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NEWSLETTER September 1991 No.48 Dear Friend of the Library, SOME PLACE SPECIAL Hullo again after the summer break; I hope that in spite of the erratic weather you enjoyed some relaxation and, maybe, travel to somewhere that was fun. While I was away I read Peter Mayle's "A Year in Provence" and felt I was almost there; it's a delightful book, very revealing about the French love of good food and wine - lots of both! And of course, in Provence at least, their disregard of time and their lack of urgency about getting things done, quite a change from the North American "drive" (where to?, I wonder). The sequel, "Tonjours Provence" is currently available in hard cover. Mind you, Peter Mayle, like the sorcerer's apprentice, has started something he can't stop now - by making it all sound so wonderful he is attracting so many people (purchasers of holiday homes and permanent residences) that the Provencal charm may suffer as a result. The same old problem, all over the world. People pollution. NOSTALGIA IS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING ON THE STEAM RAILWAYS OF BRITAIN "They had names. To passengers and railwaymen alike they had personalities. They lived and they breathed, through countryside, villages, towns, cities. An age was named after them. Steam engines. No other form of transport is so emotive. From the Young child who has never smelt the "friendly dragon" to the adult with wistful memories, there's nothing to replace this unique part of our heritage . After World War II railway companies in Britain were nationalised; this resulted in most smaller, rural branch lines and services to outlying places being closed, as part of the nationwide slimming down and reorganisation of the railway system on economic grounds. Although many of these branch lines, originally built by local business interests and later taken over by the principal railway companies, did not pay their way, they were vital to the economy of each local area and had become part of the social fabric of local life. Each line had character, built by local enterprise to ensure that some little part of the country received its coal and fertilisers as cheaply as possible, that the mails and newspapers arrived promptly, that beer did not cost more than in neighbouring places, and, above all, that local industries and crops could compete fairly in a wider market. Every piece of agricultural machinery came on the freight. Calves, day-old chicks, pigs and other livestock normally came by passenger train. The pair of rails disappearing over the horizon stood for progress, the major changes in life. Even when most people made local journeys by road, the railway retained its importance for the long, vital if occasional trips to the rest of the world.