Book review – The Railways of Salop

By Leslie Price

Published by Totem, £12.50

Les Price has railways in his blood. His childhood home at Shrewsbury, where he was born in September 1945, backed on to the lines and his dad Tom was a guard based in the county town.

Young Les took many pictures of stations, trains, and so on, of which 35 feature in this book along with others from other sources.

That alone gives it a unique quality, but there is also the circumstance that Les joined his dad for a trip on the old Severn Valley service from Shrewsbury to Bridgnorth and back in 1963. It was a routine journey which he relives in his book, capturing the flavour of the line just a month before it closed.

There are of course many publications showcasing old pictures from those days which cater for railway enthusiasts, but the personal story and personal touch in Les Price's work make it stand out.

Review by John Mountford