GWR books and booklets
Rambles and Walking Tours
During the 1920s hiking and rambling grew in popularity both as an affordable and enjoyable pastime, and as the basis for more affordable holidays. The GWR naturally sought to encourage the greater use of their system and introduced special fares and trains aimed at hikers and walkers. The GWR was not alone amongst the railway companies in producing pamphlets and guide books describing routes which could be accessed from stations on their system. Other railway companies includung the LMS, Southern Railway and the LNER produced similar books
London and North Eastern Railway
Written by 'Pathfinder'
Published circa 1930, sometimes covering the same areas. Smaller independant companies had also produced guides to the area which they served, for example the North Staffordshire Railway published their illustrated Rambles on the Hills and in the Valleys of Picturesque Staffordshire and Surrounding Districts in 1908. Perhaps as a sign of changing times, London Tansport published a series of three small booklets detailing routes which utilised their 'Green Line' coach services
"Green Line" Strolls & Rambles
Part 1 of a series of 3
Written by 'The Vagrant'
Dated 1934. Those booklets, whilst being illustrated, did not contain maps but these would be 'forwarded post free, on written or telephonic application'.
A series of books written by Hugh E. Page and costing 6d (sixpence) was published by the GWR starting in 1931 with Rambles in the Chiltern Country. A further six books by him plus one by E. Roland Williams, all in a smaller format than the first, followed before war intervened with several having been reprinted or published in new editions. Those copies sold during the war had a red slip pasted inside
Pasted note warning of possible wartime restrictions warning of possible restrictions which wartime conditions might impose. Hugh Page was secretary to the North Finchley Rambling Club and early books carried a full page advert for organised walking holidays run by the 'Connoisseur Holiday & Rambling Club' of Finchley offering moderate terms and giving Hugh Page as the contact and organiser. Each book detailed twenty or more rambles and at the back were varying amounts of information on travel services, tickets and where to stay. Attached inside the back cover would be one or two maps of the area covered by the book. A ramble would present the option of following shorter or longer routes ranging from a few miles up to twenty or more with each route being described and accompanied with a route map. Earlier editions were illustrated with sketches specially drawn by Charles Mayo. These were later replaced with just a few full page monochrome photographs.
2nd edition, dated 1931
First published in 1931
Cover by W.E.
3rd edition, dated 1932
4th edition, dated 1937
1st edition, dated 1932
2nd edition, dated 1933
1st edition, dated 1933
2nd edition, dated 1938
As later sold with red wartime sticker
1st edition, dated 1935
Cover by Gilbert Rumbold
2nd edition, dated 1938
Cover by Morton
As later sold with red wartime sticker
Published in 1936
Published in 1936
Written by E.Roland Williams
Published in 1938
Cover by M (Charles Mayo)
As later sold with red wartime sticker
Published in 1939
Moreton-in-Marsh
The Wye at Symonds Yat
Rambles between 5 and 24 miles long around Torquay
Special fares for ramblers travelling from Paddington
Following the war, the GWR restarted publication of books, only managing a small number of new titles before nationalisation put a stop to it. A couple of those post-war books picked up the theme of 'Walks', again written by Hugh E. Page. These later books contained fewer pages than their predecessors but were still priced at sixpence (6d) each. As a sign of the times there was also one on motoring tours written by Kent Karslake. This is believed to have been the last ever publication by the GWR, and it is included here as it follows the same format of describing various routes with accompanying photographs and has a fold-out local area map at the rear.
Published in 1947
Written by Hugh E. Page
Published in 1947
Written by Kent Karslake
British Railways editions
Many of these books were rebranded following nationalisation of the railways and published by the Railway Executive (Western Region) from 1949 largely unchanged, except for a doubling in price to 1/- (one shilling). Illustrated here are those examples held in our collection.
Dated 1949
Dated 1949
Dated 1949
Cover by Chris D Watkiss
Dated 1951
