The Railway Manias

Don Chiswell


Region:
East of England
Notice Period:
Emergency (maybe less than one week's notice)
Type:
Professional
Fee:
Paid: £70 per talk for up to 50 persons +travel costs @ £0.30 per mile
Category:
History
Updated:
8th January 2023
Tagged:
Railways | Transport

During the 1830’s and 1840’s Britain was gripped by two ‘Railway Manias’ driven by a mixture of vision and greed which saw fortunes made and lost. ‘The press supported the mania: the government sanctioned it: the peopled paid for it. Railways were at once a fashion, and frenzy. England was mapped out for the iron roads’ (A writer of 1851).

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About Don Chiswell

I have a Humanities degree from Bristol Polytechnic and subsequently qualified as a teacher in Further Education. I have been interested in history for as long as I can remember and enjoy demolishing popular historical myths. I have delivered courses on a wide range of historical subjects (hopefully with enthusiasm and humour) at Peterborough City College, Stamford Arts Centre, the Guildhall Arts Centre Grantham and also to a wide variety of local groups and societies for some twenty years. In answer to the question ‘What is your favourite period of history?’ I would be most likely to say “Just the last 3,250 years”. Since 2006 I have given a series of lectures for Peterborough Museum and participated in historical re-enactments and guided tours. I am currently engaged in research for a book on Bosworth Field and co-writing a history of Peterborough, both of which it is hoped will be published eventually.


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