael Olden

Station master at Twickenham When the very first ‘rugby special’ fast trains brought spectators from London to the new Rugby Union ground in 1909. The first Twickenham railway station opened in 18...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: James Priseman

, by Michael Olden

Market Gardener in Barnes One of many forced to sell or vacate land for the construction of the railways. In 1846 James got £40 compensation for his crops. In the early days of railway construction t...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Alfred W. Szlumper

, by Michael Olden

Chief Railway Engineer A resident of North Sheen, he rebuilt Richmond Bridge, Feltham goods yard and reconstructed Waterloo Station in 1915 Born in Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire 1858, the fourth son to...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Graham Perrin

, by Michael Olden

Railway Children’s Home Fundraiser Railway fireman and shunter, Graham raised money for the railway children’s home in Woking The North Downs’ Line have a Railway 200 blue plaque in honour of Ma...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: John Budd

, by Michael Olden

Railway Guard Killed On Duty John, one of possibly six children to Mary née Hall and William Budd, a Southern Electric railway motorman. The family lived on Kings Farm Avenue beside North Sheen stati...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Thomas Percival

, by Michael Olden

Engine Cleaner, Fireman and Driver During World War II he worked on trains transporting vital ammunition to the South Coast. The son of Florence Catling and Thomas Percival, a L&SW railway fireman...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Charles Wallace

, by Michael Olden

Engine Driver & Fireman Rescued two children from drowning in a frozen pond during a train journey On 13 Feb 1936, engine driver William Long and fireman Charles Wallace stopped their Southern Rai...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Sidney King

, by Michael Olden

(Albert) Sidney King 1902 – 1978 North Sheen Signalman Liaising with stations and crossings he controlled train movements by pulling levers to operate signals and points. Sidney King was born in...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Albert ‘Bert’ King

, by Michael Olden

Railway Guard Though employed as a guard Bert once had to drive a train himself from Waterloo to Hounslow. Born in Petersfield in 1876, Albert married Florence née Switzer, the daughter of a heraldic...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Richard ‘Tom’ Bristow

, by Michael Olden

Engine Driver in Feltham Marshalling Yard Born in Wateringbury near Maidstone in 1900, to Bertha Bristow and her husband Thomas, a brewer’s labourer. By the age of 20 Tom, as he was known, was worki...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Annie Philcox

, by Michael Olden

AMBULANCE ASSISTANT AT RAILWAY WORKS Working at the Brighton Works assisting medical staff, later Annie became a nurse at a mental hospital Annie was one of at least nine children born to Esther Philc...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Una Shearing

, by Michael Olden

The last British Railway station manager at Bishopstone station Bishopstone Station, is a classic art-deco design, and Grade II listed. It was built in 1938, though the flat roof was modified in 1940 ...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Railway Jack

, by Michael Olden

A dog that hitched rides on the railway network but always spent the night back at Lewes station A fox terrier and beagle cross named Jack was born in Lewes Station in March 1878 to station master Mr ...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: George Lockhart

, by Michael Olden

An elephant trainer from Brighton was accidentally crushed when his elephants were alighting a train in London to perform in a theatre The famous elephant trainer George Lockhart was born in Edinburgh...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: King Louis Philippe

, by Michael Olden

Spent his first night in exile at the Bridge Inn, Newhaven Landlady Mrs. Sarah Smith 1791-1864 There were a number of anti-monarchy revolutions across Europe in 1848. Revolution in the UK manifested i...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Ernest Balcombe

, by Michael Olden

A former railway platelayer, Ernest grew the plants and tended the displays at Lewes station from around 1911. Ernest was born in Lewes in 1870. He’d worked as a platelayer and was a gardener by the...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Lousy Lou

, by Michael Olden

Special train for Newhaven dockworkers during the First World War It ran daily from Brighton, picking up at Lewes. It was known locally as the Lousy Lou. By Jenny Flood and Keith Grieves for Newhaven ...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Ho Chi Minh

, by Michael Olden

PASTRY CHEF ON NEWHAVEN-DIEPPE FERRIES Ho Chi Minh reminisced that in 1913 he worked as a pastry cook on the Newhaven–Dieppe ferry. An unlikely pastry chef from the French colony of Vietnam (or Fren...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: D-Day Operation Neptune

, by Michael Olden

6 JUNE – 31 JULY 1944 89 troop trains, 112 ammunition trains arrived at Newhaven for transportation to France During World War II after almost 6 years of war with Germany, and 4 years sin...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: First Great Train Robbery

July 28, 2025, by Sharon Gray

FIRST GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY On 15 May 1855 gold bars and coins were stolen from a London-Paris train, in part when approaching Redhill. Two of the perpetrators were sentenced to 14 years penal transport...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Alice Maud Stone

, by Sharon Gray

ALICE MAUD STONE 1899-1943 Dormansland resident TICKET OFFICE CLERK During WWI Alice was an engineer’s forewoman in Lingfield. She was killed in 1943 when a bomb was dropped on a cinema in East Grin...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Edwin Mighell

, by Sharon Gray

EDWIN MIGHELL 1883-1937 Porter at Oxted Station SUFFRAGIST BOMB IN STATION TOILET A day after suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst was jailed in 1913 Edwin found an improvised bomb had gone off overnight Bo...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: A. A. Milne

, by Sharon Gray

A. A. MILNE 1882-1956 Lived and wrote in Hartfield AUTHOR OF WINNIE-THE-POOH Happy childhood holidays in Sussex began on the train. As a grown-up he bought a house here and devised Poohsticks with his...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Frederick Hunt

, by Sharon Gray

FREDERICK HUNT 1901-1977 SIGNALMAN & PORTER AT UCKFIELD The son of an Eastbourne dustman born in 1901, Frederick was working as a barman at the King’s Arms Hotel on Seaside, Eastbourne in 1921 b...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Samuel Collins

, by Sharon Gray

SAMUEL COLLINS 1879-1940 Railway labourer and carman EPILEPTIC COLONY IN LINGFIELD The railwayman with a young family returned from the First World War with a brain injury. Sadly he was still in the c...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Eliza Williams

, by Sharon Gray

ELIZA WILLIAMS 1898-1993 TICKET OFFICE CLERK AT CROWBOROUGH Eliza Louisa Williams was born on New Road, Rotherfield around 1898, the only child to Ellen Izzard and Arthur Williams, a railway platelaye...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: William Gray

, by Sharon Gray

WILLIAM GRAY 1826-1884 EDENBRIDGE TOWN STATION MASTER On his death, after 30 years at Edenbridge, a stained glass window in the church was dedicated to him. Born in Hertfordshire in 1826, William marr...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Sir Robert ‘Bob’ Ropner

, by Sharon Gray

Sir ROBERT ‘BOB’ ROPNER 1921-2004 North Yorkshire Farmer MOVED CONTENTS OF ENTIRE FARM BY RAIL Pigs, cattle, hens, tractors, hay bales, a thresher, motor cars and more packed 45 train carriages fo...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Dr Beeching

, by Sharon Gray

LORD DR. RICHARD BEECHING Lived at Little Manor, East Grinstead 1913-1985 REPORTED ON COST SAVINGS FOR BRITISH RAIL As Chairman of British Rail in 1963 he recommended the closure of 2,363 stations, 5,...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Dame Flora Shaw

July 23, 2025, by Sara Grisewood

DAME FLORA SHAW – LADY LUGARD 1852-1929 As a journalist Flora travelled the world reporting on Colonial affairs. Born in Woolwich, one of 14 children of a Royal Artillery Capt. and his French wi...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Elsie Winterton

, by Sara Grisewood

ELSIE WINTERTON 1897-1984 Engineer and draughtswoman for GWR Born in Reading in 1897, Elsie was one of nine children born to Rose and Joseph Winterton, a biscuit factory labourer for Huntley & Pal...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Margaret & Beryl Brine

, by Sara Grisewood

MARGARET & BERYL BRINE b 1922 and 1915 RAILWAY CLERK TYPISTS for L & S.W.R Margaret and Beryl’s paternal grandfather was a railway porter in Kingston, and his son, their father Henry was at ...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Maria Core

, by Sara Grisewood

MARIA CORE 1874-1945 Matron of Railway Servant’s Orphanage on Oriental Road, Woking. Home to about 120 children whose railway worker fathers had been injured or killed. Maintained by railworkers’ ...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Winnie Rose

, by Sara Grisewood

WINIFRED ‘WINNIE’ ROSE 1917-1943 Dunkirk Refreshment volunteer Winnie was working in the buffet at Guildford railway station when trains conveying troops during the Dunkirk evacuation in May 1940 ...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Lily Percy

, by Sara Grisewood

LILY PERCY 1918-1949 One of the youngest of at least eight children, Lily Florence Goodwin was born to William and Alice in 1918 in Stanleytown, Pontypridd in Wales. Her father and two working age bro...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Edith Thompsett

, by Sara Grisewood

Edith Thompsett Refreshment Room Assistant at Reigate Station. Edith’s parents Albert and Henrietta Thompsett/Tompsett had the King’s Arms pub on Seaside Road, Eastbourne. An impressive Victorian ...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Jessie Wicks

, by Sara Grisewood

Daughter-in-law of Henry Wicks. Jessie campaigned for a topiary tree in memory of Henry the railway guard killed by a goods train derailment near Chilworth in 1892. Henry was born in Reading in 1839. ...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Sir Myles Fenton

, by Sharon Gray

SIR MYLES FENTON 1830-1918 OFFICE BOY & GENERAL MANAGER Born in the Lake District town of Kendal in 1830. His mother Elizabeth was a postmistress. Myles began his career, aged 15, on the Kendal an...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Emma Harris

, by Sharon Gray

EMMA HARRIS 1855-1933 MILK TRAIN DAIRY FARMER The Roser family dairy farm was in Dry Hill, Tonbridge. It was run by Thomas and his third wife Hester. Daughter Emma was born in 1855, one of four surviv...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Ernest Martin

, by Sharon Gray

ERNEST MARTIN 1905 – 1972 LENGTHMAN Born in Lewisham in 1905, Ernest Arthur George Martin’s father Arthur was from Chiddingstone, and was a platelayer and permanentway ganger on the Godstone L...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Horace Horscroft

, by Sharon Gray

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...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Fanny Cheeseman

, by Sharon Gray

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...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Henry West

, by Sharon Gray

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...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Isabel Tarrant

, by Sharon Gray

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...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: John Towes

, by Sharon Gray

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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Railway 200 Blue plaque: Ascot Races

, by Sandy Mahon

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 ...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Isambard Kingdom Brunel

July 15, 2025, by Sandy Mahon

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...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Queen Victoria

, by Sandy Mahon

QUEEN VICTORIA 1819-1901 ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT AT WINDSOR STATION ON 2 MARCH 1882 Queen Victoria had returned from London on the train to Windsor station where she transferred to a carriage to continu...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Helena Wojtczak

, by Sandy Mahon

Born in Sussex in 1958, Helena trained as a GPO switchboard operator, which led to a job as a telephonist in British Rail’s Southern Region at Waterloo in 1977. She realised very quickly that the jo...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Edith Sheppard

July 11, 2025, by Sara Grisewood

EDITH SHEPPARD b 1891-1963 Stationmaster at Dorking during the first World War Edith Sheppard’s life and opportunities changed completely because of the war. She was able to take up a job that had o...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Charlotte ‘Charlie’ ...

, by Sara Grisewood

CHARLOTTE MARSH 1887-1961 Suffragette campaign organiser – ‘Charlie’ Marsh relied on inexpensive train travel to attend protests in London with fellow Dorking resident and suf...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Agatha Christie

July 7, 2025, by Sandy Mahon

The best-selling novelist of all time – the writer of 66 detective novels – Agatha Christie loved train travel and was fond of using trains in her novels, as crime scenes for example. Sometimes th...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Verena Holmes

June 30, 2025, by Paul Bromley

PIONEERING RAILWAY ENGINEER Born in Ashford in 1889 to Florence and Edmond Holmes who was an Inspector of Schools. In 1891 the family were living at Highworth House in Ashford with five servants. Duri...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Suzy Eddie Izzard

, by Paul Bromley

IZZARD FAMILY MODEL RAILWAY In the late 1950s and ‘60s John Izzard, an accountant for BP, was working abroad in Aden (now Yemen) with his nurse wife Dorothy. Dorothy was expecting their first child ...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Sarah Ashenden

, by Paul Bromley

LEVEL CROSSING GATEKEEPER, THE GROVE, RYE Sarah Durrant was born in Cranbrook in 1865. She married Alfred, a railway platelayer, in 1886 and had six children. They lived for a time on Cyprus Place, Ry...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Robin Gibb

, by Paul Bromley

POP STAR SURVIVED RAIL ACCIDENT IN 1967 Robin Gibb, the 17-year-old singer in the pop group ‘The Bee Gees’, and his girlfriend Molly Hullis, had been to visit her parents in Hastings. On t...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Maud Bassington

, by Paul Bromley

TRACER IN RAILWAY DRAWING OFFICE Maud Mary Bassington was born in Kensington in 1895 on what is now Hillgate Place, Notting Hill Gate. Her father William was a basket maker, who sadly died in 1902. Ma...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Marianne North

, by Paul Bromley

BOTANICAL ARTIST & EXPLORER Born into a prosperous family in Hastings in 1830, Marianne was the eldest of three children. Her parents were Janet Marjoriebanks and Frederick North, MP for Hastings ...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Lynda and Elsie King

, by Paul Bromley

SHORTHAND TYPISTS Lynda and Elsie were two of the seven children born to Melynda and Charles King, a gas stoker. The family were living in Rye. By 1921, Lynda now 24 and Elsie, 22, were getting the tr...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: John Impett

, by Paul Bromley

RAILWAY ENGINEER IN BRAZIL & PERU From the Ashford People’s Library Project: 180 Years of Railway History: John James Impett, son of an Engine Fitter, Newtown school boy and SER apprentice went ...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Googie Withers

, by Paul Bromley

ACTRESS FELL IN LOVE ON FILM SET Scenes from Ealing Studios’ 1947 film ‘The Loves of Joanna Godden’ were shot on the New Romney branch line from Appledore at Lydd Town railway station, a...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: George & George Austin

, by Paul Bromley

ORE LABOURERS A railway line from Ashford to Hastings via Rye had a troubled beginning, different railway companies vying for supremacy in the 1840s. Work began at the Ashford end it and it wasn’t u...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Dame Caroline Haslett

June 23, 2025, by Rowena Tyler

Brighton-born couple the railway signal fitter Robert Haslett and his wife Caroline lived on New Road, Worth and had four surviving children Georgina, Robert, Rosalind and Caroline, the eldest. At 15 ...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Col. Holman Stephens

, by Rowena Tyler

Holman or ‘Holly’ was the son of Pre-Raphaelite artist and art critic Frederick G. Stephens and his artist wife Rebecca née Dalton. His father gave Holman a working model railway as a gift. Appre...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Dave Lewis

, by Rowena Tyler

A sales clerk at Billingshurst for 12 years, sadly Dave died in service in April 1999. Chichester Line Manager Keith Brown, of Connex Rail, took this as an opportunity to have the Billingshurst statio...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Ernest Wills

, by Rowena Tyler

Ernest was born in Dorset in 1906 to Fanny and Edward Wills, a gardener. By 1921 the 15 year old Ernest and his family living were on London Road, Pulborough. He was working at the railway station as ...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Frank Rowe

, by Rowena Tyler

Littlehampton’s Frank Rowe manned Ford station for over 40 years. The Littlehampton Gazette reported, after his death, in 2001 that Frank “actually looked after the station completely himself – ...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Ian Allan, OBE

, by Rowena Tyler

Ian was a railway enthusiast from a young age with dreams of becoming a stationmaster and general manager. In 1937, aged 15 he had an accident during army training which led to him losing a leg. Now t...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: John Pelham Maitland, MBE

, by Rowena Tyler

John Pelham Maitland was born in Croydon in 1890 to Anna and John T. a whiskey distiller and dealer. They lived with Anna’s wealthy parents in Croydon for some time. He was apprenticed to the railwa...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Trevor Tupper

, by Rowena Tyler

As a child Trevor used his pocket money to explore the rail network and, it’s not clear why, but in 1967 Trevor may have set a record for the most rail miles covered in two weeks when he travelled 1...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Walter ‘Jack’ Lisher

, by Rowena Tyler

‘Jack’ Lisher was born in Houghton near Amberley in 1924 to Winifred and John Lisher, a railway signalman (whose father John was a railway porter, whose father John before him was also a railway p...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Barry Morton

, by Rowena Tyler

Barry was a signalman for 40 years. In 1972 he started his employment with British Rail as a Box Boy at Horsham, then a signalman jobs at Warnham and Crawley, becoming relief signalman at Horsham in 1...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Tony Squires

May 7, 2025, by Lynda Spain

Tony worked for the railway 1957-1966 and 1974-2001. He was a local Councillor, 1965-1968 and 1978-2015, and Littlehampton Mayor, 1987/88 and 2000/2001. For more information about Tony, visit Little...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Edward Tanner

, by Lynda Spain

Awarded an MBE in1918 for services to the railway, Tanner served over 50 years, the last 20 at Littlehampton. For more information about Edward, visit Littlehampton Museum. Home | Littlehampton Muse...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Frederick Parsons

, by Lynda Spain

Frederick Parsons was born in Wivelsfield in 1869, to Belinda and Thomas Parsons, a railway labourer/platelayer. By age 22 (1891) he was already bookstall manager in Oxted where he met Hannah Dilnot, ...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: William Betterton

, by Lynda Spain

William was born in Reigate in 1880. He lived and worked in Tunbridge Wells, before marrying Mary Ann Hall in Sussex in 1906. He started work for the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway that sa...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Ernest Morley

, by Lynda Spain

Ernest worked for the railway for over 45 years, 40 of these as a signalman at Lyminster Crossing. For more information about Ernest, visit Littlehampton Museum. Home | Littlehampton Museum...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Sarah Chesterman

, by Lynda Spain

Sarah Chesterman is mentioned in a newspaper article from December 1942. This was the Worthing Herald, but the story was repurposed across other titles at the time too. The headline is ‘Women ...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Evelyn Joan Ford

, by Lynda Spain

Evelyn trained as a Tailor/ dress maker. She worked at LCW in the upholstery department during WW2in the Hush Hush shop, working on secret missions for the Army supporting the war effort, she spoke ...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Herbert John Clist

, by Lynda Spain

Private Herbert John Clist, (known as Jack), Royal Army Service Corps. Son of Edward and Emma Louisa Clist,Third Avenue, Lancing, Sussex. Jack was an apprentice at Southern Railway Carriage Works Lanc...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Ernest Strudwick

, by Lynda Spain

For more information about Ernest Strudwick please visit: Lancing War Memorial: STRUDWICK Ernest Gunner 374377 Ernest Strudwick of the 173rd Siege Battery Royal Garrison Artillery. Ernest was killed...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Arthur R R Bartlett

, by Lynda Spain

Private 10497 Artur Reuben Robert Bartlett enlisted on 27th February 1917. He served in the 2nd Batalliaon Honourable Artillery Company as a stretcher bearer. Arthur was killed in action on Friday 2...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Harold Dray

, by Lynda Spain

Roll of Honour – Sussex – Lancing Harold Dray was born at Canterbury Kent on 22nd January 1913 to parents Elizabeth and Harold. Harold senior worked in the stores at Southern Railway in As...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Ethel Lee

, by Lynda Spain

Ethel Lee took part in the evacuation from Dunkirk. She was acting as a stewardess on a cross-channel boat which was making its way to Dunkirk to rescue survivors. The boat was attacked by enemy p...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Horace Hayward

, by Lynda Spain

All change! When the railway first came to our villages by Graham Lewis, with acknowledgements to Richard Standing The opening of Angmering Station on 16th March 1846 altered the face of travel...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: William Tress

May 1, 2025, by Andy Pope

SOUTH EASTERN RAILWAY STATION ARCHITECT born Faversham, Kent 1800 d Redhill 1859 William already had experience of employing eclectic styles from a Gothic-style London church to a ‘plain’ London s...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: A Lad named Rock

, by Andy Pope

NAVVY “Last Saturday [23 May, 1846] a lad, named Rock, met a dreadful accident on the railway works at Bopeep. One of the laden earth carts was being drawn over the bridge, and, as is usual, the hor...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Rose Cresswell

, by Andy Pope

LADIES WAITING ROOM ATTENDANT Rose was born to Caroline and Henry Harris, a shepherd near Wanborough, Guildford in 1872, one of at least eight children. She married Richard Cresswell (or Creswell) a r...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Florence J Dolby

, by Andy Pope

Superintendent of the UK’s first Railwaymen’s Convalescent Home born around 1850 d 1935, Florence Jessie Dolby was born in Kensington to John and Jessie Dolby. She was a woman of independent means...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Arthur Allcorn

April 29, 2025, by Andy Pope

Memories of Robertsbridge Station and the London to Hastings line. My parents moved to Brightling at the beginning of 1946. In the early days my father commuted by train from Etchingham to his off...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Joseph Western

, by Andy Pope

A recollection by Linda Neve My grandfather Joseph Weston joined the company in the 1900s as a plate layer at Etchingham and was there as the ganger. In his gang there was also my uncle Ernest ...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Sir Eustace Missenden

, by Andy Pope

SOUTHERN RAILWAY GENERAL MANAGER Son of James T. Missenden New Cross, London in 1886-d. Rudgwick, Horsham 1973 Son of a station master, he began working life as a junior railway clerk. He married Lili...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: James T Missenden

, by Andy Pope

JAMES THOMAS MISSENDEN STATION MASTER Bletchley 1862-d. Southborough 1947 NB PRESIDENT OF THE (RAILWAYMEN’S) ‘UNDAUNTED CRICKET CLUB’ The son of a Bletchley labourer, James worked on the railway...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Buffalo Bill

, by Andy Pope

BUFFALO BILL – WILD WEST SHOW TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL AN ENORMOUS PRODUCTION OF CAST, LIVESTOCK AND EQUIPMENT When Buffalo Bill’s touring Wild West extravaganza visited England in August 1903, ...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Thomas Brassey

, by Andy Pope

RAILWAY BUILDER, WORLDWIDE Buerton, Chester 1805 d. St Leonards, East Sussex 1870 “During a 40 railway building career he built one third of UK railways, three quarters of railways in France. 1 in 2...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Charles Willoughby

January 27, 2025, by Sandy Mahon

As part of Southeast Communities Rail Partnership project to produce 200 Blue Plaques for Railway 200, here is the story of Charles Willoughby. Charles was born in Dunsden in 1872, one of at least six...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: George Gibbins

, by Sandy Mahon

As part of Southeast Communities Rail Partnership project to produce 200 Blue Plaques for Railway 200, here is the story of George Gibbins. George Edward William Gibbins was born in Oxfordshire in 189...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Elsie Lindsey

, by Sandy Mahon

As part of Southeast Communities Rail Partnership project to produce 200 Blue Plaques for Railway 200, here is the story of Elsie Lindsey. Elsie’s mother Rosa Shuff was a housemaid until her marriag...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Charles Parker Sharpe

, by Sandy Mahon

As part of Southeast Communities Rail Partnership project to produce 200 Blue Plaques for Railway 200, here is the story of Charles Parker Sharpe. Charles was born in Slough in 1878, one of 9 children...

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Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Lottie Martin

, by Sandy Mahon

As part of Southeast Communities Rail Partnership project to produce 200 Blue Plaques for Railway 200, here is the story of Lottie Martin. Seven year old Lottie Martin was out picking primroses with h...

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200 ‘blue plaques’ unveiled to mark 200 people with conne...

Highlight of the week Awards for SCRP

Railway 200 Blue Plaques: Charles ‘Monte Carlo̵...

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: James Carpenter

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: James Priseman

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Alfred W. Szlumper

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Graham Perrin

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: John Budd

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Thomas Percival

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Charles Wallace

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Sidney King

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Albert ‘Bert’ King

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Richard ‘Tom’ Bristow

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Annie Philcox

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Una Shearing

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Railway Jack

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: George Lockhart

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: King Louis Philippe

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Ernest Balcombe

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Lousy Lou

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Ho Chi Minh

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: D-Day Operation Neptune

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: First Great Train Robbery

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Alice Maud Stone

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Edwin Mighell

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: A. A. Milne

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Frederick Hunt

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Samuel Collins

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Eliza Williams

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: William Gray

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Sir Robert ‘Bob’ Ropner

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Dr Beeching

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Dame Flora Shaw

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Elsie Winterton

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Margaret & Beryl Brine

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Maria Core

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Winnie Rose

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Lily Percy

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Edith Thompsett

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Jessie Wicks

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Sir Myles Fenton

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Emma Harris

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Ernest Martin

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Horace Horscroft

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Fanny Cheeseman

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Henry West

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Isabel Tarrant

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: John Towes

Railway 200 Blue plaque: Ascot Races

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Queen Victoria

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Helena Wojtczak

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Edith Sheppard

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Charlotte ‘Charlie’ ...

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Agatha Christie

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Verena Holmes

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Suzy Eddie Izzard

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Sarah Ashenden

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Robin Gibb

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Maud Bassington

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Marianne North

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Lynda and Elsie King

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: John Impett

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Googie Withers

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: George & George Austin

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Dame Caroline Haslett

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Col. Holman Stephens

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Dave Lewis

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Ernest Wills

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Frank Rowe

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Ian Allan, OBE

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: John Pelham Maitland, MBE

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Trevor Tupper

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Walter ‘Jack’ Lisher

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Barry Morton

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Tony Squires

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Edward Tanner

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Frederick Parsons

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: William Betterton

Railway 200 Blue Plaque: Ernest Morley