The Later Years
Authors: Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith
Publisher: Middleton Press, Easebourne Lane, Midhurst, West Sussex GU29 9AZ Tel: 01730 813169 www.middletonpress.co.uk
ISBN: 978-1906008789
Pages: 96
Illustrations: 149 monochrome photographs, plus 22 maps and track plans.
Date: June 2010
Cover: hardback
Size: 240x170mm portrait
Price: £15.95
Index: contents page
It gives me great pleasure to review this book as, in a way, it is a celebratory volume.
In 1981, Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith wrote a book titled Branch Lines to Midhurst and tried several publishing houses, to get it published. It was turned down on the grounds that it was too parochial. The solution was for Vic to publish it himself and Middleton Press was born. Now, 29 years later, Vic has published hundreds of similar 'parochial' books and made a great success of it. I have been reviewing Middleton Press books for over 10 years and kept every review copy. I was also fortunate to acquire at auction a large number of the early volumes and, amongst nearly 200 of them in my library, I was able to find a copy of their very first book. I offer my congratulations to Vic and Keith who saw a gap in the market and filled it by the lorry load. The Middleton Press books have become an institution and I am proud to have coined the phrase "evolving the ultimate rail encyclopaedia", which I used in one of my reviews and now appears on the cover of every new volume.
The original Branch Lines to Midhurst sold well and the area was revisited with a second book titled Branch Lines around Midhurst in 1987. So, this current volume is the third and deals with the later years. Midhurst was the meeting point of the London Brighton & South Coast Railway and the London & South Western Railway - a point which adds interest to the subject. There were three lines out of Midhurst; one towards Pulborough in the East (LB&SCR), one towards Petersfield in the West (L&SWR) and the third towards Chichester in the South (LB&SCR). With a lifetime of interest in this area by both authors, a considerable amount of photographic and other material has been collected. Consequently, there are many interesting photographic records of infrastructure, stock and events reproduced in the book.