Author: Roger Hardingham
Publisher: Waterfront
ISBN: 0946184860
Price: Available S/H from about £4 – £7 depending on condition
Publication Date: July 1999
Number of pages: 64
Format: Hardcover
How Obtained: Purchased
The coastal town of Barry has played an important part in the industrial history of South Wales during the past 150 years. The dock which was developed there in the late nineteenth century grew to handle more coal exports than any other in Wales. The associated railway company had extensive sidings near the dock which much later in the 1960s were part leased to a company called Woodham Brothers. This company was to play a pivotal role in the preservation of our steam heritage.
Presenting pictures of locomotives stored for breaking at Woodhams between the mid 1960s and around 1981 is Roger Hardingham’s Images of Barry Scrapyard. Waterfront, a division of Kingfisher books, published it in July 1999. It is now out of print, but copies are readily available at reasonable prices.
Barry scrapyard – and the luck which saved many engines!
As indicated by the title, almost all of the book is taken up with over 60 pictures, snapped by the author himself. A two-page introduction provides a brief background to Woodham’s scrapyard and the British Rail policies which led to so many locomotives ending up there. Following the photos is a page listing the 213 engines which were saved for future generations. The book closes with some thoughts and images from the last day of site operations on 9th November 1989.
It all came about with the 1955 modernisation plan and the intention to replace almost 16,000 steam locomotives with diesel traction. It was a huge task and Woodhams was not the only scrapyard in South Wales which won contracts for breaking steam locomotives. Near Woodhams in Barry, for example, was R.S Tyley while a little further away was Bird’s in Pontymister. Cashmore’s in Newport actually received over 1000 locomotives compared with Woodham’s 297.
A fluke saved many locomotives, with Woodham initially focussing on the dismantling of wagons. The delay provided the opportunity for the preservation movement to appreciate what was at Barry and start the process of raising the funds to purchase the derelict engines. Unsurprisingly, due to its location, Woodhams started receiving ex-GWR classes before Southern machines arrived and eventually ex-LMS and LNER types. Incidentally Dai Woodham himself passed away in 1994.
Interesting images: whether close up or broader perspective
I found this to be a fascinating book for a number of reasons. Hardingham’s images are well composed and the good quality pictures effectively reproduced on the page. Some of them present a wider aspect and feature the houses of Barry as a backdrop.
This led me to think about the almost bizarre situation of the residents looking out over a sea of slowly rusting engines for up to twenty years! In close up Hardingham brings out the many colours and textures produced by rusting metal. There are also some surprising shots such as one featuring a line of three Longmore Military Railway saddle tanks.
In Summary
The subject of derelict locomotives is saddening, the realization that so many were saved is heartening while the images themselves present a rewarding combination of features, both close up and in wider perspective. Recommended.
The Good
- Well presented images, most having a whole page dedicated to them
- Annotations accompany every photograph
- A fascinating view of Woodham’s scrapyard over more than a decade and a half
The Not So Good
- No map of Barry Docks with the location of Woodhams Scrapyard
- No foreground photographs of the four diesel engines
About the Authors – Roger Hardingham
Roger Hardingham is an author and historian who has published dozens of books and DVDs on the south’s industrial heritage, focusing on railways and maritime history.
He also led a failed campaign in 2009 to bring RMS Queen Mary back to Southampton and helped run exhibitions on the Titanic and Queen Mary.
Mr Hardingham ran publishing imprint Kingfisher Productions from his home in Osmington Mills, near Weymouth.
(From: The Hampshire Chronicle)
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