|
About Us |
|
|
| RETURN TO THE HOMEPAGE
TRANSPORT BRITAIN |
|
Britain has long been a
pioneer in the development of transport and has been renowned for its
technological innovation. Indeed Britain is home to many transport
firsts. This country invented the
railways and the famous Liverpool & Manchester Railway was the
world's first intercity passenger railway when it opened in 1830.
From that small beginning developed
today's railway system which was then introduced by other countries
around the world. Other notable railways include the Metropolitan
Railway (now the Metropolitan Line
of the London Underground) which was the first underground railway in
the
world when it opened in 1863. The Liverpool Overhead Railway opened in
1893 and was the first electric overhead railway in the world. It
became renowned as the "Dockers Umbrella" and was the forerunner for
other overhead or elevated railways around the world such as those in
American cities like Chicago and New York.
The world's first true
modern ship and ocean liner -
the S/S Great Britain - was also built in 1843 in the UK and
today can be seen
preserved in her birthplace of Bristol. Thus Britain also invented the
ocean liner which enabled people to travel for the first time between
continents and revolutionised ocean travel. Britain is a truly great
nation and was once the centre of the industrial revolution and had
shipyards building great ships for the world and its railway works were
renowned for building locomotives and carriages for the world.
Sir
Frank Whittle, the
British aerospace engineer, was the inventor of the jet engine and
Britain also built the Comet jet airliner which was the first passenger
jet airliner in the world. The Comet jet airliner made its first
passenger flight in
1952 from London Heathrow Airport to Johannesburg. Thus giving birth to
the jet age which has
so revolutionised modern travel. Britain also has played a key role as
a partner in the Airbus consortium in developing the A380 double-decker
super jumbo jet, which is set to revolutionise air travel on the world
hub routes in the 21st century. Britain therefore has had a pioneering
and crucial role in the development of the railways, ocean liner and
jet airliners. All three have revolutionised the way we travel.
Finally
it was a British computer designer, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, that
invented the internet and
further revolutionised communication by creating the world wide web
(www) or internet. I believe that this remarkable history should be
celebrated and what better way than via the internet. This Transport
Britain collection of websites aims to do
just that and celebrate and honour Britain's remarkable contribution to
the development of transport.
This collection of websites (Transport Britain) is written by me, Alex Naughton. I have long been interested in transport, first mainly railways but now ships and to a limited extent aviation (especially Concorde). I live in Liverpool, was brought up in Oxford and was born in Lancaster. I am a graduate of the University of Manchester and since graduating in 2002 work in local government. Via my websites I hope to share my enthusiasm and interest in transport and encourage greater awareness of Britain's transport past, present and future. The Maritime Britain, Railway Britain and Aviation Britain websites are intended to showcase the diverse range of transport attractions in those respective fields that are out there for people to discover and explore. So I hope they inspire you to perhaps enjoy and cherish our transport attractions for yourselves.
I hope you enjoy
exploring my Transport Britain collection of websites dedicated to
raising awareness and celebrating Britain's transport past, present and
future. The websites are continuously evolving and being developed
further so I encourage you to visit again soon as you may find new
additions and changes. Be inspired, think positive and get out there
and explore.
Related websites:
Here are some related
websites that you may find interesting about my background, favourites,
things I support and my interest in transport. Please note that when
you click on these links you will be leaving the Transport Britain
website.
Christ Church Cathedral School, Oxford
Magdalen College School, Oxford
The University of Manchester
www.djkunal.co.uk
Hampshire County Council
Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council
Merseytravel
The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI)
English Heritage
The National Trust
The Great Western Society (Didcot Railway Centre) www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk
The National Railway Museum, York Maritime Matters website
SS Maritime website
Steamship Rotterdam Foundation Workplace Solutions (Tia & Dick Denenberg)
The University of Oxford
Dr James D. Naughton
(University of Oxford) http://users.ox.ac.uk/~tayl0010/
The Bodleian Library, Oxford www.bodley.ox.ac.uk
Favourite Multimedia Video Clips:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSadVkKMk4A Peter Kay's version of "This is the way to Amarillo" for Comic Relief 2005 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vW5eUA0I938 British Army spoof of "This is the way to Amarillo" performed by the Royal Dragoon Guards in their base in Iraq http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPaRQ1BYjzU QE2 World Cruise 2006 spoof of "This is the way to Amarillo" performed by the QE2's crew courtesy of Cunard Line http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhsu9lJZxSw Gerry and the Pacemakers "Ferry Across the Mersey" 1964 (now famous Mersey Ferries theme tune!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDIG2C9Ri9E Thunderbirds are Go! (the original opening sequence) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2K9rVRuehGU Monty Pyton's legendary "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" song from the "Life of Brian" film http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHPOzQzk9Qo Kylie Minogue's "Can't Get You Out of My Head" song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWHpkRU3FO8 Tom Jones on the Morecambe & Wise Show! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U817vt5Br44 Morecambe & Wise Show - Singing in the Rain sketch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mDTn-QvO9I Favourites: The AC Locomotive Group www.aclocogroup.org.uk Suburban Electric Railway Association www.emus.co.uk 71000 Duke of Gloucester Steam Locomotive Trust www.71000trust.com Sir Nigel Gresley Locomotive Preservation Trust www.sirnigelgresley.co.uk The Princess Royal Class Locomotive Trust www.prclt.co.uk LNWR Coal Tank 1054 www.coaltank.co.uk Bluebell Railway www.bluebellrailway.co.uk Swanage Railway
Snowdon Mountain Railway
Ffestiniog Railway
Vintage Trains
Steam Dreams
Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership
Settle & Carlisle Railway Partnership
PS Waverley (Waverley Excursions Ltd & the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society) http://psps1.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/index.htm
PS Ryde website Naval Ships Past and Present by Paul Rapa
Fireboat DUWAMISH - The Puget Sound
Fireboat Foundation, Seattle
Paddlers website http://paddlers31.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/index.htm
Havengore, London
Gipsy Moth IV
S.V. Cutty Sark, Greenwich
S.S. Canberra website
S.S. Great Britain, Bristol
S.S. Manxman
The Royal Yacht Britannia, Edinburgh
Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI)
Imperial War Museum
Portsmouth Historic Dockyard
Hartlepool's Maritime Experience www.hartlepoolsmaritimeexperience.com
Chatham Historic Dockyard In Flanders Fields Museum, Belgium
U-505 submarine at the Chicago Museum of Science & Industry http://www.msichicago.org/exhibit/U505/index.html
De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill on Sea
Royal Albert Hall, London
Castle Howard
Chatsworth - The Home of the
Duke of Devonshire
Woburn Abbey - The Home of
the Duke of Bedford
Blenheim Palace - The Home of the Duke of Marlborough
Wilton House - The Home of the Earl of Pembroke
The Twentieth Century Society
The 24 Hour Museum
Seat 61 website
Hornby
Bassett-Lowke
Airfix Corgi www.corgi.co.ukOxford Castle
Oxford Street, London
Regent Street, London
Paradise Street Project (Grosvenor), Liverpool
The Quays - Greater Manchester's Waterfront
Edinburgh Military Tattoo
Lake District National Park
Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park
The English Riviera (Torquay, Paignton and Brixham)
The British Royal Family
Kylie Minogue
McFly
Westlife
Michael Buble
Michael Palin
Dame Agatha Christie www.agathachristie.com
Audrey Hepburn
Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy (Laurel & Hardy)
Bob Hope
Charlie Chaplin
Frank Sinatra
Richard Burton
Sir Lawrence Olivier
Sir Sean Connery
Sir Roger Moore Sir Dirk Bogarde
Sir Noel Coward
Churchill College - The Churchill Archives Centre (University of Cambridge) http://www.chu.cam.ac.uk/archives/
Transport for London (TfL)
Merseyrail Electrics
Great North Eastern Railway (GNER)
First Great Western Hull Trains
Chiltern Railways
Eurostar www.eurostar.com
High Speed 1 (formerly known as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link)
London St Pancras International
Ebbsfleet International
Greengauge 21
Orient Express Hotels, Trains & Cruises
Abode Hotels
Rocco Forte Hotels
QHotels Group
British Airways (BA)
British Midland Airways (BMI)
BMI Baby Virgin Atlantic Airways www.virgin-atlantic.com Caledonian MacBrayne Ferries Mersey Ferries
Isle of Man Steam Packet Company
Isles of Scilly Steamship Company (Isles of Scilly Travel) www.islesofscilly-travel.co.uk
RMS St Helena
Holland America Line
Cunard Line
P&O Cruises
The Mini
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
Bentley Motors
Aston Martin
Jaguar Cars
Land Rover
Vauxhall Motors
MG Cars
Caterham Cars
Noble Automotive Ltd
Marcos Engineering Ltd Morgan Motor Company www.morgan-motor.co.uk TVR www.tvr.co.uk Triumph Motorcycles Ltd www.triumph.co.uk Alexander Dennis Ltd
Plaxton Ltd
Optare Group Ltd
Wright Group Ltd
East Lancashire Coachbuilders Ltd
Dennis Eagle Ltd
LDV Ltd
LTI Vehicles (London Taxis)
Waterford Wedgwood PLC
Armitage Shanks
Pilkington plc
Tannoy Ltd
Rolls-Royce PLC Airbus
Marshall Aerospace
BAE Systems
Vosper Thornycroft (VT Group PLC) Kelvin Hughes www.kelvinhughes.com Sunseeker International www.sunseeker.com Camper & Nicholsons International http://cnconnect.com/
The Hotel Montana, Luzern, Switzerland www.hotel-montana.ch/e/index.htm CIE Group (Coras Iompair Eireann)
Irish Rail (IE) - Iarnodd Eireann
TGV - French Railways (SNCF) high speed
train network
DB - Deutsche Bahn (German Railways) www.db.de/site/bahn/en/start.html
Netherlands Railways (NS)
Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
Swiss Railways (SBB) Railteam - High Speed Europe www.railteam.eu NS Hispeed www.nshispeed.nl OBB RailJet www.railjet.at The Brienz Rothorn Bahn, Switzerland www.brienz-rothorn-bahn.ch Jungfrau Railways www.jungfraubahn.ch Gornergrat Railway - The Matterhorn Railway www.gornergrat.ch The Pilatus Railway - The World's Steepest Cogwheel Railway www.pilatus.ch The Wilhelm Tell Express http://www.wilhelmtellexpress.ch The Glacier Express www.glacierexpress.ch The Association of Swiss Navigation Companies www.vssu.ch Compagnie Generale de Navigation sur le Lac Leman (CGN) - Lake Geneva paddle steamers www.cgn.ch The Lake Lucerne Navigation Company (SGV) - Lake Lucerne paddle steamers www.lakelucerne.ch BLS Navigation - Lake Thun and Lake Brienz steamers www.bls.ch
www.pullmanorientexpress.com GrandLuxe Rail Journeys www.grandluxerail.com The Blue Train - A Window onto the Soul of South Africa www.bluetrain.co.za Rovos Rail - The Pride of Africa www.rovos.co.za The Rocky Mountaineer
Great Southern Railway - Australia's Great Train Journeys
|