OAKWOOD PRESS & VIDEO LIBRARY

ACHILLBEG - The Life of an Island
by Jonathan Beaumont

One of Ireland's most scenic roads skirts the southern side of the Corraun Peninsula in County Mayo, giving breathtaking views of Clew Bay and Clare Island. Travelling towards Darby's Point from the Mulrany direction, a view of the southern end of Achill Island will launch into view as you near the point.  Just to the left of this, two low hills may be seen with a small secluded beach in between - at first glance it is another part of Achill Island to the uninitiated, but a closer look reveals that these two hills are separated from the rest of Achill by a narrow channel, the Blind Sound.

These two hills, with the narrow valley between them, make up Achillbeg Island, a small piece of Ireland some 60 hectares in area, and an individual little world in itself The name Achillbeg comes from Acaill Beag, or 'Little Achill' The island's wild and beautiful scenery has been shaped by the wind and strong sea currents, as the Atlantic pounds the exposed rocky coastline

By 1000 BC, Achillbeg was certainly inhabited, as it is from around this era that the spectacular promontory fort at Dun Chill Mhor may be dated. Before the ravages of the Great Famine the island's population was almost 200, but by the early 1960s barely a sixth of that number remained and the school enrolment was down to single figures. Despite the recent introduction of electricity and a phone line, the end was in sight, and the remaining inhabitants moved out in 1965. Much of the land is still owned by the families of those who left, and many surviving islanders live on Achill within sight of their old home, but Achillbeg is now a haven of peaceful solitude Several old cottages have been renovated as holiday homes, and the electricity link remains to service both these and the automated lighthouse. But the rest stand silently, abandoned under the wide western Mayo sky.

This book is the first study of this beautiful island, and has been painstakingly researched using the memories of former residents as the primary source It is to A5 format with a laminated card cover with square-backed spine and consists of 208 pages with 180 illustrations.

THE ALSTON BRANCH   
by S. C. Jenkins

The 13 1/4 mile single branch from Haltwhistle to Alston was neglected by enthusiasts for many years, but having survived the Beeching closures it belatedly emerged as one of England's best-loved rural lines. When the axe finally fell in 1976, many people regarded the closure as a national tragedy.

The Alston line was a highly scenic route serving an area much frequented by hikers and other outdoor enthusiasts, it was a line with a very long history (dating back to the 1840s) and much of the Victorian infrastructure remained intact. The history of the branch was inextricably linked with the story of mining of lead and coal in the area, these activities add an extra dimension to an already interesting story. The narrow gauge South Tynedale Railway continues to operate on part of the line's original trackbed. This history was first published in 1991, and had been out of print for many years until now.

120 pages, A5 format, with full colour cover.

THE ANSTRUTHER & ST ANDREWS RAILWAY   
by Andrew Hajducki, Michael Jodeluk & Alan Simpson

In their previous book, The St Andrews Railway the authors set out the history, from inception to closure, of the pioneering branch line that connected the ancient university and golfing town of St Andrews to the outside world. This book continues the story of the East Fife Railways and deals with the fascinating and often tortuous history of one of the least prosperous and most ill-fated of all of the small companies that struggled to complete the coastal loop from Thornton to Leuchars, the Anstruther & St Andrews Railway.

Opened in two stages between 1883 and 1887, this rather wandering 16 mile-long single track linked the terminus of the Leven & East of Fife Railway at the busy fishing port of Anstruther with the genteel burgh of Crail and, turning north, served the villages of Kingsbarns and Boarhills, although in the case of Kingsbarns the station was a long walk away from the village it purported to serve.

From Boarhills the line then swung through a great arc and, passing through nowhere in particular, had remote stations at Stravithie and Mount Melville before beginning a fearsome descent to St Andrews where its flower-decked and spruce station was the meeting point with the branch from Leuchars.

In an astute move the shareholders of the Anstruther & St Andrews eventually sold out to Scotland’s largest railway company, the North British, and thereafter the line rose to new heights under the NBR and the London & North Eastern Railway, even carrying a named train, the fabled ‘Fife Coast Express’. The combined effects of an economic recession and bus competition caused the four intermediate stations between Crail and St Andrews to close to passengers as early as 1930 and this section survived a threat of complete closure to serve the wartime airfields at Crail, Dunino and Stravithie. The post-war boom ended with rapidly falling revenues and even the dieselisation of the passenger services could not stop local people from turning their back on the line.

When, in the 1960s, the line was finally closed many regretted that Crail was no longer on the railway map and that it would never again be possible to sit at the front of a diesel unit and trundle through a beautiful rural landscape interspersed with sea views, farmland and the four mysterious stations that seemed to have fallen asleep under a wicked spell.

To those who remember the slow trains that trundled their way around the East Neuk, the Anstruther & St Andrews Railway was possibly the most fascinating and least visited part of the Fife Coast system and it is still held in great affection by those who knew it. It is with great pleasure that the authors invite you to take your seats and await the green flag and whistle.

The book is to A5 format, 248 pages, with more than 200 photographs, maps and illustrations.

ARBROATH & FORFAR RAILWAY, DUNDEE TO FORFAR DIRECT LINE and THE KIRRIEMUIR BRANCH  
by Niall Ferguson

Dundee was a major area for early railway construction in Scotland.  The earliest line opened in 1831, and by the late 1840s there were no less than three railways with termini in Dundee.  All three were originally built to different gauges, the Dundee & Newtyle to 4 ft 61⁄2 in., the Dundee & Perth to 4 ft 81⁄2 in., and the Dundee & Arbroath to 5 ft 6 in. gauge, which it shared with the adjoining Arbroath & Forfar.  The Arbroath & Forfar line opened in 1839, and before long it was possible to travel from Dundee to Forfar without the need to change trains.  The railways on Tayside were not concerned with transporting coal, they made their money from a combination of transporting agricultural materials and passenger traffic.  The Arbroath & Forfar Railway was soon taken over, eventually by the Caledonian Railway, but its position on the principal route between Glasgow and Aberdeen ensured that at least part of its line would remain open until 1967.  The Kirriemuir branch train services tended to be centred on the Forfar-Arbroath-Dundee axis, so it has been decided to include its story here.

The book is to A5 format and consists of 240 pages which include more than 150 photographs, plans etc., it has a full laminated colour  card cover with a square-backed spine.

ASPECTS OF BUSES
by D. D. Gladwin

This glorious collection of more than 370 photographs and plans traces the history and development of buses in Britain through the 20th century. The author tells the story through extended captions, where his intimate knowledge of his subject, makes this book a highly informative and entertaining read.

We celebrate the development of the Bus through the years and look at Bus Operators large and small. Our journey takes us from the fantastic variety of design in the buses of yesteryear through to the standardisation and rationalisation of more recent times.

A5 format, 208 pages printed on art paper throughout, which includes a 16 page colour section. The book is perfect bound with a full colour laminated card cover with a square-backed spine.

THE ATOCK/ATTOCK FAMILY -  Worldwide Railway Engineering Dynasty
by Ernie Shepherd

A significant moment in the family’s history was when Frederick moved to the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway in Newton Heath, Manchester in 1876, members of the family were to hold positions within the L&Y, and its successor the LMS, for almost 60 years. When the diesel era dawned Martin Oldacres Attock was at the heart of it, working in the design department for English Electric on main line locomotives, railcars and the ubiquitous 350 hp diesel shunter for British and overseas railways.
 
There had been Atock rocket experiments in Australia in the 1930s and the family can still be found at the cutting edge of technology having been involved with the European Space Agency on the Rosetta spacecraft. This book draws together the extraordinary story of a long, varied and continuing engineering dynasty.

The book is to A5 format, it consists of 264 pages, with 162 illustrations and it is printed on art paper throughout. It has a full colour laminated card cover with a square-backed spine.