20 March: Subterranean Railway: a social history of the London Underground
The Speaker:
Christian Wolmar is a writer and broadcaster specialising in transport. He has spent nearly all his working life as a journalist and lately he was at The Independent. Although he mainly concentrates on transport matters, he covers other social policy issues, notably housing and local government. He has written two books on the London Underground, Down the Tube (2002), an account of the Public Private Partnership and The Subterranean Railway, (2004) which has been widely acclaimed by the critics. Other books by him include: On the Wrong Line, how ideology and incompetence wrecked Britain’s railways, and A History of British Railways, published in 2007.
The Subject:
The Subterranean Railway celebrates the fantastic achievement of the Underground’s pioneers who created a transport system that was not only unique in the world but also was vital in creating the London we know today. While the engineering feats of the Underground have been well documented, little attention has been given to the effect of the tube on London. The spectacular task of building a railway underneath a built-up area, was so revolutionary that it took nearly 40 years for any other country to imitate it.
One great impact of the Tube on London is the design and architecture. Other important achievements of the Underground include the establishment of a brilliant system of transport management which, in the 1930s, became a world class model, envied and studied around the world. Taken together, it is no exaggeration to say that the Underground helped build the London we know today almost as much as the other way around and this lecture highlights that history in a way that has never previously been told.
venue: Grand Hotel l’Empereur, Maastricht (opp. Railway station)
date :Thurs. 20 March 2008. (8-10 p.m., with a break around 9p.m.)
Entrance fee for non-members: €5 each, students €4.
limited number of seats, please make a reservation (see contact details below)
For further information, please contact:
Secretary: Jennifer deFeyter-Vidler, Tel.#: 043-3640.798;
Chairman : T. Snyders, tsnyders@planet.nl
Treasurer: Hub Stevens, Tel.#: 046-4747.139
MembershipSecr.: Davina Mommers-Koppers, Tel.#: 0032-12-261183
G.N.E. Limburg / Netherlands-England Society, Limburg branch
www.bbcawards.com
