Steam Trains and Jigsaw Puzzles strikes most people as an intriguing title. The origin is simple, however my trainspotting youth has been synchronized with a later interest in jigsaw puzzles. The result is expensive I have a collection of over 250 jigsaws depicting British steam railways. The conclusion is impossible there are over 500 steam railway jigsaw puzzles to collect and they are being supplemented annually.
The Liverpool & Manchester Railway marked the arrival of the true passenger railway service in 1830 and presented jigsaw manufacturers with another subject on which to focus. Prior to this date the jigsaw experience, started by John Spilsbury in c1760, was restricted to subjects such as religion, geography, history, monarchs, the alphabet and art.
Many characteristics combine to form the basis of nostalgic images buried indelibly in the minds of people who travelled in the steam railway age. Manufacturers have not been slow to tap into this nostalgia and produce jigsaws aimed at stirring those memories and inviting people to reflect on past experiences, good, bad or indifferent.
Chad Valley, Victory, Good Companion, Falcon, Waddingtons and Arrow are just a few manufacturers who produced steam railway jigsaws in the past. Most of these companies are now a distant memory while others are in foreign ownership. Equally famous names such as Wentworth, Ravensburger (Germany), House of Puzzles, Gibsons, JR Puzzles and King Puzzles (Holland) continue the manufacturing tradition. Output is generally superb thanks to the efforts of fine railway artists such as Terence Cuneo, George Heiron, T. E. North, Don Breckon, John Austin, Barry Freeman and Malcolm Root.
The book is aimed at anyone with an interest in jigsaw puzzles and at those enthusiasts and aficionados who refuse to allow those evocative memories of the Golden Age of Steam to die.
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Following many years as a Research Scientist I joined the Public Affairs Department of ICI in 1993. As NW Community Relations Officer, for the next 5 years I was responsible for building and sustaining communications with audiences and influencers essential to the success of the company – notably local residents, industry regulators, local government, teachers and the press. As part of this role I hadmany articles and press releases published in internal ICI magazines and the local press, respectively.
‘Steam Trains and Jigsaw Puzzles’is the second book that I have had published although thefirst one, purely opportunistic on my part, was restricted to local distribution around Runcorn in Cheshire. ‘The History of ICI’s Castner Kellner Works’ was presented, free of charge, to around 300people – all with Work’s connections – in 1997.The book, of over 100, 000 words, was written to commemorate the Centenary of the huge Chemical Works and was sponsored by the company.
I have also had many articles published in external magazines and newspapers including’Amateur Photographer’ and’Cage & Aviary Birds’.
To write the ‘Centenary’ book was a fine stepping stone into authorship and thoroughly recommended to anyone in the same position. To write this book, however, with the possibility of even greater distribution fulfils a lifelong ambition. In short it is the culmination of a 2.5-year dream involving planning, Internet research, word processing, photography, Photoshop image production and many headaches.
Following 30 years as a scientist I found the transition from writing about data, tables, experiments and graphs more than a little different to writing anything acceptable to a non-scientific audience. Please forgive me if my style still involves overtones from my past.
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