Local author Basil’s 19th book

Local transport and industrial historian, Basil Jeuda, has authored a new book in support of the railway theme of this year’s Bollington Festival.

Called the Macclesfield, Bollington & Marple Railway, 150^th Anniversary, 1869-2019 – Basil has written nineteen books in total – written over a 40 year period. The latest is being published by the Bollington Discovery Centre.

Basil’s last book on this railway, published by Cheshire County Council in 1983, raised funds for the restoration of the Samuel Renn organ in the Macclesfield Sunday School. 

This new book looks at the railway’s history, how it served local industries and collieries, and met the work and leisure needs of people who lived in Macclesfield, Bollington, Higher Poynton, Middlewood, High Lane, and Rose Hill Marple.

Also covered are how the railway replaced the Macclesfield Canal, how the omnibus beat off the competition in the 1920s and 1930s from the Bollington Bug – the steam railcar that worked the railway shuttle service between Macclesfield and Bollington – and how this railway line contracted and eventually closed in 1970.

The 56-page book, costing £5, is available at the Discovery Centre and Belfields Village Bakery in Bollington and the Macclesfield Visitor Information Centre and Hameston Books at the Treacle Market. It’s also available by post at £8, including postage and packing, from the Discovery Centre, Clarence Mill, Bollington, SK10 5JZ –cheques payable to the Bollington Discovery Centre.

Author Basil said: A whole generation, or two, of local people have grown up in this area with little or no knowledge of the Railway’s origins, existence, and importance; the three books that I have written on the Railway have been out of print for many years and this new book, with over 130 pictures (25 in colour), is intended to fill that gap. Many of these photographs are previously unpublished.  I am grateful for the generous funding from local sponsors, including the Bollington Discovery Centre, that has enabled this book to be published by the Discovery Centre, and it will be available at the several railway-themed events in the Festival, which include the Bollington Railway History Day at the Bollington Civic Hall on 25^th May.