Lightmoor Press GWRStroud1 The Great Western Railway in the Stroud Valley Volume 1 Mike Fenton

Sample image captions.

The original Brunel viaducts through the Stroud Valley were erected in timber during 1842-44. With cheap Canadian pine timber easily available in the 1840s it provided the cheapest and quickest way of completing the line for the summer of 1845. It was always Brunel’s intention to replace them with brick and masonry, gradually as affected by the rate of deterioration of the timber and the authorisation of funds. He estimated £35,000 for the replacement of the viaducts in April 1858, but it was to be a gradual process stretching over 30 years, and with his death in September 1859 it is unlikely that he saw any of the replacement structures completed, maybe just Slip Viaduct at Chalford, but no documentation has been traced to confirm this possibility. This view shows the contractors’ workforce on the scaffolding during replacement of a timber viaduct in brick, with some of the men, almost all hatted, in fairly precarious sitting positions. The view is probably during early 1890 and the detailed view of the configuration of the huge angled struts behind the men and the three-pronged form of the vertical supports on the piers suggest that this is probably Watts’ Viaduct, these days known more as Merrywalks Viaduct, at the north-west end of Stroud Station. The brickwork of new piers is visible to the left below. This view is a priceless and rare study of the detail of an original Brunel 1840s structure in the Stroud Valley, in its fifth decade of use. Albert Loveland / Collection Howard Beard

Harry Joseph Bird was a young photographer who captured a number of striking images of trains leaving Stroud around 1904. Here we see No. 3031, a 4-2-2 of the ‘Achilles’ Class, in fact the first of the class and bearing that name, steaming proudly away from Stroud on a semi-fast to Paddington. The white diamond on the side of the headlamp (a large ‘S’ would be on the opposite side) is a useful aid to dating the photograph, this being in use until 1904. In contrast to the splendid sheen of the engine, for the period the coaching stock is quite disreputable with only the leading clerestory coach in anything like clean condition. Bird’s photograph captures perfectly the sheer beauty of the ‘Achilles’ Class, adorned with all the late Victorian and early Edwardian finery, being unsurpassed in elegance of line and symmetry, The 50 emerged from Swindon Works between March 1894 and March 1899, designed by William Dean. His successor in 1902, George Churchward, loved these engines and tried hard to find new work for them, even attempting to rebuild them as 4-4-0s though this proved impracticable and not cost-effective. The early semaphore signal is worth noting with the spectacle halfway down the post and is another indication of a very early 20th century view, as this type would not have lasted much beyond 1906. The tracks have a somewhat ‘light’ appearance – the rail section is not the heaviest of patterns and the ballasting is dirty and may consist partly of ash. Heavier engines and coaches would demand an upgrade, which makes this view something of a time capsule, an older order on the cusp of passing away. Harry J. Bird / Collection Howard Beard