I'm really pleased to have two more bookings for my talk 'Tales from Dringhouses Railway - the solicitor, the skater, the signalman and the scholar' - I can't wait to share it with new audiences. There were so many interesting and sometimes shocking stories about the little stretch of line from York southwards through Dringhouses that I had difficulty distilling them into an hour's talk.
This is the line where, on many a trip back from London, I have simply stood waiting impatiently for arrival at York station, with no idea that people had unloaded horses for York races here, departed 1st class for the continent for a few shillings, or risked everything to cross the tracks in front of tonnes of steam locomotive. Explosives were found by this line in the 1970s; and in the 19th century, a group of robbers tried to escape by train from the old Copmanthorpe station. All human life is here in this ordinary suburban railway line - and I think people will enjoy the talks, whether or not they are rail buffs!
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