January 2022 - The MrT Podcast Studio

The Welsh Dragon departs UKRJ S1 Ep02

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 15:52 — 14.5MB)

The Welsh Dragon departs – UK Rail Journeys – Series 1 – Episode 2

Paddington Station:

The Welsh Dragon departs after our Guard, Paul, blows his whistle, waves his green flag and the signal changes to green giving us the ‘road’. We listen as Mayflower starts to pull us out of London’s Paddington station and our journey to North West Wales begins!

Click on a ‘thumbnail’ to view the photographs that accompany this podcast:

Mayflower:

Mayflower is a Thompson B1 steam locomotive. The LNER places the order but delivery, in 1948, is to the newly nationalised British Railways. She spends most of her life working from depots in Hull. In June 1967 she moves to Bradford Low Moor depot. She is withdrawn from service in September 1967 and becomes one the two B1s in preservation.

Over the years Mayflower has had a number of owners. Today David Buck owns Mayflower. He keeps her maintained for mainline service and she often hauls trains for The Steam Dreams Rail Co.

I talk to a member of Mayflower’s support team who tells me about the work that has to be done in order to make the locomotive ready for service.

First some Underground stations:

Our journey takes us past Royal Oak station on the Central and Hammersmith & City lines. The station gets its name from a local pub, when the station opens it is The Royal Oak, however, it is now The Porchester.

Next we pass the Underground station at Westbourne Park, then Portobello junction and Notting Hill sidings.

We then pass under the A40 Westway. Westway runs to the Edgware Road, just east of Paddington Station. Westway was the first urban motorway project in London and was built in the 1960s.

We soon pass under the West London Line linking Willesden Junction in the north with Clapham Junction. Lines such as this allow Steam Dreams excursions to take interesting routes across London!

The North Pole Depot:

Sadly this isn’t a vast storage area used to refill Santa’s sleigh on his 24th December marathon. It is a train maintenance depot for the Hitachi Class 800 trains used on the Great Western Railway’s long distance services.

Westwards through suburbs:

We pass under the North London line that runs from Richmond in the south to Stratford (London) in the east.

We pass under the A40 for a second time, known here as the Western Avenue. This section of the A40 is about 10 miles long. It runs from Old Oak Common in the east to the Denham roundabout in the west.

Our journey continues, we pass through Acton Main Line, Ealing Broadway and West Ealing stations.

Next up:

I hope that you’ve enjoyed this podcast. If so, please join me in two weeks time when we continue our journey west, towards the edge of London on the Welsh Dragon.

Links:

To visit the Steam Dreams website please follow this link.

This podcast is also available through Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Castbox , Deezer, Podchaser, Spotify, Stitcher and Vurbl and others.

Music:

AKM Music has licensed Steam Railway, Energy and Festival of Dreams for use in this podcast.

The Barbary Corsairs TH 2021 Talk 03

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 46:40 — 42.7MB)

Season 2021 – Talk 03 – The Barbary Corsairs

In The Barbary Corsairs Richard Thomas tells us about these pirates who exercised power in the Mediterranean over a number of centuries. Because the talk makes use of maps, pictures and other presentation material I suggest that you open the image gallery below.

Click a thumbnail below to view the image gallery that accompanies the talk.

Robbery on the High Seas:

Richard tells us that piracy requires busy trade routes with narrow choke points because this collects target ships in a defined area. It is even better if effective hiding places, such as islands and coves, are available.

There needs to be something worth stealing, traditionally gold, silks, spices, slaves and people to ransom. Today high value goods such as oil.

Poor and weak governance help, especially where it is possible to bribe politicians and governors. Imperial rivalries also contribute – think of Francis Drake ‘singing the King of Spain’s beard’.

Drake a pirate??… a privateer is an ‘official pirate’ because the ‘Letters of Marque’ only legalise piracy in the eyes of the country issuing them.

In the days before formal navies Privateers perform the role of an informal navy. Official state navies start to appear in the early 18th Century and so privateers are outlawed in 1856.

Piracy in the Mediterranean:

Piracy starts in ‘antiquity’. Pirates capture Julius Caesar in 75, or maybe 74, BC. A ransom is paid and Caesar’s sailors then catch the pirates and crucify them.

The high point of piracy is during the Ottoman Empire. The Battle of Lepanto in 1571 is a major turning point.

The ships:

Richard tells us that the ship designs evolve from oar powered galleys through the Galleass of the 1600s, with oars, cannon and sails, to the Xebec 0f the 17th and 18th Centuries. Admiral Cochrane has Xebecs in his fleet during the Napoleonic Wars.

Slavery:

Estimates suggest that over 1 million people were taken as slaves by the Barbary Corsairs. Many of these come from raids on the northern Mediterranean shores. They take the whole population of Gozo on one raid – 5 to 6,000 people! In 1627 they raid Iceland and in 1631 Baltimore in County Cork, Ireland.

Oar powered war galleys require a regular supply of oarsmen!

Listen to the podcast to hear the rest of this amazing story!

Please note:

This podcast is a recording of a talk on Zoom and there are a few extraneous noises.

For copyright reasons it is not possible to publish all the illustrations from the original talk. I use alternatives where they exist.

About this podcast:

This podcast is an edited recording of a talk first given to the Farnham u3a World History Group.

The Farnham u3a site is found here.

This podcast is also available through Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Castbox , Deezer, Podchaser, Spotify, Stitcher and Vurbl and others.

AKM Music licenses Media Magazine for use as the theme music.

The Welsh Dragon from Paddington

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 15:43 — 14.4MB)

The Welsh Dragon from Paddington – UK Rail Journeys – Series 1 – Episode 1

Paddington Station:

In ‘The Welsh Dragon from Paddington’ I start with a look around this amazing Grade 1 Listed railway station. Simon Jenkins, in his book ‘Britain’s 100 Best Railway Stations’* awards it 5 stars and starts his description by telling us that ‘there is magic in the air at Paddington’. First I walk down the ‘premium’ Platform 1 which oozes history.

* Please Note – Simon says that this is a Railway Station; it is not a Train Station!

You can find out more about this wonderful book by clicking here.

Click on a ‘thumbnail’ to view the photographs that accompany this podcast:

A famous bear:

The first thing I find is a bench dedicated to the famous bear named after the station. He’s sat there eating a marmalade sandwich and I’m not sure whether he’s waiting for the Brown family or just trainspotting.

At the station entrance from the Elizabeth Line station on to Platform 1 there is also a statue to Paddington Bear.

Underground Stations:

In 1863 Paddington becomes the western terminus of the Metropolitan Railway. This is the first underground railway in the world and links Kings Cross, Euston and Paddington stations.

Today there are two Underground stations at Paddington. There is one for the Bakerloo, District and Circle (towards Victoria) lines in Praed Street and another, for the Hammersmith and City and Circle (towards Hammersmith) Lines at Bishop’s Bridge Road.

The Great Western Royal Hotel:

The Victorian railway companies were operators of grand hotels. There are examples at many of the mainline stations in London.

Brunel’s dream is that people will travel from London to Bristol. They then board the SS Great Britain and travel to America, but, before setting off on the journey they need a night at a grand hotel in London. Today you can leave on the Heathrow Express, and fly to America. Same dream, different transport!

Hilton operate the hotel today, you can find more details here.

Platform 1:

So much history, so much to see – the clock, the triple oriel, the War Memorial and the grandeur of the woodwork. Stop for a moment, look upward and marvel at the structure.

Look at the photographs and listen to the podcast to find out more about the station and our departure.

Next up:

I hope that you’ve enjoyed this podcast. If so, please join me in two weeks time when we journey west from Paddington, through the London suburbs on the Welsh Dragon.

Links:

To visit the Steam Dreams website please follow this link.

This podcast is also available through Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Castbox , Deezer, Podchaser, Spotify, Stitcher and Vurbl and others.

Music:

AKM Music has licensed Steam Railway and Funny Corporate for use in this podcast.