Railways and Industries of the Biddulph Valley Volume Two London Midland & Scottish and British Railways Eras

This book, the second of a trilogy, forms a detailed study of one of the North Staffordshire Railway’s first branch lines, which ran along the Biddulph Valley from Stoke to the Cheshire town of Congleton, which dated from 1860. It also covers the branch from Milton to the Staffordshire Moorland market town of Leek, which opened in 1867. While Volume One covered the history of these lines in the NSR period, along with the four-mile long Longton, Adderley Green & Bucknall Railway of 1875, which was originally independent, in this volume the history of the lines in the London Midland & Scottish Railway and British Railways eras is covered. The story is also taken to the present day and there is a Chapter by Mike G. Fell on the various Station Masters who have over the years, been involved with stations on both lines. The book is profusely illustrated with a wealth of photographs, many of which have never appeared in print before, along with old documents, timetables, maps, plans and gradient profiles, several of which have been specially prepared for these volumes. The illustrations are in monochrome and colour. The third volume will cover the history of the numerous industries the lines served, for example, collieries, iron and steel works and chemical factories which were, by and large, their raison d’être. This coverage will include details of the industrial locomotives that have been involved, along with the private trains of the companies that the NSR and LM&SR allowed to operate over their lines. The author is a native of the Potteries, with a number of books about the railways and industrial archaeology of North Staffordshire to his name.