On Thursday 24 September 2026, it’s all about Crewe! Supported by the Railway Work, Life & Death project, the Family History Society of Cheshire is hosting ‘Railway Workers Day’ – and everyone is welcome.
We’ll be showcasing a new collaboration shining light on Crewe’s railway history. Through Alstom, the current owners and operators of Crewe Works, we’ve been given access to a series of historic accident records, covering the Works from 1917 to 1933. They give us tremendous new insight into the people who kept Crewe’s Works running for the London and North Western Railway, and from 1923, the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. They show us what was actually happening ‘inside’ the Works.
Courtesy National Railway Museum.
At the event, we’re going to share where we’ve got to so far with transcribing those records, as well as some of Crewe’s wider railway history. Just as importantly, it’ll be a chance for people to share their memories of Crewe’s railway past – hopefully including people who were employed at the Works in the past. We’d love to know more about life in the Works from those who remember it. It would help us understand more about some of the activities and places mentioned in the accident books.
The free event runs between 11am and 3pm at the Family History Society of Cheshire’s Crewe Research Centre (Brierley Business Centre. There’ll be tea, coffee and cake available, and a range of photographs and other resources to show some of Crewe’s railway history. At the event, we’re also interested in hearing from people with memories of the Works’ hospital or the Crewe Webb Orphanage – either directly, or through parents or grandparents. Crewe Town Council Heritage are interested in finding potential interviewees to contribute to its oral history work, preserving memories for the future. It would be great to know more about how both the Works hospital and the Webb Orphanage worked and what it was like to be cared for in either.
Courtesy National Railway Museum.
What’s in the records?
A lot! They tell us who was doing what across the vast site of the Works, what happened to them when they had their accident, and how long – if at all – they were off work. We can see ages from 14 to 74, and the rich variety of jobs needed to keep the Works operating. Machinists, rivetters, moulders, labourers, fitters, tubers, furnacemen, strikers, crane drivers, charwomen, night watchmen, boilermakers, firemen … on and on. We can see periods of normality and periods of crisis – including First World War female munition workers producing ammunition inside the Works.
As this work is so new, we’ve not yet had a chance to research the people mentioned. We know that some people had more than one accident at work. There are likely to be family connections, too – not least given the generational nature of railway work. As we get deeper into the work and can research the people and their stories, we’ll bring that to you through the Railway Work, Life & Death project blog in particular. For now, though, Crewe and its Works have already featured a few times in the blog – you can read more here.
Using historic records
The records are now being transcribed, by one of the Family History Society of Cheshire’s volunteers, Steve. He’s already made amazing progress (thank you Steve!). When complete, the transcriptions will be made available through both the Family History Society of Cheshire and the Railway Work, Life & Death project’s database of accidents to British and Irish railway workers before 1939. They’ll allow researchers – whether interested in family history, railway history, local history, social history or something else entirely – to discover more. The beauty of making the transcriptions available is that it means people can ask their own questions of the records. There’s so much in them that they can help a huge range of people understand the past in new ways.
The records will be shared with Crewe Heritage Centre, so they can feed into Centre’s interpretation. They’ll help bring visitors more of the human stories of railway work. This is especially important ahead of the Centre’s 40th anniversary next year. We’re working with the Centre and the New Vic Borderlines to explore a theatrical performance based on some of the people and incidents in the accident books.
Brilliantly, Alstom are really interested in the records. Part of this is because they understand and value the connection to the past. People talk about the ‘railway family’, and this is one manifestation of it. Within families, multiple generations worked – and still work – at the Works, so for many there’s a direct personal connection. The rail industry is well aware of its past, and many inside the industry are also enthusiastic about railway history.
But more than that, Alstom takes its health and safety at work seriously. For some time, thanks to the efforts of Colin Haynes, Alstom’s Director of Environment, Health and Safety in the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands, they have been using insights from the historic accident records to support health and safety work in the present. By working with them, and all of the other partners involved in this transcription and research, we can make it easier to use the past to support and improve current worker safety. That can only be a good thing.
As you can see, there’s enormous potential as we collaborate to unlock these records. Thursday’s event is a glimpse of that potential as we make progress on the work – and we really hope that lots of people will join us to find out more and to share their experiences. Do come along if you’re in the area!