Rowena lived in West Lane and could see the train across her garden. As a child aged 7, Rowena and her sisters loved to watch the trains go by; they also used the trains as clocks as they used to run regularly. She has memories of the crackling of the corn; this happened because the [...]
Peter
Angela sadly does not remember much about her father, but has kindly shared the little she does know about his life and work on the Billy Line: My Dad, Robert William Welch (Known as Jack on the railway), was born on 30 November 1911; he lived his whole life in Portsmouth. From what I understand he [...]
SIR THOMAS BOUCH (1822 – 1880) was born near Carlisle and lived in Edinburgh. In 1850, when engineer and manager to the Edinburgh and Northern Railway, he introduced the first roll on roll off ferry service in the world, across the Firth of Forth from Granton to Burntisland, in Fife. Launched in 1858, the paddle [...]
These wooden set squares which came into the possession of local Havant builders are inscribed: Cut in Leigh Park 1853. The day that George Couzens was killed on the SCR railway commonly called ‘Old Brooksey’. 1889 1853 36 years ago Looks bad The remaining words are not readily decipherable. A typed copy of the burial [...]
Herbert Outen, driver, at Hayling Island station For me as a young girl born and raised in Havant, one of the highlights of the school summer holidays was a trip to Hayling Island. This took place from about 1957 or 1958 onwards (I was born in 1946). My best friends Lynda or Myra would be as excited as [...]
Terrier inside Fratton depot I was born on 20 October 1930; at the age of 14 I began working on the railway. I worked at the Motor Power Depot in Fratton as a ‘Fitter’s Lad’; I would have to run around getting tools and things for the fitter, his name was Bert Gibbs. I was with Bert until [...]
My father was born in 1908. He left school at 14, and worked in the surveyor’s dept of our local builder. He was encouraged to get a job with a pension, so applied to Southern Railways and got the job. Later he spent five years trying to shoot German aeroplanes out of the sky. After the war he [...]
Terrier replenishing its water tanks at Havant My family moved to Hayling in 1949 when I was just four years old. We frequently used the train and as children my friend and I enjoyed playing on the tracks and along the adjacent shore. I had the privilege of travelling on the Hayling Billy twice daily during term time [...]
No 46 Newington at the Hayling Billy Pub on Hayling Island My parents lived in Surrey between Guildford and Farncombe in the 1940s and 50s. The first time I visited Hayling was in 1950 when I was about seven years old and my brother was still in his pram. My parents took us on the train from Farncombe [...]
St Patrick’s Open Air School, Hayling Island I can remember my one and only ride on the train very clearly. It was late in the year of 1952. I was five years old. I travelled from Newbury to London on the train with my mother and stepfather, where I was met by two nuns who took me from [...]
