Herald - Issue 410

Page 10 • The HERALD • 5th August 2021 v F @ heraldpublishing v Kitchen & Bathroom Showroom with free design service Tel: 023 8084 3787 Email: showroom@pcbuildingsupplies.co.ukWeb : www.pcbuildingsupplies.co.uk All aspects of Plastering & General Decorating Covered Free Quotations Fully Insured Mobile 07941 255335 Phone: 023 8089 8324 parkesij@yahoo.co.uk www.ijs4plastering.co.uk New Forest Scaffolding All aspects of scaffolding undertaken • Extensions • Chimneys • Re-Roofing • New Builds etc For a friendly, local, reliable service and a free quotation Telephone: 07734 476855 www.newforestscaffolding.co.uk Full Liability Insurance Lychette Cottage, Roughdown, Blackfield SO45 1XG A.M.H. Handyman Services Internal & External Painting All aspects of DIY Work • Flat Pack Assembly Power Washing: Driveways, Patios, Paths & Decking Gutter, Fascia Boards & Window Cleaning (Bungalows only) Call or email Andy for a free estimate Tel: 07961 443623 handyandyharding@gmail.com Local and Reliable Send your local news to The Editor, The Herald, 2 High Street, Hythe SO45 6AH THE HEARTBEAT OF HYTHE Alan Titheridge’s book “The Heartbeat of Hythe – The Story of the Hythe Pier Railway” has already sold over 200 copies since it’s publication on 1st July. Having earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records for being “the oldest operating pier train, which has continually served the public”, the Hythe Pier Railway has been delivering passengers to the end of Hythe Pier to waiting ferry boats to Southampton since July 1922. at’s 99 years. e Hythe Pier Heritage Association, which is engaged in a programme of restoration of both the railway and the pier, will stage a centenary celebration in July 2022. Alan comments in the introduction of his 136 page book that: “That there is not a person in or from Hythe who can remember a time it was not here”. T he locomotives were built is 1917 for use in the Avonmouth Munitions Factory and were bought from a catalogue of redundant stock from the War O ce by Mr omas Percy, who owned both the Hythe Pier and Ferry, a er the First World War in 1920. On the rear cover of his book, Alan comments: “When sold off as redundant plant by the War Office at the end of the First World War, who could have imagined it has a future twenty years into the 21st Century”. e locomotives have survived at least two recommendations of disposal. In 1935, Mr Gerald Yorke, the consultant engineer who oversaw its installation recommended as they were “in none too good a condition” they “could be scrapped” whilst in 2003 they were arguably saved by the dredger Donald Redford ploughing into Hythe Pier, cutting it into two separate sections at a time when the then owners were exploring their replacement with modern people movers. e carriages date from 1922 and 1923 and like the locomotives still look very much as they did on arrival. e book looks back at many of those who have driven the train including Len Pearce, who was the man at the controls when King George VI was a passenger in May 1944, and Sarah Marsden who is still the only female driver. Sarah is quoted, telling of arriving to work to nd pink “L” plates attached to the train and “brake now” notices painted on the track. ere is a roll call of known drivers with brief biographies and photographs of many. Whilst researching, Alan put out an appeal for personal reminiscences and anecdotes with responses coming from both local and former residents, some from as far away as Australia. Sandra Barnes, now living on the Isle of Wight tells of an embarrassing occasion when heavily pregnant she had to be helped from the train through the protection wire fence when the train broke down mid journey, whilst Lorraine McAusland of Hythe tells how she met her husband in one of the carriages. ere is even a section on how to drive the train with a train driver knowledge test. e book’s 136 pages are packed with historical information and photographs, some previously unpublished. It is priced at £9.95 and is available from Alan himself through Facebook Messenger. It is also stocked at the Herald O ce in Hythe, the Hythe Ferry Ticket O ce, Blissful Gi s & More in Hythe, W H Smith Local (Dibden Purlieu) and Sandra’s Florist in Holbury. Published by Ceratopia Books, it can be ordered via their website. Book signing at the Pier, Alan Titheridge’s long awaited second book, ‘The Heartbeat of Hythe – The Story of the Hythe Pier Railway’