Rosa Matheson: 5 books

The Great Western Railway struggled with what was called 'the women question' for many years. It had heartily agreed with The Railway Sheet and Official Gazette that 'the first aim of women's existence is marriage, that accomplished, the next is ordering her home'. Yet women were the cheapest form...

Life in Britain was revolutionized as the railways flourished in the nineteenth century. Cities were linked and the masses could travel; railway mania was born. Yet these early days were dramatically different o the present in terms of health and safety. In this fresh approach to railway history,...

The exciting early days of the railways were tempered with danger, as the Victorian concept of health and safety was rather different to ours. Going "into the dark" was a frightening experience and tunneling under the ground and under water was a death-defying activity in nineteenth-century...

The age of steam is past, the reality of Swindon Works is long gone now — but the legend lives on. What made the Great Western Railway's Swindon Works iconic? Was it its world-wide reputation; perhaps its profound impact in shaping New Swindon town; or that it melded those who worked "Inside"...

The Great Western Railway – quickly coming to be known as ‘God’s Wonderful Railway’ – was once regarded as the most advanced in the world. Engineered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel it was initially designed to connect Bristol to London and came to develop a distinct character all of its own,...