The Story Behind "The Story of the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway" DVD
My father-in-law, Harry Andrews, got a job on “The Southern Railway” as a young lad of fourteen straight from school thanks to his father, who also worked on the railway. He remained there all his working life. The “South Eastern Railway” was in my late husband’s blood because four generations before him were “Kentish Railwaymen”, dating all the way back to the very beginning when Richard Andrews was appointed assistant to the Locomotive Superintendent, Mr James J’Anson Cudworth before Ashford Works opened in January 1847. In the previous year Richard Andrews arranged for one of the recently disused steam winding engines from The Canterbury and Whitstable Railway to be transferred for further use to Ashford Works. He knew the line very well because he had helped with the upgrading survey in 1846.
In 1964 Harry, a real rail enthusiast who wrote articles and gave learned lectures, wrote a comprehensive book about “The Canterbury and Whitstable Railway”, illustrated from his own personal material, notes and records, which include his great grandfather, Richard Andrews’s, notebook and sketches. Sadly, Harry’s book, was never published due to family financial constraints, despite being prepared to printer’s proof stage.
A year after my husband, Ian, died I met Bob, at a Model Railway Exhibition. We have since married and moved to Whitstable. We soon discovered that despite closing in 1953, The Canterbury & Whitstable Railway still lives on in people’s thoughts and memories. We decided to retrieve “Harry’s Box” from the attic and look at his photos and papers, which had not been touched since his death in 1973. We became fascinated and soon we were researching all aspects of the railway and talking to anyone we could find with memories of the line.
We decided that we would not resurrect Harry’s book but would try to add a new dimension to the history of the railway by gathering as much film and visual matter as we could muster and make a DVD. Over a period of 18 months new and fresh material has been gathered telling the fascinating story of the pioneering, and much underrated Canterbury & Whitstable Railway from its conception in 1822, opening in 1830, to its final closure in 1953. We have abundant material to produce several DVDs. The first has been compiled from records, some unique, gathered by Harry and enriched by Canterbury & Whitstable Railway archive footage, some more than sixty years old. Bob and I through considerable research have managed to gather footage and sound of the railway from eight different sources. The material has been skilfully, but sympathetically handled by Liz, a DVD wizard. Together we have produced the first of a number of interesting and informative DVDs . Not only has Liz been with us from the outset, providing technical expertise, but she also provides the narration! Production of future DVDs, dealing with other aspects of The Canterbury & Whitstable Railway, are well advanced and are due for release periodically throughout 2009, commencing in July.
The second DVD is of especial interest to local people. The comparison between the railway in the Victoria era, the 20th century and the remnants that can still be seen is explained through photographs, film and the memories of local people.
