Beating Beeching

The name Dr Richard Beeching is synonymous with the mass closures of Britain’s rural railways in the Sixties. Indeed, he has been described as the most hated civil servant of all time. 


This book looks at what happened once the dust had settled – as ordinary people, their local councils and eventually rail operators themselves decided they were going to get their railways back. 


Among the incredible stories contained within are: 

The civil servant whose secret work to save the Cambrian Coast Line was revealed only after his death 

The newspaper accountant who spotted a British Rail closure notice advertisement, and broke an embargo to save the line 

The branch line that was saved after war broke out between Israel and Egypt in 1974 

The British Rail insider who aided the mass public campaign to save the Settle to Carlisle line 

How the Paignton to Kingswear line became Britain’s first rail privatisation 

The rebuilding of the Swanage Railway from scratch into a key public transport hub 

The rebirth of the Waverley Route 


And many, many more… 


Robin Jones is a widely published and highly respected journalist who specialises in heritage transportation and industrial archaeology subjects. 

Robin contributes news and feature material on a regular basis across a wide range of railway titles and has written many books on Britain’s railway history. 

He is currently the editor of Heritage Railway Magazine.