Another fun video! Thanks for sharing :-) Just felt I should share a few more notes that might be of interest. Prior to becoming a cartoonist full time, Emmet worked as an draughtsman in Birmingham, where he was working during the 2nd World War. Indeed, he joked afterwards that the Halifax bomber was 2ft longer then it should have been due to an error on his drawing board! For those curious, three of the buildings in which he worked during his time as a draughtsman still stand in Birmingham, one at the north-east of the junction of Newhall Street and the Queensway, one nearby north-east of the junction Ludgate Hill and Lionel Street and one whose location I can't recall at present. Of these, the second currently has a Blue Plaque commemorating Emmet's time there on the wall, with Emmet's friends working to get Plaques erected on the other buildings. Despite Emmet having moved out of the city after the war to a more peaceful home in the countryside, he maintained relationships with Birmingham's manufacturers and engineers. Indeed, when the Kinetic Sculptures went on tour a few years back, the organisers found that the detail castings for the sculptures were still available from a small independent company in the city, still at the same address 50+ years later! -- Additionally, your photo selection showed the "Aqua Horological Tintinnabulator". This contraption can be found in The Victoria Centre, Nottingham, and was recently repaired and reinstalled, so those passing by can enjoy watching the dancing spirals of water pouring in and around Emmet's contraption every hour on the hour!
Sorry to intrude, but the clock shown isn't the Aqua-Horological Tintinnabulator. It is, instead, Pussiewillow III which is located in the Eastgate Centre in Basildon. Still an Emmet design, though.
I'm not a Londoner, I'm not a Brit, but the way you tell these stories made me spend hours on watching your trains :d Keep up the good work, I see a bright future in front of you :)
@@chrisstephens6673 Surely that's almost guaranteed ? With some of the stuff Mr Hazzard introduces us to, fact may well be stranger than fiction. The thing is though, whatever he releases on 1/4/21 will be viewed with suspicion now. 😁
The entire L&SW "withered arm" surely qualifies. I travelled over the route to Padstow as a kid. I think they must have made up the route as they went along. "Where shall we build the railway today? It looks quite nice over there, let's go that way, ".... Thanks JH.
This is before mentioning the Adam's Radial Tank, with the elegant, if spindly frames making them look like something straight out of Emmet's sketch book.. ;-)
Another excellent, entertaining and pithy movie. My father introduced me to Emmett in my childhood. I also had a cousin who made wonderful re-creations of Emmett’s railways with figures out of plasticine. This was all back in the early 1950’s. They totally fascinated me and still do. I have all my fathers Emmett books. I think you do such a wonderful job with all your clips about London and elsewhere. Thoroughly enjoyable, informative and I would say culturally valuable. Thank you so much.
Very nice, well done! Rowland Emmett himself was surely influenced a bit by another Punch cartoonist, William Heath Robinson (1872-1944) who also drew somewhat strange steam engines (amongst many other odd devices), and introduced the term "a Heath Robinson contraption" into the English language, meaning a device that is unnecessarily complex and implausible. And yes, Emmett's locomotives and stock must have also been equally inspired by those of Holman F Stevens, whose 'light railway empire' of mostly uneconomic branch line railways all over the UK, run by ancient and often semi-decrepit small locomotives, elderly rail coaches and early rail buses - The Selsey Light Railway, The Shropshire and Montgomery Light Railway and the Kent and East Sussex Light railway being good examples.
One of Heath Robinson's sons was in fact a qualified engineer, who checked his father's drawings before they were inked, to be sure that however crazy, they did conform to mechanical principles and might have worked. Quite what this did for his own professional reputation is open to dispute....... A poem about the K&ESR appeared in Punch, and Emmett did the drawings to illustrate it.
When at a talk I attended, there was a beautiful summary of the two whimsical dreamers work, written in a local paper talking about the artists work: "Heath Robinson was the Roland Emmett of his time, whilst Roland Emmett was the Heath Robinson of his time."
I've been a fan of Rowland Emett for many years but this is the first I've heard of this particular contribution to his to the Festival of Britain! Very exciting to learn something new about him so thank you so much for this. Incidentally, viewers may be interested to know that there is an appreciation society called the Rowland Emett Society. Thanks again, most enjoyable.
@@steeveedee8478 I don't live in England but I'd really like to go to see his remaining publicly displayed work. Apparently some is in the Smithsonian Museum in the USA - how on earth did it end up there?
@mark bushnell I didn't mean my remark to be disrespectful to Americans mate, in fact I'm glad it's there. Often the work of British and Irish artists is more appreciated on your side of the Atlantic. I just wondered how something so very eccentrically English got into the Smithsonian.
@@steeveedee8478 I was introduced to Roland Emett's whimsical world by the Featherstone Flying Machine in the Merion Centre in 1972/3. I understand that it is still within the Merion, but sadly not on public display. There is an Emett water clock in the shopping centre in Nottingham. I saw it in action in 2019- y'know, pre-Covid days...
I thought the name Rowland Emett was familar but didn't realise that it was the Rowland Emett that made the Owl and Pussycat clock! The clock is sitting in my local shopping centre in Basildon, Essex. The real name of the clock is The Pussiewillow III clock and was commisioned in 1981 and had pride of place just outside the entrance to the Savacentre at one end of the Eastgate Shopping Centre. Following some renovation work to the centre in 1995 the clock was moved to it's present location on the first floor near the lifts, however while it still tells the time and has movement, it seems to have lost it's voice. As far as I know it is currently deemed too delicate to do renovation work on the clock but people still love it and there are regular calls for it to be worked on.
On a serious note; As worrying as an influx of poor quality food should be we already have plenty of it on the shelves. Have a read of Not On The Label by Felicity Lawrence. It's fairly lightweight but a fascinating/terrifying exposé of the absolute crap that gets sold as food. It's not too political either which makes a nice change..
I’m afraid I am old enough to have travelled on the Railway in 1951 when my parents took me to the main Festival site, and to the Fun Fair at Battersea, as we all called it. Pleasure Gardens was a bit of a mouthful for a 4 year old. The F T and O R was the only thing I remembered in any detail, and I was pleased to see that one of the still images you showed was the cover of the Puffin Cut-out Book which is now very rare in an uncutout state. There was a retrospective exhibition at the V and A in 1976, 25 years after the real thing, which was opened by the Queen Mother, since naturally she had been there when George VI opened the original.
I remember the funfair , but the only ride i can remember was certainly not a pleasure, it was a mock up boat, you sat in the dark and went up and down till nausea set in, or that all a nightmare after eating cheese after midnight?
To expand my first comments, I also went on a ride at the Funfair where you sat in a seat attached by chains to the machinery, and as everything rotated, you flew out in a circle over the onlookers. My problem, which I don’t remember, but my parents did, was that after presumably too many ice creams, I was sick in a circle as the onlookers all rushed to move back out of range. There was also a tree walk, all lit up in the dark, but I wasn’t allowed to do that.
I went to the Battersea funfair several times as a kid, and once as an adult. The rides I remember best were the water-splash and that one where you stood at the bottom of a huge cylinder which rotated, and as it got up speed the floor dropped away from under you and you were held in place against its sides by centrifugal force - a different application of the idea used in the ride mentioned by Alexander Atchison.
Thank you, I knew nothing of this but |I remember leafing through ancient copies of Punch as a child and being entranced by his drawings; now I know what became of them!
I can remember this. I was 6 at the time and I was violently sick from the excitement. Same story at the Festival site proper. And the Coronation. And the Oxford Street Christmas lights. (Come to think of it, there's no wonder I'm such a miserable old bugger today. It must be a form of self-defence.)
Jago, it never ceases to amaze me with the info you come up with, is this a case of one thing leading to another? And before you know it you have a book:)
I have come across the Far Tottering and Oyster Creek before through my interest in railways, but only briefly in passing. So it was very enjoyable to find out more about it. I have actually seen Chitty Chitty Bang Bang close up. It was parked up in the loading area of a local shopping precinct when I was making a delivery there for a company I used to work for. To be honest I was a little underwhelmed by it. It's one of those things which look better from a distance. As for other similar railways. There is, or was, the little narrow gauge Southwold railway which was the subject of numerous cartoons, and even a book of verse in Songs of the Southwold. It was finally closed in 1929 just five months short of its 50th anniversary . Many people turned up for its last train and one woman in here 60s stood near the spot where she had stood when the first train had run. Nearly fifty years before.
There is a society that is trying to resurrect the Southwold Railway. They have a short stretch of 3 foot gauge track and some rolling stock I believe.
Also London Overground does operate a “parliamentary” service to Battersea Park from Wandsworth Road that only happens if there is engineering works. And Chiltern Railways also operates a “parliamentary” service from West Ealing to West Ruislip that avoids Greenford. And used to operate from London Paddington via Old Oak Common.
@@alzeNL I remember being mesmerised by a Guiness clock at an age when I wouldn't have known the name of the resort I'd been taken to for the day. There were bobbing toucans and a metallic sun rattling round and round. Having just now briefly googled, it seems there were several.
The three locomotives were indeed rebuilt into A4-like machines. "Nellie" formed the basis of "Princess Anne", "Neptune" became "Princess Margaret Rose" and "Wild Goose" was turned into "Prince Charles". Only the latter still survives and now resides at the Windmill Farm Railway in Burscough, Lancashire.
That was excellent. I do remember my late mother (who would have been 16 in 1951) telling me of the festival, and it's odd little railway. I've not seen good pictures of it until your video; thank you, it made me rather happy. 'Emmett' has been used in a similar manner to 'Heath Robinson' over the years, often by people who know what they mean, but not who the people named were. As to peculiar railways, mine will always be the singularly odd Listowel and Ballybunion monorail. You won't believe it if somebody tries to describe it, and seeing pictures of it, will make you think: "WTF?"
I'm sure you have 'unearthed' a very distant memory of mine, and always unsure if it was dream/reality as i was only 3 years old. My parents visiting friends in South London (Penge I think) took us to the dinosaurs in Crystal Palace and seeing these trains, must of also taken us to Battersea Park on the sameday/during the weekend. Its all very distant and blurry but I amazed to see something i thought was just a childhood dream is probably these trains. Amazing - thank you Jago.
Did you climb on the dinosaurs or were sat on one? We used to, round 67,68 when you could. There on the island in the lake now. Lucky to have that ride on the FT& OC railway. Lucky lad!👍
@@JagoHazzard Excellent, I look forward to it. I used to live in Ashford (Kent obvs) and would pop down every now again to get fish and chips on the beach, but a highlight was already a ride on the light railway.
I was fascinated by this as a ten year old visiting from afar. Not just because I am a near namesake, but because Punch was a regular magazine in our house and we were brought up on Emmet's bizarre fanatasies. It was amazing to see such things 'in the flesh' as it were.
I remember travelling on it with my mother. I was five at the time and living in Chelsea. so it was very close. This video is just as I remember it. There was a tree walk too I went on also in Battersea Park and very close by.
Walking through the cemetery in Fleetwood, Lancashire, my eyes were drawn to a gravestone which gives the names of a John and Mary Wright, husband and wife, nothing unusual in that. But at the bottom it reads “Also [in loving memory of ] Mavis, daughter of the above, and beloved wife of Charles Roberts, who was accidentally killed at the festival gardens, Battersea, July 1951, aged 32 years”. That headstone looks to have been erected around 1970, after her mother died - it just brought home to me the personal tragedy in what is barely remembered today, because there was ‘only’ one fatality.
@@stephenphillip5656 I suppose it’s possible to dislike an aspect of he video (ie that the railway is lost to time and should have been preserved for future generations to enjoy etc) but the like/dislike feature is a clumsy, unnuanced way to express that.
fun fact, the Glasgow part of the festival had 3 engines that were meant to be the future of the UK, 2 of them were for Australian trains and one survives
@@JagoHazzard Not really relevant to your channel, but the surviving engine is an R class 4-6-4 express locomotive for the Victorian Railways. Their workshops were busy repairing locomotives worn out in the war and building new freight locomotives, so they ordered 70 R class from overseas. Sadly they were only top express engines for 2 years before new fangled diesels displaced them.
Nice to see this programme again a year later. I took my grandsons to see the Emmett exhibition in the Gas Hall, Birmingham, where the gatekeeper told me that he had yet to see anyone leaving the display who wasn't smiling. Emmett's original 'Nellie' drawings have a very strong resemblance to a Hunslet quarry type locomotive, which he may have seen at Penrhyn or Llanberis. Interestingly, too, he worked on drawings for the Short Stirling bomber, which may be why Stirlings turn up quite often in his wartime drawings.
We have a Rowland Emmett water clock in the Victoria Centre, Nottingham. Its called the "Aqua Horological Tintinnabulator" - the style is very much that of the Far Tottering railway!
As a child the highlight of any trip to Nottingham was to stand in awe watching the Emett clock in the Victoria Centre. I can still hear the tune in my head and see the squirrels spinning around atop the large unfolding flower. Another great video!
I went to both the South Bank and the Battersea Park in 1951 and had a ride on Roland Emmett's railway, I have a strong affinity to what are now called narrow gauge railways and this started during the war when my mother and I would take the Mersey ferry to New Brighton and the highlight of my day was a ride on the miniature railway there in the fair ground area. A few years later we had holidays in Poole and again the Poole Park railway was regularly visited.
When I was a child and visiting my Grandmother in Pimlico, I remember going to Battersea Park and the funfair. The track for the railway was still there but the line had closed - eventually to be lifted. Disappointed is an understatement.
@@jadz.nerdytransfem Hi there name twin! Yes, I think we've been a lot luckier with our presidents of late than you have. Though things are still far from perfect, of course. Wishing you luck.
Wow- that was interesting- and weird! I started watching these vids around 7pm and it's now after 2am- your videos are a wonderful rabbit hole to go down!
Was not expecting the water fountain at Basildons Eastgate centre to pop up. Many happy hour was spent throwing a coin in the water as a kid. You've given me a new fondness for it. Cheers Jago
I have visited Saltburn since I was a baby and have a house there now. My son enjoyed a ride behind Prince Charles (I recognised at 3.57) 20 years ago to the Valley Gardens and an ice cream at the tea house before a walk back home in the town near the real railway station, which is an extension built in 1860, of the very 1st passenger railway in the world. My dad (an engineer and ex-RAF on Halifax's) introduced me to both Emmett and Heath-Robinson.
A Melbourne newspaper ran a scheme to subsidise teenagers who wanted to go to the Festival of Britain. I was in Form 5, a yearning Anglophile who desperately wanted to go. Alas, my parents couldn't afford the remainder of the cost, so i sated my appetite by continuing to read Boys' Own Paperr and Punch every month. Incidentally, the first Ealing Comedy film Hue and Cry in 1947 (which I have) used bomb site locations of the south bank of the Thames which later became the Festival site. I have, a couple of times, been to the Festival Hall, so I can say I got there, in a way. Thanks Jago for this, it adds to a memorable day in Melbourne: we have come out of a months-long severe lockdown. No curfew, pubs and cafes open, shops open. Seeing Emmett's railway ices the cake.
@@TikTokBrian Thanks! Actually, my first passport, 1961, stated on the cover that I was an Australian citizen, and a British subject. Echoes of colonialism which were expunged a few years later. Ironically, it had to be by an Act of the UK Parliament.
I just about remember the 'Far Tottering' although I would have been about five. Even so, it was a railway and thus I loved it. It is a far distant memory now, so thanks for reminding me and filling in details I simply wouldn't have known.
I am also old enough to have ridden on this wonderful railway. My family, me, Mum, Dad, and Granny came down specially for the Festival of Britain, and having borrowed a house for a couple of days, the second day we decided to go and have a look at Emmet's railway. Being only 7 at the time, the railway, and the Shot Tower were the two things that appealed to me more than the earnest stuff in the Dome of Discovery, but by the time I returned 12 years later, the Shot Tower had been demolished and I couldn't find the railway. Thanks for the memories, I am living more and more in the past these days!
The Gilpin Tramway of Colorado. Though long gone I have driven and walked much of the right of way in my 1964 Plymouth Valiant. Greetings from the high plains of Texas.
Fantastic video I am a Battersea boy and always knew of the narrow gauge railway that replaced this but never knew that this existed my family spoke about the railway in the park during the Festival of Britain but I always thought it was the narrow gauge one that I knew - Thank you for enlightening me
Absolutely brilliant. Many thanks for creating this brilliant video. I actually went to the Festival of Britain in Battersea Park but I was only six. My dad took me. I may even have had a ride on the train behind one of the locomotives. Unfortunately my memories of the day out are very hazy, not because of age ... they always have been. I’ve often looked for info about the Festival of Britain. There’s a certain amount out there, but this is actually the best I’ve found. Very informative and great fun. Thanks again.
Thank you so much for the pictures and the description. I never had heard of this operation. As a 'live steamer' in the US, I always enjoy finding out about somewhat unusual operations. Thanks again.
I saw an Emett sculptor in the 1960's in Welwyn Department Stores It was a spindly man on a bicycle hanging from a balloon it had propellers made from spoons and it was all moved driven by electric motors. It man was life size although exceptional thin and tall with a bushy moustache.
Brilliant. Maybe this is where those wierd model railways come from? They look just like these. Thanks for putting this together and sharing, wonderful stuff. (I mean both the vid and the railway.)
I went to the Pleasure Gardens in Battersea Park many times in the 50s, both with my parents and sister, and with school friends. ( I was 6 going on 7 in '51, and it was safe to go to a park without an adult in those days). The Emmett line ran between the Pleasure Gardens, which had fountains and restaurants and a 3D cinema (Wow!), and more exciting (if you were 7) Fun Fair, which the Big Dipper, dodgems, and the Wall of Death, where motor cyclists rode around the inside of a vertical circular track while you watched from above. Vivid childhood memories from a now grandfather.
I remember seeing the smaller railway trains on the north side of Battersea Park in the 1960's. I also saw one of Emmett's machines in the Spitalfields Field Market in the 1990's.
The Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Railway. Colonel Stephens light railway through and through. Coaches built from trams on railmotor frames, 3 old terriers with various modifications, a rickety bridge on the line to the quarry, it had the lot. The centrepiece of the madness was 'Gazelle' who you showed a picture of. She looks right out of an Emmet cartoon, with her now fully redundant splashers and tiny 60psi boiler. She wound up there as a bargain basement alternative to a railmotor.
Was introduced to Rowland Emett at a young age, but sadly missed out on a trip on this wonderful creation. Many thanks for shining a bit of light on this quirky story.
At age 7 my parents took me to the Festival of Britain, which I remember, and also to the Pleasure Gardens, which strangely I don’t. But I do remember my brothers and I making the cut-out paper train.
The "Daddy Long Legs" railway in the sea to the SE of Brighton had a pretty high weirdness level. It was electric too, none of this nonsense with solid or liquid fuels.
Would that be the one built by Magnus Volk? One of the earliest electric railways anywhere. I studied in Brighton for three years but never went on it. Not an interest at the time.
My pal, Richard, (the bald Explorer) and ‘Dumpman’ (aficionado of all disused railways in Sussex) recently did a video on the daddy long legs... ruclips.net/video/lpUyNTTnj4E/видео.html
@@chazzyb8660 Apparently Emmett also worked in Birmingham, designing parts for the old Short Stirling bomber. That is why, whenever a bomber aircraft appears in several of the wartime cartoons, it is always a Short Stirling. (The original 'Nellie' has a very strong Welsh Quarry Hunslet look about her..... Emmett would have probably known of them.)
i used to watch that film about the vintage car Citty-bang-bang and i never understood way two steam engines appeared in it so i found this very interesting
Thanks for your wonderfully informative tales, I only know Emett from his water clock in Nottingham Victoria shopping centre, itself on the site of an old railway station. A shame this little railway was never preserved.
Oh yes, indeed. Check out the Grizzly Flats Railroad. A full size narrow gauge railroad set up in the backyard of one Ward Kimball. Mr. Kimball was a Disney animator, and his railroad reflected that. The railroad had 900 feet of track, and was operated from 1942 to 2006. Power was a 2-6-0 locomotive built by Baldwin in 1881, and a number of smaller plantation style locomotives. It was the first full-size backyard railroad in the United States.
Fantastic video, I lived in Nottingham for a while last year and was a regular visitor to a local shopping centre where on the 2nd floor was The Aqua Horological Tintinnabulator, or Water Clock commissioned by Capital and Counties in 1970 and designed and built by kinetic sculptor Rowland Emett, it is every bit as wonderfully eccentric as his FT & OCBR. A quirky railway no, but an anachronistic one was the Isle of Wight Railway, I mean the original one, in 1966 when I used to travel to Ventnor for work. Hauled by delightfully grubby and characterful ex LSWR steam loco's with equally ancient coaches still covering about a third of the early island network. A fraction remains, the IOW heritage railway, and the novel Island Line (1967) with 1923, later replaced with 1938 Underground Sets Ryde PH to Shanklin, potential Tales from the Tube? I seem to remember there were two railways on Ryde Pier, one went to & fro on the pier? Drew
Ahh fond memories all through the 1960's summer visits to Battersea park when i left South London for pastures new and then i came back years later and found the big fair had gone. And talking Tube stuff i went away and came back they had a new line called the Victoria line and i went to Brixton on it 42 years after leaving. Marc in Bletchley Towers
Another thumbs up from me! It will be a while before I cease to self exile here in Lincolnshire and join the throng once more: meantime you keep me going with your interesting history lessons. BTW I think the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is Ian Flemings finest work!
So interesting 😀 ..and so glad to have discovered your channel, you have inspired me to explore more of London when I next get to visit from Scotland (lockdown permitting)
I can remember the miniature railway at Belle Vue Manchester as a child ,It had 2 wonderful loco's which wound around Belle Vue gardens . In fact they had a Rowland Emmet style Alice in Wonderland feature with lots of kinetic sculptures and a clock that wound its self out every quater hour ,strange stufff indeed.
Ohh as a 9 year old I loved that far tottering railway. Went on it as many times as I could. My father made a model of it with all the carriages that for many years stood in the boardroom of Punch. I also loved the aerial walkway in the par
What a delightful video. Thank you so much Jago. I must admit to not knowing anything at all about the 1951 Festival of Britain save for the set of two postage stamps from King George VI era. I can tell you about the old British Mandate era Train line in Israel which used to run from Haifa down to Jerusalem and then Tel Aviv. The beautiful old British built Jerusalem railway station has now been turned into a kind of a Covent Garden type centre with craft markets, fancy shops, restaurants and cafes. There is now a modern train line run runs up and down Israel. Anyway, when the train was running, only tourists used to take the line from Haifa to Jerusalem or Jerusalem to Tel Aviv as it was so slow. I kid you not, there used to be a public notice stuck up in every carriage reading "Please do not get out to pick the flowers whilst the train is moving!"
Thanks for that. I had heard of 'The Emmett Railway' many years ago, but at the time that I searched there was not much available on the topic. Now I know more.
My dad would occasionally mention the FoB (inevitably including the Skylon). I had always assumed that the festival was just at the South Bank, so thank you for providing all this fascinating detail.
In Nottingham Victoria shopping centre( Victoria being Victoria train station of the Great Central Railway) there still sits and works The Emmett clock. A lovely musical affair with dancing figures and butterflies and a lovely chime.
I have a not very distinct memory of being taken on the Emett Railway, so thank you for bringing it back. I think Emett was not really like steampunk, as there was an element of whimsy to everything, whereas steampunk is a kind of Goth version of Kingsley Amis's world in The Alteration: definitely dark, while Emett was always light--the bright light of a summer afternoon about 4.30. Looking at the designs, there's a certain affinity with Ronald Searle, though Searle has much more of an edge. Thank you for evoking my childhood.
About my favorite odd railways here in the Netherlands: In the Zuiderpark in The Hague there is a miniature railway that runs every summer. That was great fun as a kid. Also while not quite a railroad, the kids amusement park 'Waarbeek' in the dutch city Hengelo has the oldest still functioning steel 'rollercoaster' in the world. Its a pretty derpy structure and as you might guess not at all a scary ride, but it is a fun little thing to have seen if you like these kind of odd railway thingies.
I met Emett when one of his kinetic sculptures was exhibited at the Ontario Science Centre, in Toronto, Canada. He signed a poster of his design for the sculpture, titled "Pro Bono Pussiquet Joy Floribunda" (Stick to pussycats and roses, and all's well.)
Развлечения
Another fun video! Thanks for sharing :-)
Just felt I should share a few more notes that might be of interest.
Prior to becoming a cartoonist full time, Emmet worked as an draughtsman in Birmingham, where he was working during the 2nd World War. Indeed, he joked afterwards that the Halifax bomber was 2ft longer then it should have been due to an error on his drawing board!
For those curious, three of the buildings in which he worked during his time as a draughtsman still stand in Birmingham, one at the north-east of the junction of Newhall Street and the Queensway, one nearby north-east of the junction Ludgate Hill and Lionel Street and one whose location I can't recall at present. Of these, the second currently has a Blue Plaque commemorating Emmet's time there on the wall, with Emmet's friends working to get Plaques erected on the other buildings.
Despite Emmet having moved out of the city after the war to a more peaceful home in the countryside, he maintained relationships with Birmingham's manufacturers and engineers. Indeed, when the Kinetic Sculptures went on tour a few years back, the organisers found that the detail castings for the sculptures were still available from a small independent company in the city, still at the same address 50+ years later!
--
Additionally, your photo selection showed the "Aqua Horological Tintinnabulator". This contraption can be found in The Victoria Centre, Nottingham, and was recently repaired and reinstalled, so those passing by can enjoy watching the dancing spirals of water pouring in and around Emmet's contraption every hour on the hour!
Sorry to intrude, but the clock shown isn't the Aqua-Horological Tintinnabulator. It is, instead, Pussiewillow III which is located in the Eastgate Centre in Basildon. Still an Emmet design, though.
THOUGHT it looked familiar!
I'm not a Londoner, I'm not a Brit, but the way you tell these stories made me spend hours on watching your trains :d Keep up the good work, I see a bright future in front of you :)
Thanks!
If they were not so well documented I'd swear you were making this up to wind us up!
April 1st is not too far off, i wonder if we will get a special from JH?
Clockwork
@@chrisstephens6673 Surely that's almost guaranteed ?
With some of the stuff Mr Hazzard introduces us to, fact may well be stranger than fiction. The thing is though, whatever he releases on 1/4/21 will be viewed with suspicion now. 😁
@@2H80vids putting him on the spot now, but he's got a few months to think about it. Or, am i encouraging great expectations. 😉
The entire L&SW "withered arm" surely qualifies. I travelled over the route to Padstow as a kid. I think they must have made up the route as they went along.
"Where shall we build the railway today? It looks quite nice over there, let's go that way, "....
Thanks JH.
This is before mentioning the Adam's Radial Tank, with the elegant, if spindly frames making them look like something straight out of Emmet's sketch book.. ;-)
Another excellent, entertaining and pithy movie. My father introduced me to Emmett in my childhood. I also had a cousin who made wonderful re-creations of Emmett’s railways with figures out of plasticine. This was all back in the early 1950’s. They totally fascinated me and still do. I have all my fathers Emmett books. I think you do such a wonderful job with all your clips about London and elsewhere. Thoroughly enjoyable, informative and I would say culturally valuable. Thank you so much.
You’re very welcome!
Hear! Hear!
Very nice, well done! Rowland Emmett himself was surely influenced a bit by another Punch cartoonist, William Heath Robinson (1872-1944) who also drew somewhat strange steam engines (amongst many other odd devices), and introduced the term "a Heath Robinson contraption" into the English language, meaning a device that is unnecessarily complex and implausible. And yes, Emmett's locomotives and stock must have also been equally inspired by those of Holman F Stevens, whose 'light railway empire' of mostly uneconomic branch line railways all over the UK, run by ancient and often semi-decrepit small locomotives, elderly rail coaches and early rail buses - The Selsey Light Railway, The Shropshire and Montgomery Light Railway and the Kent and East Sussex Light railway being good examples.
One of Heath Robinson's sons was in fact a qualified engineer, who checked his father's drawings before they were inked, to be sure that however crazy, they did conform to mechanical principles and might have worked. Quite what this did for his own professional reputation is open to dispute....... A poem about the K&ESR appeared in Punch, and Emmett did the drawings to illustrate it.
When at a talk I attended, there was a beautiful summary of the two whimsical dreamers work, written in a local paper talking about the artists work:
"Heath Robinson was the Roland Emmett of his time, whilst Roland Emmett was the Heath Robinson of his time."
I've been a fan of Rowland Emett for many years but this is the first I've heard of this particular contribution to his to the Festival of Britain! Very exciting to learn something new about him so thank you so much for this. Incidentally, viewers may be interested to know that there is an appreciation society called the Rowland Emett Society. Thanks again, most enjoyable.
I used to like watching his 'Featherstone Kite' flying machine in Leeds Merrion Center around 1980 which used to activate on the hour.
@@steeveedee8478 I don't live in England but I'd really like to go to see his remaining publicly displayed work. Apparently some is in the Smithsonian Museum in the USA - how on earth did it end up there?
@mark bushnell I didn't mean my remark to be disrespectful to Americans mate, in fact I'm glad it's there. Often the work of British and Irish artists is more appreciated on your side of the Atlantic. I just wondered how something so very eccentrically English got into the Smithsonian.
Do you know about his Christmas display in Harrods toy shop in, I think , 1960, that was another great memory.
@@steeveedee8478 I was introduced to Roland Emett's whimsical world by the Featherstone Flying Machine in the Merion Centre in 1972/3. I understand that it is still within the Merion, but sadly not on public display. There is an Emett water clock in the shopping centre in Nottingham. I saw it in action in 2019- y'know, pre-Covid days...
I thought the name Rowland Emett was familar but didn't realise that it was the Rowland Emett that made the Owl and Pussycat clock! The clock is sitting in my local shopping centre in Basildon, Essex. The real name of the clock is The Pussiewillow III clock and was commisioned in 1981 and had pride of place just outside the entrance to the Savacentre at one end of the Eastgate Shopping Centre. Following some renovation work to the centre in 1995 the clock was moved to it's present location on the first floor near the lifts, however while it still tells the time and has movement, it seems to have lost it's voice. As far as I know it is currently deemed too delicate to do renovation work on the clock but people still love it and there are regular calls for it to be worked on.
I was there at the opening, when Michael Bentine spoke most entertainingly. Glad to hear it's still extant.
I have a vague recollection of one of his works being in the Harvey Center, Harlow (although I might be getting mixed up with your one)..?!
What a delight! Had times been more prosperous, he would have been the Disney of England. Love the look of his work, Dr. Seuss like in a way.
Rumour has it ration books will be making a comeback....
Keep off my corned beef or I'll glass ya
Any excuse for some Spam.
@@buggs9950 it’s not spam this time , it’ll be water injected hormone rich pork
@@highdownmartin Is that not Spam?
On a serious note; As worrying as an influx of poor quality food should be we already have plenty of it on the shelves. Have a read of Not On The Label by Felicity Lawrence. It's fairly lightweight but a fascinating/terrifying exposé of the absolute crap that gets sold as food. It's not too political either which makes a nice change..
I’m afraid I am old enough to have travelled on the Railway in 1951 when my parents took me to the main Festival site, and to the Fun Fair at Battersea, as we all called it. Pleasure Gardens was a bit of a mouthful for a 4 year old. The F T and O R was the only thing I remembered in any detail, and I was pleased to see that one of the still images you showed was the cover of the Puffin Cut-out Book which is now very rare in an uncutout state. There was a retrospective exhibition at the V and A in 1976, 25 years after the real thing, which was opened by the Queen Mother, since naturally she had been there when George VI opened the original.
I remember the funfair , but the only ride i can remember was certainly not a pleasure, it was a mock up boat, you sat in the dark and went up and down till nausea set in, or that all a nightmare after eating cheese after midnight?
I have a copy of the Puffin book. I have scanned and made up the model, from the scans of course. Now I'm working on a version for my front room.
To expand my first comments, I also went on a ride at the Funfair where you sat in a seat attached by chains to the machinery, and as everything rotated, you flew out in a circle over the onlookers. My problem, which I don’t remember, but my parents did, was that after presumably too many ice creams, I was sick in a circle as the onlookers all rushed to move back out of range. There was also a tree walk, all lit up in the dark, but I wasn’t allowed to do that.
@@alexanderatchison3946 oops!
I went to the Battersea funfair several times as a kid, and once as an adult. The rides I remember best were the water-splash and that one where you stood at the bottom of a huge cylinder which rotated, and as it got up speed the floor dropped away from under you and you were held in place against its sides by centrifugal force - a different application of the idea used in the ride mentioned by Alexander Atchison.
Imagine this Disney nerd’s delight to hear “imagineering” mentioned
I can’t think of a better term to describe it. It almost doesn’t need explaining, it’s such a neat word.
Sir, you put more history and knowledge into five or ten minutes than most documentaries do in an hour. Thank you so very much .
You’re most welcome!
"It was nostalgic, it was eccentric, and it was fun." Kind of like this video. Well done.
Thank you, I knew nothing of this but |I remember leafing through ancient copies of Punch as a child and being entranced by his drawings; now I know what became of them!
I can remember this. I was 6 at the time and I was violently sick from the excitement. Same story at the Festival site proper. And the Coronation. And the Oxford Street Christmas lights. (Come to think of it, there's no wonder I'm such a miserable old bugger today. It must be a form of self-defence.)
If only the railway still existed. Could the Oyster be valid to Oyster Creek? 🤔
I don't know the etymology of the oyster card, do you think there's a chance this is where it comes from? wild if true
@@2112pk I believe it alludes to the phrase “the world is you4 oyster”, meaning the card opens the whole system to you.
I like Izzie's idea better.
@@chazzyb8660 So do I!
Jago, it never ceases to amaze me with the info you come up with, is this a case of one thing leading to another? And before you know it you have a book:)
I have come across the Far Tottering and Oyster Creek before through my interest in railways, but only briefly in passing. So it was very enjoyable to find out more about it.
I have actually seen Chitty Chitty Bang Bang close up. It was parked up in the loading area of a local shopping precinct when I was making a delivery there for a company I used to work for. To be honest I was a little underwhelmed by it. It's one of those things which look better from a distance.
As for other similar railways. There is, or was, the little narrow gauge Southwold railway which was the subject of numerous cartoons, and even a book of verse in Songs of the Southwold. It was finally closed in 1929 just five months short of its 50th anniversary . Many people turned up for its last train and one woman in here 60s stood near the spot where she had stood when the first train had run. Nearly fifty years before.
There is a society that is trying to resurrect the Southwold Railway. They have a short stretch of 3 foot gauge track and some rolling stock I believe.
Also London Overground does operate a “parliamentary” service to Battersea Park from Wandsworth Road that only happens if there is engineering works. And Chiltern Railways also operates a “parliamentary” service from West Ealing to West Ruislip that avoids Greenford. And used to operate from London Paddington via Old Oak Common.
I just remember this. There were so many other lovely things in the park like the Guinness clock. What a pity that it all disappeared.
I thnk the Guiness clock (or a copy of it) was in Hastings for a while.
@@alzeNL I remember being mesmerised by a Guiness clock at an age when I wouldn't have known the name of the resort I'd been taken to for the day. There were bobbing toucans and a metallic sun rattling round and round. Having just now briefly googled, it seems there were several.
Lovely day for a Guinness.
The three locomotives were indeed rebuilt into A4-like machines. "Nellie" formed the basis of "Princess Anne", "Neptune" became "Princess Margaret Rose" and "Wild Goose" was turned into "Prince Charles".
Only the latter still survives and now resides at the Windmill Farm Railway in Burscough, Lancashire.
Thanks! I didn’t know about the other two.
That was excellent. I do remember my late mother (who would have been 16 in 1951) telling me of the festival, and it's odd little railway. I've not seen good pictures of it until your video; thank you, it made me rather happy.
'Emmett' has been used in a similar manner to 'Heath Robinson' over the years, often by people who know what they mean, but not who the people named were.
As to peculiar railways, mine will always be the singularly odd Listowel and Ballybunion monorail. You won't believe it if somebody tries to describe it, and seeing pictures of it, will make you think: "WTF?"
Here in the US, we have the Rube Goldberg Machine, which is basically the same thing, commemorating cartoonist Reuben Goldberg (1883-1970).
I'm sure you have 'unearthed' a very distant memory of mine, and always unsure if it was dream/reality as i was only 3 years old. My parents visiting friends in South London (Penge I think) took us to the dinosaurs in Crystal Palace and seeing these trains, must of also taken us to Battersea Park on the sameday/during the weekend. Its all very distant and blurry but I amazed to see something i thought was just a childhood dream is probably these trains. Amazing - thank you Jago.
Did you climb on the dinosaurs or were sat on one? We used to, round 67,68 when you could. There on the island in the lake now. Lucky to have that ride on the FT& OC railway. Lucky lad!👍
@@highdownmartin i was only between 3 or 4, i recall touching them, but also a fence! not sure about sitting, probably not :)
"It all helps the channel and makes me feel good about myself."
That's the kind of honesty I come back for!
You're amazing! I love this city but i never even heard of most of the histories displayed in your channel! Thank you for bringing it to light!
Did you see the episode of "The Repair Shop" where an Emett model train set was restored to working order? Probably still on iPlayer.
I should look it up!
@@JagoHazzard It's in Series 4 Episode 19 or 60 Minute Versions Episode 3. Sadly neither available on iPlayer at the moment.
Certainly well worth a watch, a very unique model layout.
One of my favourite is the Dymchurch railway on the Kent coast.
Fabulous little railway. I say little but it does travel a fair way.
It’s one I plan to do a video on next year.
@@JagoHazzard Excellent, I look forward to it. I used to live in Ashford (Kent obvs) and would pop down every now again to get fish and chips on the beach, but a highlight was already a ride on the light railway.
dont forget Romney and Hythe !! to give its full title (RH&DR)
@@alzeNL But Dymchurch has the Funfair for kids. !!
I was fascinated by this as a ten year old visiting from afar. Not just because I am a near namesake, but because Punch was a regular magazine in our house and we were brought up on Emmet's bizarre fanatasies. It was amazing to see such things 'in the flesh' as it were.
I remember travelling on it with my mother. I was five at the time and living in Chelsea. so it was very close. This video is just as I remember it. There was a tree walk too I went on also in Battersea Park and very close by.
Walking through the cemetery in Fleetwood, Lancashire, my eyes were drawn to a gravestone which gives the names of a John and Mary Wright, husband and wife, nothing unusual in that. But at the bottom it reads “Also [in loving memory of ] Mavis, daughter of the above, and beloved wife of Charles Roberts, who was accidentally killed at the festival gardens, Battersea, July 1951, aged 32 years”. That headstone looks to have been erected around 1970, after her mother died - it just brought home to me the personal tragedy in what is barely remembered today, because there was ‘only’ one fatality.
I almost feel sad for the sad one person who gave this a thumbs down
Me too!!!
Now rather tragically joined by four of his/her "mates". Haters will hate...
@@stephenphillip5656 I suppose it’s possible to dislike an aspect of he video (ie that the railway is lost to time and should have been preserved for future generations to enjoy etc) but the like/dislike feature is a clumsy, unnuanced way to express that.
Give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they have poor eyesight and meant to hit ‘like’ 😉
fun fact, the Glasgow part of the festival had 3 engines that were meant to be the future of the UK, 2 of them were for Australian trains and one survives
Interesting, I should look those out.
@@JagoHazzard Not really relevant to your channel, but the surviving engine is an R class 4-6-4 express locomotive for the Victorian Railways. Their workshops were busy repairing locomotives worn out in the war and building new freight locomotives, so they ordered 70 R class from overseas. Sadly they were only top express engines for 2 years before new fangled diesels displaced them.
Nice to see this programme again a year later. I took my grandsons to see the Emmett exhibition in the Gas Hall, Birmingham, where the gatekeeper told me that he had yet to see anyone leaving the display who wasn't smiling. Emmett's original 'Nellie' drawings have a very strong resemblance to a Hunslet quarry type locomotive, which he may have seen at Penrhyn or Llanberis. Interestingly, too, he worked on drawings for the Short Stirling bomber, which may be why Stirlings turn up quite often in his wartime drawings.
its always nice finding videos uploaded 2 minutes ago
@@mike-bee 8pm
Really fascinating video on a subject matter that I previously knew absolutely nothing about, thank you!
We have a Rowland Emmett water clock in the Victoria Centre, Nottingham. Its called the "Aqua Horological Tintinnabulator" - the style is very much that of the Far Tottering railway!
Wonderful to see Emett's wonderful cartoons brought to life. A pity I was only two years old at the time!
As a child the highlight of any trip to Nottingham was to stand in awe watching the Emett clock in the Victoria Centre. I can still hear the tune in my head and see the squirrels spinning around atop the large unfolding flower. Another great video!
I went to both the South Bank and the Battersea Park in 1951 and had a ride on Roland Emmett's railway, I have a strong affinity to what are now called narrow gauge railways and this started during the war when my mother and I would take the Mersey ferry to New Brighton and the highlight of my day was a ride on the miniature railway there in the fair ground area. A few years later we had holidays in Poole and again the Poole Park railway was regularly visited.
When I was a child and visiting my Grandmother in Pimlico, I remember going to Battersea Park and the funfair. The track for the railway was still there but the line had closed - eventually to be lifted. Disappointed is an understatement.
I can see why it was popular. Looks fun. And beautiful, in its way.
Yoooo name bro! Hello from America, please send help we have a couple of total idgits running for control of the oil machine
@@jadz.nerdytransfem Hi there name twin! Yes, I think we've been a lot luckier with our presidents of late than you have. Though things are still far from perfect, of course. Wishing you luck.
Wow- that was interesting- and weird! I started watching these vids around 7pm and it's now after 2am- your videos are a wonderful rabbit hole to go down!
A perfect combination! Nostalgia for my visits to the Pleasure Gardens and commentary by Jago.
Was not expecting the water fountain at Basildons Eastgate centre to pop up. Many happy hour was spent throwing a coin in the water as a kid. You've given me a new fondness for it. Cheers Jago
I have visited Saltburn since I was a baby and have a house there now. My son enjoyed a ride behind Prince Charles (I recognised at 3.57) 20 years ago to the Valley Gardens and an ice cream at the tea house before a walk back home in the town near the real railway station, which is an extension built in 1860, of the very 1st passenger railway in the world. My dad (an engineer and ex-RAF on Halifax's) introduced me to both Emmett and Heath-Robinson.
A Melbourne newspaper ran a scheme to subsidise teenagers who wanted to go to the Festival of Britain. I was in Form 5, a yearning Anglophile who desperately wanted to go. Alas, my parents couldn't afford the remainder of the cost, so i sated my appetite by continuing to read Boys' Own Paperr and Punch every month.
Incidentally, the first Ealing Comedy film Hue and Cry in 1947 (which I have) used bomb site locations of the south bank of the Thames which later became the Festival site. I have, a couple of times, been to the Festival Hall, so I can say I got there, in a way.
Thanks Jago for this, it adds to a memorable day in Melbourne: we have come out of a months-long severe lockdown. No curfew, pubs and cafes open, shops open. Seeing Emmett's railway ices the cake.
That’s really interesting. Thankyou. I now pronounce you an Honorary Brit. :-)
@@TikTokBrian Thanks! Actually, my first passport, 1961, stated on the cover that I was an Australian citizen, and a British subject. Echoes of colonialism which were expunged a few years later. Ironically, it had to be by an Act of the UK Parliament.
When I started watching your channel I did not expect to learn about the real inventer from my favorite movie growing up! So cool!!!
I just about remember the 'Far Tottering' although I would have been about five. Even so, it was a railway and thus I loved it. It is a far distant memory now, so thanks for reminding me and filling in details I simply wouldn't have known.
Bizarre railway? You mean besides the current mainline operators I presume?
Heyoooo!
Hey, many of them run legitimate railway business.
Just not in the UK
I am also old enough to have ridden on this wonderful railway. My family, me, Mum, Dad, and Granny came down specially for the Festival of Britain, and having borrowed a house for a couple of days, the second day we decided to go and have a look at Emmet's railway. Being only 7 at the time, the railway, and the Shot Tower were the two things that appealed to me more than the earnest stuff in the Dome of Discovery, but by the time I returned 12 years later, the Shot Tower had been demolished and I couldn't find the railway. Thanks for the memories, I am living more and more in the past these days!
The Gilpin Tramway of Colorado. Though long gone I have driven and walked much of the right of way in my 1964 Plymouth Valiant.
Greetings from the high plains of Texas.
Fantastic video I am a Battersea boy and always knew of the narrow gauge railway that replaced this but never knew that this existed my family spoke about the railway in the park during the Festival of Britain but I always thought it was the narrow gauge one that I knew - Thank you for enlightening me
Absolutely brilliant. Many thanks for creating this brilliant video.
I actually went to the Festival of Britain in Battersea Park but I was only six. My dad took me. I may even have had a ride on the train behind one of the locomotives. Unfortunately my memories of the day out are very hazy, not because of age ... they always have been. I’ve often looked for info about the Festival of Britain. There’s a certain amount out there, but this is actually the best I’ve found. Very informative and great fun. Thanks again.
You’re very welcome!
Thank you so much for the pictures and the description. I never had heard of this operation. As a 'live steamer' in the US, I always enjoy finding out about somewhat unusual operations. Thanks again.
I saw an Emett sculptor in the 1960's in Welwyn Department Stores It was a spindly man on a bicycle hanging from a balloon it had propellers made from spoons and it was all moved driven by electric motors. It man was life size although exceptional thin and tall with a bushy moustache.
Brilliant. Maybe this is where those wierd model railways come from? They look just like these. Thanks for putting this together and sharing, wonderful stuff. (I mean both the vid and the railway.)
I went to the Pleasure Gardens in Battersea Park many times in the 50s, both with my parents and sister, and with school friends. ( I was 6 going on 7 in '51, and it was safe to go to a park without an adult in those days). The Emmett line ran between the Pleasure Gardens, which had fountains and restaurants and a 3D cinema (Wow!), and more exciting (if you were 7) Fun Fair, which the Big Dipper, dodgems, and the Wall of Death, where motor cyclists rode around the inside of a vertical circular track while you watched from above. Vivid childhood memories from a now grandfather.
Dear Mr Hazzard, another fascinating & well constructed video. Please keep them coming!
I remember seeing the smaller railway trains on the north side of Battersea Park in the 1960's. I also saw one of Emmett's machines in the Spitalfields Field Market in the 1990's.
It was so good to learn more about this venture which is so interesting and all happened in the year of my birth. thanks Jago
I remember the railway in it's latter days! Fascinating stuff - another great video.
This channel is absolutely amazing! I'm learning so much. Thank you for these great videos. 👍
The Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Railway. Colonel Stephens light railway through and through. Coaches built from trams on railmotor frames, 3 old terriers with various modifications, a rickety bridge on the line to the quarry, it had the lot. The centrepiece of the madness was 'Gazelle' who you showed a picture of. She looks right out of an Emmet cartoon, with her now fully redundant splashers and tiny 60psi boiler. She wound up there as a bargain basement alternative to a railmotor.
Was introduced to Rowland Emett at a young age, but sadly missed out on a trip on this wonderful creation. Many thanks for shining a bit of light on this quirky story.
Loved watching and learning about this quirky railway Jago.
At age 7 my parents took me to the Festival of Britain, which I remember, and also to the Pleasure Gardens, which strangely I don’t. But I do remember my brothers and I making the cut-out paper train.
The "Daddy Long Legs" railway in the sea to the SE of Brighton had a pretty high weirdness level. It was electric too, none of this nonsense with solid or liquid fuels.
I have a script written for an episode!
Would that be the one built by Magnus Volk? One of the earliest electric railways anywhere. I studied in Brighton for three years but never went on it. Not an interest at the time.
@@Krzyszczynski - the Volks railway is still there - this one ran further east and was even more bizarre!
My pal, Richard, (the bald Explorer) and ‘Dumpman’ (aficionado of all disused railways in Sussex) recently did a video on the daddy long legs...
ruclips.net/video/lpUyNTTnj4E/видео.html
When I went on a walking tour of Birmingham they proudly pointed out the blue plaque dedicated to Rowland Emett, who was educated in Birmingham.
And they had a great Emett exhibition with lots of working models in the Art Gallery there a few years back.
@@chazzyb8660 Apparently Emmett also worked in Birmingham, designing parts for the old Short Stirling bomber. That is why, whenever a bomber aircraft appears in several of the wartime cartoons, it is always a Short Stirling. (The original 'Nellie' has a very strong Welsh Quarry Hunslet look about her..... Emmett would have probably known of them.)
i used to watch that film about the vintage car Citty-bang-bang and i never understood way two steam engines appeared in it so i found this very interesting
Reading the comments are just about as interesting a bonus as your brilliant micro documentaries; pls keep these coming...
Thanks for your wonderfully informative tales, I only know Emett from his water clock in Nottingham Victoria shopping centre, itself on the site of an old railway station. A shame this little railway was never preserved.
Oh yes, indeed. Check out the Grizzly Flats Railroad. A full size narrow gauge railroad set up in the backyard of one Ward Kimball. Mr. Kimball was a Disney animator, and his railroad reflected that. The railroad had 900 feet of track, and was operated from 1942 to 2006. Power was a 2-6-0 locomotive built by Baldwin in 1881, and a number of smaller plantation style locomotives. It was the first full-size backyard railroad in the United States.
Fantastic info it never ceases to amaze me how on walking around London as a kid I missed seeing all this history. :)
Beautiful! Great video.
Fantastic video, I lived in Nottingham for a while last year and was a regular visitor to a local shopping centre where on the 2nd floor was The Aqua Horological Tintinnabulator, or Water Clock commissioned by Capital and Counties in 1970 and designed and built by kinetic sculptor Rowland Emett, it is every bit as wonderfully eccentric as his FT & OCBR.
A quirky railway no, but an anachronistic one was the Isle of Wight Railway, I mean the original one, in 1966 when I used to travel to Ventnor for work. Hauled by delightfully grubby and characterful ex LSWR steam loco's with equally ancient coaches still covering about a third of the early island network. A fraction remains, the IOW heritage railway, and the novel Island Line (1967) with 1923, later replaced with 1938 Underground Sets Ryde PH to Shanklin, potential Tales from the Tube? I seem to remember there were two railways on Ryde Pier, one went to & fro on the pier? Drew
Thanks for this one; entertaining and informative as usual. I had a ride on the Saltburn railway last year - a nostalgia trip, since L grew up there.
Saltburn seems to have all the fun - isn't there a funicular railway as well as the miniature one?
Ahh fond memories all through the 1960's summer visits to Battersea park when i left South London for pastures new and then i came back years later and found the big fair had gone.
And talking Tube stuff i went away and came back they had a new line called the Victoria line and i went to Brixton on it 42 years after leaving.
Marc in Bletchley Towers
Another thumbs up from me! It will be a while before I cease to self exile here in Lincolnshire and join the throng once more: meantime you keep me going with your interesting history lessons. BTW I think the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is Ian Flemings finest work!
I travelled on this line many times as a kid....in the late 60s
So interesting 😀 ..and so glad to have discovered your channel, you have inspired me to explore more of London when I next get to visit from Scotland (lockdown permitting)
I can remember the miniature railway at Belle Vue Manchester as a child ,It had 2 wonderful loco's which wound around Belle Vue gardens . In fact they had a Rowland Emmet style Alice in Wonderland feature with lots of kinetic sculptures and a clock that wound its self out every quater hour ,strange stufff indeed.
Ohh as a 9 year old I loved that far tottering railway. Went on it as many times as I could. My father made a model of it with all the carriages that for many years stood in the boardroom of Punch. I also loved the aerial walkway in the par
What a delightful video. Thank you so much Jago.
I must admit to not knowing anything at all about the 1951 Festival of Britain save for the set of two postage stamps from King George VI era.
I can tell you about the old British Mandate era Train line in Israel which used to run from Haifa down to Jerusalem and then Tel Aviv. The beautiful old British built Jerusalem railway station has now been turned into a kind of a Covent Garden type centre with craft markets, fancy shops, restaurants and cafes. There is now a modern train line run runs up and down Israel. Anyway, when the train was running, only tourists used to take the line from Haifa to Jerusalem or Jerusalem to Tel Aviv as it was so slow. I kid you not, there used to be a public notice stuck up in every carriage reading "Please do not get out to pick the flowers whilst the train is moving!"
Thanks for that. I had heard of 'The Emmett Railway' many years ago, but at the time that I searched there was not much available on the topic. Now I know more.
I remember seeing Emmett's "Potato Train" at an Ideal Home Exhibition in Leeds sometime in the 1960s.
Brilliant!!! I saw them repairing a model on the program ' Repair Shop' but never dreamed there was a real one! Thank you.
What a beautiful piece of research and what a great story!
My dad would occasionally mention the FoB (inevitably including the Skylon). I had always assumed that the festival was just at the South Bank, so thank you for providing all this fascinating detail.
In Nottingham Victoria shopping centre( Victoria being Victoria train station of the Great Central Railway) there still sits and works The Emmett clock. A lovely musical affair with dancing figures and butterflies and a lovely chime.
Nice video really enjoying these
Kinda just waiting till the channel blows up, ill be here until then... Keep em coming ^_^
I have a not very distinct memory of being taken on the Emett Railway, so thank you for bringing it back. I think Emett was not really like steampunk, as there was an element of whimsy to everything, whereas steampunk is a kind of Goth version of Kingsley Amis's world in The Alteration: definitely dark, while Emett was always light--the bright light of a summer afternoon about 4.30. Looking at the designs, there's a certain affinity with Ronald Searle, though Searle has much more of an edge. Thank you for evoking my childhood.
An amazing discovery , wonderful . Cheers from California !
The world needs more characters like Mr Emmett! 😄
excellent video and i had no idea about that line or emitt or the fact he was involved with those inventions
_Far Tottering and Oyster Creek_
Ah yes, the best Trumpton spin-off series.
Isn't it amazing how quickly whimsey is tossed aside.
About my favorite odd railways here in the Netherlands:
In the Zuiderpark in The Hague there is a miniature railway that runs every summer. That was great fun as a kid.
Also while not quite a railroad, the kids amusement park 'Waarbeek' in the dutch city Hengelo has the oldest still functioning steel 'rollercoaster' in the world. Its a pretty derpy structure and as you might guess not at all a scary ride, but it is a fun little thing to have seen if you like these kind of odd railway thingies.
I met Emett when one of his kinetic sculptures was exhibited at the Ontario Science Centre, in Toronto, Canada. He signed a poster of his design for the sculpture, titled "Pro Bono Pussiquet Joy Floribunda" (Stick to pussycats and roses, and all's well.)
Excellent advice, I should take it sometime...
Such interesting video! I love the story of the park and the locomotives ! Love to read the comments about person who remember it. 🙂