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Edith Nesbit's famous story The Railway Children first appeared in serialised form in The London Magazine in 1905 and was published in book form the following year. Although the book has remained in print, it is probably fair to say that most people remember the story thanks to the classic 1970 film directed by Lionel Jeffries and starring Bernard Cribbins, Jenny Agutter, Sally Thomsett and Dinah Sheridan. Although we include brief notes about Edith Nesbit's life, it is not our intention to go into great detail about the author or her work as this is already covered admirably elsewhere. Rather, it is our wish to relate stories, experiences and pictures from the KWVR members who were involved in the making of the 1970 film, and to reproduce articles from the Railway's in-house magazine Push & Pull in the hope that this will complement the information available elsewhere.
So who was Edith Nesbit ?
Edith Nesbit was born in London on August 15th 1858. The youngest of five children, she was known to her family as ‘Daisy’ and spent her early years moving between France and England, unhappily attending a succession of boarding schools. In 1871 the family moved back to England and rented Halstead Hall in Kent where Edith and her brothers used to play near the railway line – a memory which was to inspire her future writing. At the age of 21 and while seven months pregnant, Edith married bank clerk Hubert Bland. They shared a love of poetry and collaborated on many projects throughout a turbulent relationship where both partners openly conducted extra-marital affairs. Apart from her own two children, she brought up several that Bland fathered with his mistresses. They were both socialists and involved in the Fabian Society from its inception - even naming one of their children Fabian after their joint interest. Nesbit befriended several of its members, including George Bernard Shaw (with whom she had an affair) and H.G. Wells. Adopting a nonconformist style, she cut her hair short, smoked heavily and wore less restrictive clothing than Victorian fashion dictated. Inspired by the Fabians ideals, she wrote and lectured on socialism throughout the 1880s. When Bland’s business ventures failed, Nesbit became the main breadwinner and undertook other work to finance their growing household. She became a successful children’s writer with novels including The Story of the Treasure-Seekers (1899), The Wouldbegoods (1901), Five Children and It (1902), The Phoenix and the Carpet (1904), The Railway Children (1906), and The Enchanted Castle (1907). Hubert Bland also collaborated with Nesbit on her writing, much of it being serialised in the London Weekly Dispatch under the alias ‘Fabian Bland’. After the death of Hubert Bland in 1913, Edith married ship’s engineer, Thomas Tucker. She continued to write children’s books but years of heavy smoking took their toll and she succumbed to lung cancer in 1924 at the age of 65, having published a total of 44 novels. Jenny Agutter is planning to produce a film about the life of Edith Nesbit and says of her, “The way she lived her life was completely different from the way she wrote. She believed in the power of the imagination to make things better”.
Where are the locations used in the The Railway Children film ?
Oakworth Station - home to Mr Perks the porter and the scene of many adventures for Roberta, Phyliss and Peter. This picture shows them at play during a break in filming.
Dr Forrest's surgery is easily recognisable as the famous Bronte Parsonage at the top of Haworth's Main Street.
Scenes showing Bobbie sitting on a bridge near a river were filmed at Wycoller, near Colne.
The cutting where the children waved to the train is located on the Haworth side of Mytholmes tunnel. If you look up the bank just before the tunnel, you can still see part of the original fence where the children sat and waved to the train.
The landslide sequence was filmed in the cutting on the Oakworth side of Mytholmes tunnel. A fibreglass tree used in the scene languished in Oakworth yard for some time after the filming with some claiming it had taken root.
The section of line between Mytholmes tunnel and Oakworth station (known as Mytholmes Curve) was where the children waved their red flannel petticoats to stop the train running into the landslide.
Mytholmes tunnel between Haworth and Oakworth was used for the paper chase scenes. This is where Jim, the schoolboy runner, injured his leg and was rescued by the children
The fields of long grass where the children run down to wave to the trains are located on the hillside just above Oxenhope station. This location was used in conjunction with the one near Mytholmes Tunnel (see above) where the wooden fence is located
Mr Perks cottage stands next to the level crossing at Oakworth station. The building was extended several years ago - the white part is the original building - but is still recognisable as the home of Albert and Nell Perks and their children.
The paper chase sequence was filmed near Mythomes tunnel between Haworth and Oakworth station. It is here that Jim is rescued by the children after he falls and hurts his leg while running through the tunnel.
A family picnic by the river - this idyllic scene is thought to have been filmed in the fields at Mytholmes near Bridgehouse Beck.
Bent's Farm just above Oxenhope station featured as Three Chimneys. This is now a private house but a public footpath runs up the hillside close by. The fields below the house were used in several scenes.
Which locomotives & coaches were used in the film ?
'The Green Dragon' was actually Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway No. 957. After an extensive restoration, the locomotive is again in active service on the Railway.
The fabulous coach used by the Old Gentleman is actually a North Eastern Railway Director's Saloon. It is owned by Mr Chris Lawson and is still based on the KWVR. It sees occasional use on vintage trains.
The small contractors locomotive 'Sir Berkeley' is seen here in Oakworth yard during themaking of the 1968 BBC TV series. The locomotive is currently in the care of the Vintage Carriages Trust, whose excellent museum is based at Ingrow.
The Old Gentleman's Train was hauled by Great Western Railway pannier tank No. 5775. Although not currently in traffic, this locomotive is on display in Oxenhope Exhibition Shed, where it often masquerades as 'Duck' during our Day Out With Thomas events.
The Local Train which delivered 'My Daddy' back to Oakworth was hauled by Manchester Ship Canal locomotive No. 67. This locomotive has now been restored and is in use at the Middleton Railway in Leeds. Photo - John Turner
Memories of filming The Railway Children - by Nick Hellewell
One of those perfect early summer mornings in 1970 found us chuffing gently up towards Oxenhope, with the 'put-put' of the vacuum pump on the pannier tank prompting my driver, Bob Phizackerley, to remark that we might have been anywhere on the Western Region of British Railways with a branch train to somewhere rural. Our duty was to do whatever director Lionel Jeffries (pictured left) asked of us with this, the Old Gentleman's Train. Our pannier tank, GWR No. 5775 of 1929 vintage, would have to come bursting out of Mytholmes tunnel an endless number of times with her train before the day was over. We had a man with a walkie-talkie on the footplate to give instructions like, "Stop", "Go", "Faster", "Slower", and also "Can you make it stay quiet now?" - this latter request coming only minutes after him telling us, "We shall need a high speed run with plenty of noise and steam as soon as you can, driver".
We devoted a whole morning to this activity, watching the three children wave at us from the lineside fence. We also had to keep an eye on a man who ran along the line with a flag held aloft, allegedly at a similar speed to our own. We were fortunate in that the Old Gentleman (alias the late William Mervyn), sitting in the rear saloon carriage, seemed to have a thirst that coincided with our pannier - so with an influential word to Mr Jeffries, we were released to Oxenhope where water was taken. There then followed a rapid descent to Haworth where eyeryone (except me) followed the Old Gentleman's invitation to the Royal Oak. I loyally stuck to my post lest the pannier tank should have any silly ideas of her own. We shortly backed down to Mytholmes where, in true film company fashion, a feast had been laid out on tables above the tunnel. The afternoon continued much as the morning, but here lies my ultimate claim to fame. When the time came to shoot the final run-past where all and sundry wave at the children to indicate their pleasure at the release of their father from prison, my handkerchief, after many hours on the footplate, proved to be inadequately white for waving. Lionel Jeffries loaned me his and that part of the film was 'In the can'.
Recollections of an Impressionable Youth - by David Pearson I was 15 when the Railway Children was filmed and recall it very well indeed. I was still at school (St. Bede's in Bradford) and ached every day to get to the Railway so that I could see what was going on. It must have been filmed some time round the holidays (Easter I think) as I know that I spent a lot of full days at Oakworth and did all sorts of odd jobs around the place. One thing which sticks clearly in my memory is Lionel Jeffries calling out numbers when the train stopped with Mother arriving from Wakefield. Each number was a passenger in one of the Metropolitan Coaches and they popped out according to the numbers; it looks a bit false on the finished film and staged, and that's why. The landslide was fun. It had to be cleared up for the following weekend's services and could only be done once; it was a bit like watching the Bridge on the River Kwai, but it worked. We had the fake tree for years afterwards in Oakworth Yard and you can still the place where the wall above Norman Feather's coal pile was demolished and rebuilt to allow Peter to come and steal the coal to keep Mother warm. There was quite a lot of movement between Keighley and Shipley to turn locomotives and the triangle. It was very easy to arrange in those days. 957 was sent there a couple of times and somewhere I have some photographs of her standing in platform 3, in full GN & SR livery after having been returned by BR from such a trip. I never thought how much she would thirty years later, dominate my life. On one very memorable occasion, we were hanging round Oakworth and William Mervyn became bored. He shouted to Lionel Jefferies something like "Do you need this bloody train Lionel?" to which he received a negative reply. I can recall the confidence and incredulity that I experienced as the incomparable Mervyn (he was already a hero to me from his role as the Bishop in 'All Gas and Gaiters') ordered the pannier tank and John Dawson's saloon full of us 'helpers' to Haworth where we decamped to the Royal Oak, Bill Mervyn in costume rapping on the bar and ordering "two gallons for my Railway friends, landlord if you please". It's a daft tale I know, but true and one which made a most profound impression upon a very impressionable youth. I suppose one of the daftest things I ever did was to find a script for the film, full of actor's annotations which had been thrown away in a bin in Haworth Yard, look at it and throw it away in turn; it would probably have been worth a bob or two now. It came from a row of coaches in the Yard (there was no New Shed there then) which were used a wardrobe and dressing rooms for the extras. The Hares and Hounds were posh kids from a Grammar School in Leeds, which was a sequence that I recall taking a few days to film. For a time it looked as if the film crew would round up any handy adolescents from the valley to fill the extras parts, but our hopes were dashed. In the event, I did get a role. If you look at the very end of the film, as Father arrives and steam clears, you can see me closing the level crossing gates. Phil Slack, the then Oakworth Stationmaster ought to have done it, but he was away for some reason so I got my first ever paid job and the only cash that to this day, I have ever had as a result of my involvement in the Railway. A five was a fortune in those days and I remember, I bought a book with it. The scenes of the train heading towards the landslide were done much later, when the weather was very hot and it was our school summer holiday. Some might find it difficult to believe, but I cleaned the pannier on those days and got the odd footplate run as a result. It was my first since BR days, when I had a run on an Ivatt tank on the Push & Pull service, so it meant a lot to me. It's lifetime away now; perhaps one day we will be able to do something like it again; I'll certainly never forget it all.
The Worth Valley Railway and 'The Railway Children' - by Bob Cryer The late Bob Cryer worked as Railway Consultant to the film makers. Bob was one of the Railway's founder members and spent some time as Keighley MP, a role currently held by his widow, Ann Cryer. The feature film of Edith Nesbit’s charming story did not simply spring into being in 1970; its origins may be found in the BBC television serial filmed in 1968, also on the Worth Valley line. In February of that year, the director for the seven part serial, Julia Smith (subsequently the On Sunday 12th May 1968, the first of the episodes was screened at 5.25pm. An excited crowd of Society members gathered around a television set in Haworth shed. This was, after all, the first real use of our Railway for a nationwide television programme and we were sure that the black and white film would provide a creditable record of our efforts. We all thought the programme quite splendid. What we did not know was that watching the serial was Lionel Jeffries, the character actor of dozens of British feature films and the occasional big budget spectacular such as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. His daughter persuaded him to purchase the cinema screen rights and, because he was keen to make his directorial debut, Lionel Jeffries enthusiastically wrote the script and submitted it to Elstree Studios. As the British film industry lurched through another crisis, a new chief executive arrived at the studios in the form of Bryan Forbes, who had already worked with Lionel Jeffries. He like the script, rejected the idea of turning it into a musical, and allocated money for production as part of a ten film programme.
Organisation for the feature film was more sophisticated than for the BBC production. Filming took longer, used more trains more frequently, and involved a much larger budget, though at £350,000 it was relatively economical by 1969 standards. When all the demands of the script had been defined, they were entered into a programme of filming called a ‘crossplot’. This diagrammatic record commenced on Monday 6th April with filming of exteriors of a London villa, and concluded on Friday 12th June with interior shots in a railway tunnel. Listed for each day were the location, artists required, ‘cabs, carriages, gigs & carts’, trains, and the scene numbers to be filmed. In all, there were 15 studio days at Elstree and 39 location days, most of which were on the Worth Valley Railway, though Haworth village, the Parsonage and Wycoller hamlet were also used.
In 1969, our Railway was the only preserved stretch of line which could provide such a wide range of rolling stock and working locomotives. All those chosen were of Victorian design and, whilst the express seemed a little on the slow side – indeed a mild joke was incorporated into the script to account for this – a branch line with a 25mph speed limit simply could not provide express train speeds. All the liveries used had their basis in contemporary illustrations and were adapted to the needs of the story. Liveries for coaches and locomotives were relatively straightforward. The major problem was getting the relevant trains marshalled each night, prior to filming the following day. If a train was filmed moving left to right at Oakworth station and was subsequently filmed at Haworth, the whole train had to be reversed, because the platform is on the other side of the line. This meant turning the engine at Shipley triangle and changing then coaches to match. Mercifully, this was a rare occurrence, but British Rail provided facilities when needed with great efficiency. Whatever the situation, marshalling for the next day’s filming rarely concluded before midnight and, if a big engine like the ‘N2’ was needed, lighting up commenced around 4am so as to be ready for an 8am start. The unit call was normally for 8.30am at the location and daily call sheets were issued detailing all the requirements from teaspoons to trains. When steam engines and trains were not required, but filming was taking place along the line, a diesel railbus took people and equipment to the spot. Or this would be left to D226 complete with a wagon and electrical generating equipment to power the arc lights invariably used, even though the weather throughout was superb.
The Railway Children was, even in 1970, a relatively rare phenomenon; a British financed production using United Kingdom locations which, together with vivacious performances from the leading players, Bernard Cribbins, Dinah Sheridan and William Mervyn and the three children, Jenny Agutter, Sally Thomsett and Gary Warren, created a warm-hearted evocation of the more pleasant aspects of late Victorian England. It was the most successful of the ten films made during Bryan Forbes’ reign at Elstree. Certainly, a competent directorial debut by Lionel Jeffries, but lacking the necessary emphasis on the railway engines, which are, after all, the centre-piece of the film. This is not merely my prejudice. When compiling the film, editor Teddy Darvas had to arrange for a further day’s filming to provide more engine shots for the averted crash sequence. More film was also needed of the ‘Scotch Express’ but alas by July the ‘N2’ has burst a boiler tube and was awaiting re-tubing. Released in December 1970, with a premier in London on 21st December and in Keighley soon after at the then Ritz cinema, where it played to packed houses, the film provided a real stimulus for our Railway. Nothing was left to chance and leaflets spelling out the location and services of the line where distributed wherever The Railway Children played and Society members could gain access. Our Railway has been associated with this, by now, perennial cinema and television favourite ever since, and recently a touring stage play has been going the rounds, performed by the Birmingham Repertory Company and playing in the provinces to packed houses. Valuable publicity and input was made available by the Railway to this also. People still ask where the railway children lived (at Bents Farm, Oxenhope), though they watched the trains near Oakworth by cinematic sleight of hand. Renewed interest in this admirable production will, once again, provide a stimulus to passengers and membership.
Ken Roberts Remembers A true character and one of the Railway’s elder statesmen, Ken has worked as a Carriage and Wagon volunteer since the mid 1960s and well recalls many incidents which took place during the making of the film. I had a few days off in May 1970 during the filming of The Railway Children, and upon entering Haworth Yard I noticed several coaches being set down into the old No. 4 road. I later learnt that these coaches were to become the on-site headquarters of the film company. From memory, among the coaches were the Chatham brake, Pullmans 84 and ‘Zena’, the latter now forming part of the Orient Express rake. A day or so later I noticed that the local Electric Board had fixed up heating and lighting in all this coaches. That same evening, a few of us had a sneaky look inside them ….. wow. Edwardian clothes hanging up from racks and spread all over the place. A couple of lads put on strange headgear such as bobby’s helmets, pith helmets and pill box hats. A security firm called Wideawake were apparently employed to keep guard of things but were clearly not wide awake when the aforementioned capers took place. Wideawake’s alsation dog had a sort of silent bark and could hardly walk. The following day we again ventured into the coaches to find more interesting things. Inside the Chatham was a lady operating a huge washing machine. She told us that she went out east to do any washing during ‘Lawrence of Arabia’. “By gum” said one of the lads, “I’ll bet that machine got bunged up with sand”. The lady did not think the remark was funny and said “Don’t think I’m going to wash your lot’s dirty overalls”. Then going into the Pullmans and ploughing through Edwardian frocks and other frilly things, tail coats etc, we then went into ‘Zena’ which, being a first class Pullman, had private cubicles at each end of the cart. One was for Dinah Sheridan and the other was for Bernard Cribbins. In the centre of this car was a large board on which the names of the cast, the Producer and Director, and the Technical Director the late Bob Cryer. Now Bob was a movie buff so got his name, at last, on the screen. Some members of the Railway were asked to do fire-watching duties for a wage of £4 per person per night. That was good money in those days BUT the Railway’s Council had decided that any member doing this work should hand back all, or at least 50%, of those earnings. £4 was also the amount paid to the lads from a school in Leeds for their part in the paper chase scene. On giving the lads the money, the School Master remarked, “That is the easiest money you will ever earn in your lives”. Down at Oakworth, one of the coach’s droplight straps broke. Asking one of the film staff where I might get some strong thread, I was directed towards the Wardrobe Department. “See those fancy boys over there ….. that is the wardrobe Department”. There was a short break in filming over the Whit weekend and the weather was nice and warm. One scene at Oakworth demanded a wet platform so out came the local fire brigade to provide torrential rain on demand. Chatting to Jenny Agutter at Oakworth, I asked if she had gone south with the rest of the crowd over Whit. I thought I heard her say “No, I have been to see my parents in St Helens”. Methinks this lass is no snob. To many of the onlookers, the star of the whole event was the film’s Director Lionel Jeffries. On the set at 7am with a very big red scarf around him and an after-shave with an aroma not unlike The Famous Grouse or Arthur Bell – a splendid chap.
Right Away Mr. Mitchell .............
Several KWVR volunteers were involved in the making of the film. One of them, Guard Graham Mitchell, even had a speaking part and is een here with actor William Mervyn Picture - KWVR Archives
On Your Marks ................
Peter Bromilow, Gary Warren and Sally Thomsett get lined up for another scene at Oakworth station Picture - Peter Eastham
Celebrating the Centenary E Nesbit's story of The Railway Children originally appeared in serialised form in The London Magazine in 1905. It was published as a book the following year. During 2005 the National Railway Museum in York staged a 'Railway Children Centenary' exhibition.
Star of the show was undoubtedly the KWVR-based LNER saloon, owned by Mr Chris Lawson, which appeared as 'The Old Gentleman's Coach' in the 1970 film. Visitors were allowed to step on board and chat to the NRM's Old Gentleman. Also in attendance was the VCT's steam locomotive 'Lord Mayor' which appeared in publicity material for the film.
Volunteers from the Ingrow-based Vintage Carriages Trust manned a stall inside the exhibition selling books, magazines and items of memorobilia.
Many KWVR volunteers contributed items of memorobilia for the exhibition. Former Oakworth Station Master, Jim Shipley, loaned this original cinema poster which has been signed by several members of the cast.
Here we see Jim's grand-daughter, Holly, standing on the front of the VCT's locomotive Lord Mayor which had been specially decked out in bunting for the exhibition.
The Railway Children and the Cystic Fibrosis Trust Railway Children actress, Jenny Agutter, is a patron of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and a regular visitor to their annual fund-raising Fun Days in Haworth Park. To learn more about the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and its activities - click here
Sunday 30th April 2006 - KWVR volunteers man a stall at the Fun Day in the park with souvenirs, books, videos and a display of Railway Children memorobilia. Meanwhile Jenny Agutter gets out and about, meeting visitors and taking part in the charity walk.
Unless otherwise stated, all pictures are from K&WVR archives or from the personal collections of KWVR members
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Various trains were discussed and three basic types evolved. Pannier tank No. L89 was to be the warm, friendly engine with the smart coach painted in cream and dark maroon coupled to the wood-grained director’s saloon in which the Old Gentleman rode so serenely. The local train had a rather heterogeneous collection and four and six wheeled coaches drawn by Manchester
A major location away from the stations was the landslide constructed on the left bank in the cutting below Mytholmes tunnel. In the BBC version, a small tree was carried on the locomotive buffer beam to the bend near Oxenhope and supplemented with branches. The cinema version had something rather more spectacular. Three long steel channels were placed in the hillside with three short vertical tubes located in each. These were drawn up the hillside by cables and released to slide down as required. In the two outside channels were placed small trees and, in the centre, a rather special fibreglass tree made by the art department at Elstree. On the day of filming, when the centre tree reached its lowest point, the hinged base caused the trunk to fall over whilst, simultaneously, the 40 tons of fuller’s earth and gravel piled up behind sleepers at the bottom of the cutting were exploded, causing this mixture to slide across the track. It was all very expensive and, to this viewer, not particularly effective on the screen. Moreover, there was no opportunity for retakes once the charges were detonated. Perhaps a large tree across the track might have been more realistic and the money saved could have been spent on the canal sequence, where the three children rescue a baby from a burning barge. A location on the Leeds-Liverpool canal near the Fisherman’s Inn at Wagon Lane, Bingley, was picked out but, sadly, abandoned because of lack of money. 
