the cedric clayson collection of steam locomotives by diesel and electric traction. as a result,...

Steam – The East Coast Pacifics On Thursday afternoons in the early 1960s, Cedric Clayson and his son John would travel from Leicester to Grantham railway station in Lincolnshire. During their visits Cedric would take pictures of trains, people and station life. These pictures are now available to purchase thanks to John making them available to help fund the Return to Grantham project. The project aims to record life at Grantham station, its steam shed and the people whose lives were shaped by the railway. This catalogue covers the photos of the A1, A2, A3 and A4 Pacific Locomotives. All photos are available to purchase. Please use the catalogue to quote reference numbers and then use the separate order form. All images unless otherwise stated are Copyright of John Clayson.

R e t u r n t o G r a n t h a m w w w . r e t u r n t o g r a n t h a m . w o r d p r e s s . c o m g r a n t h a m 3 5 b @ h o t m a i l . c o . u k

The Cedric Clayson Collection Steam - The East Coast Pacifics

The Return to Grantham Project On Thursday afternoons during the early 1960s my father and I were regular visitors to the railway station at Grantham. We lived in Leicester, where Dad had a cycle shop on the Belgrave Road, not far from the former Great Northern Railway’s Belgrave Road terminus. From there, until 1953, there had been a direct (though infrequent) train service to Grantham via the GN and L&NW joint line through Melton Mowbray. Thursdays was Leicester’s ‘half day’ closing for shops and, while there was quite a lot of railway interest around Leicester at the time, there was little high speed action and few classic or 'named' steam locomotives. So, given fine weather, just after midday on Thursdays during school holidays we would often leave Mum in charge of the shop for the last half hour or so and catch the Midland Red bus to Grantham (the 12 o'clock departure from St Margaret's Bus Station). Arriving an hour later, there was usually plenty going on to keep both of us well occupied until teatime. Like many boys of his generation, growing up in the 1920s and 30s, Dad had been captivated by the well publicised, high-speed exploits of motor racing aces, long-distance aviation pioneers and the main line railways. Dad was exposed to the steam railway virtually from birth. He was born in 1916 at Tunnel Cottages (now Tunnel Hill Cottages), situated above the entrance to Hunsbury Hill Tunnel in Northampton. Some of his earliest memories were of trains struggling up from Northampton Castle station into the tunnel - passenger trains hauled by London & North Western Railway ‘Claughton’ locomotives, and freight trains by L&NWR 'Super D' 0-8-0s. He also remembered his grandfather taking him on his cycle crossbar the few miles to Banbury Lane level crossing, near Blisworth, to see the expresses speed past on the so-called ‘Premier Line’ linking Euston Station in London with Birmingham, the North West of England and Scotland. I visited this spot for the first time in 2009 and I found there a meeting place of country lane, high speed railway, canalside wharf and farmstead. Though the level crossing is no more - a new bridge having recently replaced it - during the hour or so that I spent there it was possible to imagine the excitement and activity that would have held the interest of my father as a young boy in the early 1920s with signal box, crossing gates and traffic passing by on road, rail and canal. In the mid-1950s, having given up the sport of cycling because of a health condition, chronic sinusitis, which affected his ability to train effectively, Dad became a keen amateur photographer. He particularly enjoyed taking landscape views and candid portraits. His trusty Leica M3 camera went nearly everywhere and, at home, hours were spent processing film and making enlargements. On our early visits to Grantham he struck up a friendly relationship with the Carriage & Wagon Examiners and Shunters, who occupied adjacent cabins at the south end of the down platform. We would return to Grantham with prints from previous visits which were distributed and appreciated. Thus our circle of contacts widened, and more pictures were taken. At some point I think one of the Station Inspectors, probably Phil Craft, must have asked Dad to take some group photographs of the station staff. We also went with him behind the scenes, and pictures were taken of some of the staff who were not normally to be seen on the platform. Looking back, I can’t help thinking that, as a manager, the Inspector may have seen this as an opportunity to boost the team spirit of his staff, for these were uncertain days for railway employees. For one thing, the effects of the British Railways Modernisation Plan of 1955 were really kicking in. This set the scene for the replacement of steam locomotives by diesel and electric traction. As a result, Grantham MPD (motive power depot, engine shed or, locally, ‘the Loco’), a major staging point for east coast main line expresses in steam days, would no longer be required. It was winding down towards closure, which came in September 1963. Goods traffic also was on the wane, and the close association there had been between the railway and the various industrial concerns in the town was coming to an end. More ominously, Minister of Transport Ernest Marples had embarked upon his programme of motorway construction and Beeching-inspired railway ‘reshaping’. Roads were being improved, but railway services were under threat. Grantham, historically an important staging and refreshment point on the A1 Great North Road, was itself ‘bypassed’ in October 1962. The concrete-surfaced dual carriageway was part of a programme of post-war

The Cedric Clayson Collection - The East Coast Pacifics Version 1.0

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improvements to equip the A1 for safer and faster use by the mass-produced products of the likes of Cowley, Dagenham, Halewood, Linwood, Longbridge and Luton. Meanwhile, men and women who had seen the railways through depression and war, and who had welcomed the post-war Labour government’s nationalisation and investment programme as a platform for a secure and stable future for the railway industry, were now facing the possibility of having to leave their home town to transfer to another part of the country, or else accept redundancy. Whatever the motive for their taking, we have inherited an archive of pictures which, in a small way, captures something of the way of life at the main line railway station of this Lincolnshire market town in the 1960s. This photographic archive has been subject of a thread titled Return to Grantham on the www.lner.info forum.

John Clayson, April 2013



Available Prints and Sizes All of our Prints are supplied by a professional Photo Lab (Loxley Colour), and are printed on Fuji Professional DPII paper with a Lustre finish. Prints are available in the following sizes:

Print Size* (inches) Price

6” x 4” £2.00 9” x 6” £4.00 12” x 8” £7.00 15” x 10” £10.00 18” x 12” £15.00

Postage and Packing for up to 5 prints per size ordered is as follows:

Print Size* (inches) Price

6” x 4” £2.00 9” x 6” £2.00 12” x 8” £3.00 15” x 10” £3.70 18” x 12” £3.70

*These sizes reflect the fact the images have been scanned from 35mm slides or negatives. Alumini & Edge Prints In general we do not provide prints in frames or mounts, as this can be very subjective and best left to the customer to organise. However, we do offer two types of wall displays that we believe offer an excellent way to display Cedric Clayson prints. These displays are delivered directly to your door by courier in bespoke packaging to ensure that they arrive in good condition.



Alumini Prints are available as 12” x 8”, 15” x 10” or 18” x 12”. Alumini Prints offer:

• A contemporary wall piece that sits proud of the wall and wows • Created using a unique aluminium image transfer process • Choose from four surface finishes for striking results

Edge Prints are available as either a 12” x 8” or 18” x 12” picture. Edge Prints offer:

• The print is mounted away from the wall to offer additional impact • A textured, durable surface finished with a solid 12mm edge • Select the perfect coloured edge to compliment or contrast with your chosen image

– white, black, stainless steel, light oak or walnut

Prices are as follows:

Print Size* (inches) Edge Print Price Alumni Print Price

12” x 8” £47.50 £47.50 15” x 10” - £58.00 18” x 12” £70.00 £70.00

Prices include courier delivery of displays direct to your door.



the cedric clayson collection of steam locomotives by diesel and electric traction. as a result,...

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