A BRIDGNORTH woman who suffers from dyslexia and left school unable to read or write has compiled a short collection of railway memories, gathered in her time as a volunteer guard on the Telford Steam Trust and Chasewater Railway.
Wendy Reynolds, aged 44, struggled with dyslexia so much that she had to learn to read and write as an adult, with help from Shrewsbury College’s Second Chance project.
Now Wendy, whose grandfather was A T Miller, an Express and Star newspaper editor back in the 1930s, has put together Railway Memories – a Collection of Short Stories and the proceeds will go to the Trevithick 200 charity.
Wendy had always liked railways but became a greater enthusiast, and developed a particular interest in the Great Western Railway, after meeting her late husband John Reynolds who had been a guard on the Great Central Railway.
John had been forced to retire early after losing his job under the Beeching axe in the 1960s.
The couple took up volunteer posts at the Telford Steam Trust, and over the years collected stories of life on the railways. Wendy’s little booklet is based on anecdotal material she collected with John and also photographs of railway memorabilia. It also contains a poem written by Wendy about Dr Beeching.
One of the stories told by a Mr Robinson, who had been a guard on the Great Western Railway, claims that legendary Prime Minister Winston Churchill was travelling on the line in North Wales during 1942.
There were fears that a German spy was following him and that his life was under threat, and Churchill wanted to get back to London without delay. Churchill’s train arrived in Shrewsbury and he then travelled in a locked compartment to Kidderminster to get an express train back to the capital. To ensure that his progress was quick, all signals were on green all the way London, writes Wendy.
Railway Memories is being printed by Bridgnorth publisher Brian Davies and copies are available in Bridgnorth library at a cost of £3.99. All proceeds will go to the Trevithick 200 charity which was set up to create a working replica of Richard Trevithick’s Catch Me Who Can steam locomotive, built in Bridgnorth in 1808.
The Trevithick 200 celebrations attracted about 5,000 steam enthusiasts who flocked to Severn Park to see the model unveiled in July last year at the town’s first Festival of Steam. The charity now plans further events.
“Building the replica was a fantastic achievement, and I hope that the proceeds from this book will help the charity”, said Wendy. “As a resident of Bridgnorth I am also very proud of the Severn Valley Railway in keeping alive the memory of the Great Western Railway”.
Wendy added that she had made her booklet accessible to people with dyslexia by paying attention to how the words were spaced out.
