Camp Coach Holidays on the GWR

There will be few, if any, who can remember going on a summer holiday in a Great Western Railway 'Camp Coach' between 1934 and 1939, but if there are, this truly delightful book will bring the memories flooding back. And those who enjoyed the postwar variant will find the basic idea remained unchanged.

Camping coaches were introduced on Britain's railways by the LNER in 1933, with the GWR's first coaches coming into service in 1934. Initially they were converted old 4 or 6 wheelers with 4 or 6 berths in 2 rooms, a dining/sitting area, and a small kitchen, but no running water. This, and toilet facilities, were at the station, or nearby. Basic, but considerably more comfortable than camping.

The GWR introduced a note of exclusivity to their scheme, by never having more than on a single coach on any site, and by calling them 'Camp Coaches', rather than 'Camping Coaches'. It also insisted that its officials at stations and en-route treated renters as guests of the Company, an instruction which seems to have been happily observed.

What makes this book  so enjoyable is not just the 500 plus B&W photos, largely taken by campers, but by the many reminiscences of their holidays by the campers, almost universally good!

I haven't enjoyed a railway book so much for a while, not least because when our children were younger we spent many holidays in the ex BR Camping Coaches - Pullmans no less, at Ravenglass!

218 pages.  Drawings, 'maps' and all those photos. Hardbound.

PLEASE NOTE: Whilst the copies of this book were actually printed in 1939, they are in perfect 'as new' condition having been carefully stored and only recently revealed again. AND there aren't large quantities either, so if you want a really enjoyable read, don't put off ordering a copy!