Ghosts of our past (A requiem for Crewe Works west end buildings)
By the 1860s, the railway workshops originally built by the Grand Junction Railway in Crewe in 1843 had become so confined and difficult to further extend that the London & North Western Railway began construction of a new site. Known as the Deviation Works, this began to the west of what is now Edleston Road and extended, eventually, as far as Merrill’s Bridge some 1.2 miles further west.
The first workshops at the Merrill’s Bridge end of the site were No.9 Erecting Shop, operational from 1903, and the Main Machine Shop. With the construction of these two new buildings, Crewe Works covered 136 acres with 46 acres under roof. Just three years earlier, the Works had constructed its 4,000th locomotive.
Growth and demand continued and by 1923 Sir Henry Fowler wrote that No.9 Erecting Shop “is so congested that I feel sure work cannot possibly be carried out on the best lines.”
Expansion and modification followed between 1925 and 1927. This included enlargement of No. 9 Erecting Shop as “Erecting Shop North”; enlargement of the Main Machine Shop and construction of Erecting Shop South - on the site of a partly-constructed 10 Shop - and a further Machine Shop between No. 9 and the Crewe-Chester railway.
Over the subsequent decades these shops manufactured, repaired and overhauled enormous numbers of locomotives. The site was regarded by many as the largest locomotive works in the world.
The last locomotive to be constructed here was Class 91 number 91031, completed in February 1991. Over the years since, our railway system has changed radically and the need for Crewe Works has declined and diminished. Nothing of the Grand Junction Railway’s original Works buildings remains and of the Deviation Works only a small part now remains and is still in use.
And so, with the inevitable march of progress, the old buildings which even today are still referred to as 10 Shop and Machine Shop have finally passed into history, demolished for a housing development.
All that remains are the echoes of this industrial giant, ghosts of our past… unsettled and disturbed.
Preserve your memories, they're all that's left you.
~~~
The images in this slideshow are also available on Flickr here www.flickr.com/photos/1577714...
Пікірлер: 20
Superb video. Lots of memories having attended many open days. Just a shame that we don't still make trains here in the UK for our own railway network. Crewe should be the centre of our railway network. It should have been grade II listed protected and kept forever. So sad.
All the locos and stock that have been bought from abroad should have all been built here!
@davearmstrong2296
2 жыл бұрын
Exactly. It is ridiculous that we don't build them in Crewe any more. Bombardier have a lot to answer for. Many a skilled job now lost.
Thanks Brian -Andy, just relived my 41 years in Crewe Works. Loads of happy memories .
So pleased to have found this video. It was my grandfather's workplace in the twenties, thirties and forties (he lived in Flag Lane) and my father did his apprenticeship there too before eventually moving on to BAC in Bristol. He later wrote a book about his experiences there ("Life in a Loco Works" by Charles Taylor).
@johnhind7803
Жыл бұрын
Just read your grandfather's book
What a fantastic video, Brought back many memories, Thanks to all who Contributed. Still hard to Believe It’s all gone😥
The workplace of my family for 4 generations. Like the "works" itself they are all gone. I walked through those places many times on Crewe open day over several years as a boy growing up in the town. I knew things were going to decline as far back as the 1970s and refused an offer of work from them. I left to live in Australia but 40 years later it still hurts me how the operations at Crewe completely folded the way they did. Beeching's cuts did far less damage to the town than the changes of the last 20 years have. As one gets older one realises that nothing lasts forever. I didn't foresee this at all, however.
@jeffreyaryan9472
2 жыл бұрын
you probably dont care at all but does anybody know of a tool to get back into an instagram account..? I stupidly lost my login password. I appreciate any tips you can give me
@hankcooper7124
2 жыл бұрын
@Jeffrey Aryan instablaster ;)
@jeffreyaryan9472
2 жыл бұрын
@Hank Cooper thanks so much for your reply. I got to the site thru google and Im waiting for the hacking stuff now. Looks like it's gonna take a while so I will reply here later with my results.
@jeffreyaryan9472
2 жыл бұрын
@Hank Cooper It did the trick and I finally got access to my account again. I am so happy:D Thanks so much you saved my ass :D
@hankcooper7124
2 жыл бұрын
@Jeffrey Aryan No problem =)
Thank you bombardier
@peterharrison966
6 ай бұрын
And All other Guises that slowly but surely Contributed to the Death Of Crewe Works, Also Include Successive Governments😡Between them All They’ve Ruined Our Once Great Manufacturing Industries! SHAME ON YOU ALL!!!!
A perfect place for a HS2 depot instead of a green field site in the Cheshire countryside.
@davearmstrong2296
2 жыл бұрын
We should build them there, but, hang on, cannot any more due to all those houses and retail units being built on the site. Shameful.
july this year walked down flag lane all whats left is flats pubs shops where there used to be work shops and locos standing about only a small part of the works is left to my amazment there are no tracks left on the works site it just looks like a normal industrail estate now
They're closing down the textile mill Across the railroad tracks Foreman says, "These jobs are going, boys And they ain't coming back To your hometown Bruce Springsteen