GWR books and booklets
Through the Window
All titles and editions in the series followed the same format and, unlike many of the other GWR publications, there were no advertisements of any kind inside. They all carried a frontspiece with an illustration approriate to the journey and an expanded title page. Each book also had a one page introduction describing How to use "Through the Window" and another with lines from the poem From a railway carriage by Robert Louis Stevenson.
The route to be covered was divided into geographical sections, each having a short introduction. Each of these sections were themselves divided into shorter elements, so that as the book was opened a map showing an approximately six mile portion of the route was on the right hand page, with the appropriate descriptive text and illustrative drawings on the left. As the journey progressed the route could thus be followed whilst learning of the various points of interest which could be see 'Through the Window' as one passed by. We have an example of every title and edition published in this short series in our collection and they are illustrated below in publication date order.
All editions of the three titles published during the 1920s were written by Edward J.Burrow and produced by the Cheltenham Press on behalf of the GWR. Edward J. Burrow was born in Wellington, Somerset, in 1869. Having studied chemistry and pharmacy he became a pharmacist’s assistant in Cheltenham at the age of 20. He developed a passion for copper plate engraving and etching and decided to change career, going on to make more than 500 engravings and write many books. Two of his etchings were presented to Queen Victoria in 1892. It was to be his fascination with public buildings and ancient monuments that led to the 'Burrow Guides' which proved to be the early mainstay of the printing business which he founded in 1900.
Other publishers also produced their own equivalent of this book series, most notably being the LMS who published their The Track of the...
LMS Route Books
1- The Track of the Irish Mail, London (Euston) to Holyhead
2 - Along the Viking Border, London (Euston) to Liverpool
3 - The Track of the Royal Scot (Part 1), London (Euston) to Carlisle
4 - The Track of the Royal Scot (Part 2), Carlisle to Glasgow (Central)
5 - The Track of the Peak Express, London (St.Pancras) to Manchester Central
(Later called The Track of the Twenty Fives) books from the late 1920s or early 1930s priced at one shilling each. A second edition which sported more colourful covers was published in 1947 at the much higher price of 2/6. These books were all written by Edmund Vale and contained pen and ink sketches by F.H.Glazebrook and R.M.Hutchings and the route maps showed all the tunnels and bridges along the line. In 1937 they published The Track of the Royal Scot: A running commentary on the journey from London to Glasgow by the West Coast Route in a folded booklet format with a map as the centrefold. The LNER published a similar set of folded booklets in the mid 1920s with the tagline On Either SideKnown LNER Route Books
Scotland to King's Cross
King's Cross to Scotland
King's Cross(London) to Edinburgh (Waverley) via Aberdeen
King's Cross(London) to Edinburgh (Waverley) Fort William, Inverness and Aberdeen, depicting and describing features of interest to be seen from the train between.... These were republished with colourful covers in the very late 1930s.
Paddington to Penzance
300 miles of English country as seen from the G.W.R. trains
Issued by the Great Western Railway in 1924
125 numbered pages plus two maps, the price of one shilling was printed on the first page rather than on the cover.'This book was compiled and produced for the Great Western railway Company by Ed.J.Burrow & Co., Ltd., Cheltenham & London'
This book was clearly intended to be the first in a series as the title on the frontispiece states Through The Window, Number One: Paddington to Penzance. As with a number of very early GWR publications, the cover is larger than the book pages and so the edges have become very worn. All the illustrations in the book are either line drawings or monochrome reproductions of paintings.
It is fascinating to imagine what this journey would have been like when the book was first published as many of the points of interest will have been lost or obscured by later developments. On leaving Paddington, amongst those things which have long gone is the large airship shed which stood on Wormwood Scrubbs. The guide goes on to say that the prison there had been built by convict labour to house fourteen hundred prisoners. Apparently Wormwood Scrubbs was an important station of the Royal Air Force during the war - this of course would have been the Great War of 1914-18. Further delights were Oxford Road with its trams and views of the Hanwell Lunatic Asylum. The guide comments that practically every back garden has a "wireless" aerial and that the churchyard of Hanwell Church contains the grave of one Jonas Hanway who introduced the umbrella in about 1750.
Paddington to Birkenhead
200 miles of English and Welsh country as seen from the G.W.R. trains
Issued by the Great Western Railway in 1925
93 numbered pages plus two maps, priced one shilling.'This book was compiled and produced for the Great Western railway Company by Ed.J.Burrow & Co., Ltd., Cheltenham & London'
This is labelled as being the second book in the series and it introduced a colourful style of cover which set the tone for the next two publications. The layout follows that of the first book and takes the reader from Paddington, through Princess Risborough, Banbury, Birmingham Snow Hill, then through Shrewsbury, Wrexham and Chester before finishing in Birkenhead Woodside. This is the nearest that the GWR got to Liverpool with passengers having to cross the Mersey by ferry to end up outside the famous Royal Liver building. As an alternative, one could alight at Rock Ferry and travel under the river on the Mersey electric railway. The GWR pretended to be in Liverpool as they had a ticket office on the quayside. One other quirk of the journey was that the train, having entered Chester station from Shrewsbury, had to reverse direction on leaving to continue up the Wirral.
Paddington to Killarneyvia Fishguard & Rosslare
415¾ miles of English, Welsh and Irish country as seen from the G.W.R. and G.S.R. trains supplemented with 54 miles by G.W.R. steamer
Issued by the Great Western Railway in 1926
135 numbered pages plus three maps, priced one shilling.'This book was compiled and produced for the Great Western railway Company by Ed.J.Burrow & Co., Ltd., Cheltenham & London'
Illustrating the reach and ambitions of the GWR, this journey takes the traveller almost 465 miles in total by rail and sea using only GWR facilities. The GWR fleet covered the English channel and the Channel Isles as well as the Fishguard to Rosslare route which was serviced at the time by the twin vessels the St.Patrick and the St.Andrew. The author manages to fill one whole page whilst waxing lyrical about the sea crossing. The route followed by this journey also takes the traveller below the waters when travelling from England to Wales through the Severn Tunnel, but this does not seem to merit even a mention. Of local interest to us at Culham is the description of the Milton Stores Depôt of the Royal Air Force and the large Royal Army Ordnance Corps depôt at Didcot, the sites now redeveloped as Milton Business and Technology Park and Didcot power station.
Paddington to Penzance
300 miles of English country as seen from the G.W.R. trains
Issued by the Great Western Railway in 1927
125 numbered pages plus two maps, priced one shilling.'This book was compiled and produced for the Great Western railway Company by Ed.J.Burrow & Co., Ltd., Cheltenham & London'
Whilst the frontispiece labels this as the Second Edition the compiler's note at the rear says it was published in 1924 and reprinted in 1927. This is more accurate as, apart from the cover now echoing the style of the previous two latest books, the content appears to be identical. One slight change however is that Hanwell Lunatic Asylum has become the more acceptable Hanwell Mental Hospital, whilst the title has changed the illustration is the same. As with the original version, the reader is encouraged in the introduction to explore the mechanical side of the railway in the book The 10:30 Limited - a book for boys of all ages where it is 'admirably illustrated'.
This book was published in facsimile paperback form by Forest Publishing (Peninsula Press) in 1994 and then in 2008, with the addition of some 20 pages taken from Bradshaw's Timetables, by Shire Publications Ltd. as a paperback and in hardback form by Old House Books.
Paddington to Penzance
Points of interest seen from the the train by the "Cornish Riviera" route
Published in 1939
64 numbered pages, priced sixpence.Printer and author not noted but it was 'Published in 1939 by the Great Western Railway'
This edition is a clear departure from the previous three matching publications as it is now of a larger format and in a stapled cover. Being larger it is easier to follow the route maps. The maps are essentially as before, but now also include the Torquay, Newquay and Falmouth lines. The cover illustration, signed Lupton, shows a train (the Cornish Riviera Express?) that has seemingly left dry land and taken to the sea surrounded by some of the landmarks from the book. This revamped and modernised style was quite possibly intended to be followed by new editions of the other two books in the series but this did not happen as wartime would have curtailed any such developments. The text has been replaced by black and white photographs of some of the points of interest and these are no longer referenced on the accompanying maps by number.
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The Cornish Riviera Express
Features of interest en route
Published early to mid 1950s
4 pages when unfolded, unpriced.Printed by Bemrose, Derby and published by British Railways reference BR. 35109.
This pamphlet describes itself as being a 'folder' as it is printed in landscape format and then folded in two. Once opened up it forms a three part guide to the journey with the route and points of interest identified along the line together with many of the intervening stations and their distances from either end. Text is limited to a short paragraph describing each feature, generally accompanied by a small sketch. This early BR publication is included here as, although not employing the title and book format of the previous GWR publication (unlike early BR Holiday Haunts books), it does describe the same route and landmarks between Paddington to Penzance, and the two passengers are shown looking 'through the window'.
You can scroll through a gallery of the pages by clicking or tapping on the thumbnail image.
There was an accompanying folder which described the route of The Torbay Express. The format was identical and, save for the title, the cover illustration was the same although the blue colour had been changed to a reddish brown.
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Through 'Wesrern' Windows
Features of interest en route between Paddington & Penzance
Dated 1960
4 pages when unfolded, unpriced.Printed by Jessie Broad & Co.Ltd., Old Trafford, Manchester and published by British Railways (estern Region) reference B.R. 35159/2.
This folder is printed in the same format as the earlier one above, but the title harks back to the GWR publications. This later version includes the Torbay line from Newton Abbot to Kingswear. The station at Dartmouth is also show although this has to be reached by ferry from Kingsear. Dartmouth station was unique in that it was never served by rail. The title page now shows a drawing of a Warship class locomotive pulling its train along the line beside the sea. The content has been updated with revamped text and new drawings which show diesel rather than steam trains.
You can scroll through a gallery of the pages by clicking or tapping on the thumbnail image.
