Around two weeks’ ago, we put out a request on our Twitter account to find out more about ‘Cricpante Rego’ – and as well as receiving some helpful ideas very quickly, one of our project volunteers, Chris Jolliffe, was inspired to dig further. She came up with this guest post, which reveals a fascinating story. […]
Archive | Blog
Ten Men Memorial, at Queensbury Tunnel
This week’s guest post seems fitting, coming after last week’s look at the 1921 Stapleton Road accident and thinking about how we remember those who have been killed or injured at work on the railways. Typically we focus on the operational years, rather than construction – but here the post, from the Queensbury Tunnel Society, […]
Stapleton Road: the men, pt 4
By Mike Esbester on September 25, 2021 in Accident aftermath, Accident reports, Anniversary, Blog, Family History, Linking sources
This blog is our final post in this series, ahead of the centenary tomorrow of the 1921 Stapleton Road accident. Yesterday we looked at the family connections between Arthur and Charles Hobbs. Today we focus on the final man who died, Stephen Francis. Stephen Albert Francis proved to be somewhat tricky to pin down – […]
Stapleton Road, 26 September 1921
Charles Edmonds. Herbert George North. Charles Oakhill. Joseph Barrett. Arthur Hobbs. Stephen Albert Francis. On 26 September 1921, these six track workers died in a single incident near Stapleton Road station in Bristol, on the Great Western Railway (GWR). Another man – Charles Hobbs, Arthur’s uncle – was injured. As we reach the […]
Stapleton Road: the men, pt 3
By Mike Esbester on September 24, 2021 in Accident aftermath, Anniversary, Blog, Family History, Linking sources
Following yesterday’s look at Charles Oakhill, and the railway connections in his family, today we turn to another railway family caught up in the Stapleton Road accident: the Hobbs. Arthur Hobbs (1897-1921) Arthur was the youngest of the men to die at Stapleton Road, at only 24. He was a labourer, and the only one […]
Stapleton Road: the men, pt 1
By Mike Esbester on September 22, 2021 in Accident aftermath, Accident reports, Blog, Family History, Linking sources
Yesterday we discussed the institutional responses to the Stapleton Road accident; from this point onwards, we look more at the personal impacts, on the men involved and their the families. Sadly for most of the men and families involved, we don’t have too much information. We’d dearly like to know more – about the individual’s […]
Stapleton Road: the men, pt 2
By Mike Esbester on September 23, 2021 in Accident aftermath, Anniversary, Blog, Explore your Archives, Family History, Linking sources
Yesterday we started introducing the men involved in the Stapleton Road accident. Today we focus on just one man, for whom we have more information: Charles Oakhill. Charles was born in 1870, to William and Mary Ann. He had 6 siblings, one of whom died in infancy. They were all born in and around the […]
Stapleton Road: the aftermath
By Mike Esbester on September 21, 2021 in Accident aftermath, Accident reports, Anniversary, Blog, Linking sources
Yesterday’s blog post looked at what happened in the 1921 Stapleton Road accident on the Great Western Railway (GWR). Today we turn to the institutional aftermath – before considering the individuals over the coming days. We made reference to a report, produced by Railway Inspector JPS Main, for the Ministry of Transport (more on who […]
Barbara Stainsby: A Munitions Worker to Blame for Her Own Death
By Laura Noakes on September 13, 2021 in Accident aftermath, Blog, Gender, Guest contribution, Industrial, War
Whilst blog posts have largely reflected our project sources and focus, and looked at mainline railways in the UK and Ireland, this doesn’t capture all of the railway activity – and dangers – in our nations. Plenty of railway systems were privately-owned and operated – like the coal railways which came to be part of […]
On Track for Change: North Road Works’ Artificial Limb Bench
We’re delighted to feature this blog post from a team at the Head of Steam – Darlington Railway Museum. It focuses on a topic of great interest to our project – provision for injured staff after an accident, via prosthetic limbs. It arises from the exhibition currently on at the Museum, on this important topic. […]
