GLIAS

GREATER LONDON INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY SOCIETY

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Book reviews — August 1970

'Discovering Windmills', John Vince, 1969: 64pp. (2nd edition)
'Discovering Watermills', John Vince, 1970: 56pp.
'Discovering Bridges', Lean Metcalfe, 1970: 56pp.
Published by Shire Publications, Tring, Herts at 4/6 each from booksellers. Illustrated by line drawings and numerous photographs
These are three of the popular "Discovering" series, now numbering over 70 titles. Each fits the pocket and contains much solid fact and many illustrations.

The Windmills booklet includes a description of the various types of mills and their equipment, notes on operation, a gazetteer of mills and fuller details of some notable examples and a bibliography. The Watermills booklet is similar but lacks a gazetteer. The Bridges booklet includes sections describing the various bridge forms — arch, beam, suspension and movable — notes on some famous bridge builders and a gazetteer of interesting bridges. These include examples built recently; while the other two booklets cannot offer this, they do mention a gratifying number of mills restored and accessible or visible.

The content of these publications is excellent value for money. One's only criticism is that these soft-cover booklets have forsaken stapling for a glued binding, which in the field soon detaches cover from contents. MNB

'The 80th Completed Year of the First Tubular Railway in London and the 70th Year of the Arrival of the Chicago Yerkes Group', by John Pattinson Thomas
1970: 20pp. Published (originally as part of the August 1970 issue of LURS journal Underground) by the London Underground Railway Society and obtainable from Mr S.E. Jones, 113 Wandle Road, Morden, Surrey at 2/- post free
Eighty years ago the first tube railway, the City & South London Railway was opened, to be followed ten years later by the Central London Railway — the 'Twopenny Tube'. Both were conceived and built in the 19th century: but in 1900 there arrived in London a group of Chicago financiers and engineers led by Charles Tyson Yerkes, whose forward-looking electrification and extension of the Tube system transformed it into the effective rapid transit organisation that London needed. How they did this is the main theme of this interesting booklet, written by a man who was himself once an associate of Yerkes.


© GLIAS, 1970