The Bishop’s Castle Railway 1865 – 1935
By Edward Griffiths BA

This was the first book of any importance on the subject of the Bishop’s Castle Railway, first published in 1948 and re printed at intervals until the early 1970’s. Regretfully it is now out of print although second hand copies are readily available.

Griffiths’ book deals quite fully with the promotion, construction and opening and the troubles that befell the railway from 1865 onwards, Griffiths gives us a detailed and delightful description of the opening celebrations, with bands, feast and general Bacchanalia, fulsome toasts and speeches, where the chairman and directors were “a bold ships crew on a three year voyage and meeting nothing but storm and tempest”

 His description of the bailiffs incident at Horderley is also very detailed, although he was able to draw heavily from articles in the “Railway Magazine”

It was fortunate that several of the employees of the railway were still alive to tell their stories, as were many of the enthusiasts who recorded the dying months of the railway.

This is not a large book by any means but is well researched, well documented and has the benefit of several primary sources. Many of the pictures have become iconic images of the Bishop’s Castle Railway over the years.