May 2021 Speaker
Once again due to COVID restrictions this meeting was organised as a Zoom meeting by Alan Cullen and the meeting was introduced by our new chairman Roy Brackley. One of our new members Derek offered to start a new Film Appreciation interest group about Hollywood films from 1920-1960 and British films of 1950s. Please get in touch with our Groups’ Co-ordinator Wendy Burns if you would like to join this new group.
Di then introduced our speaker Jenny Mallin who gave us a wonderful talk with her Powerpoint photos of her grandmother’s life in India during the days of the Indian Raj in the early 1900s.
As India was part of the Commonwealth in those days many of our British engineers went over to organise the beginning of the Indian railways, which were desperately needed to enable the country to become connected across the mountain ranges. As well as the British Army and Navy providing people the British also provided the knowledge from our original engineers who designed the pump engines in Cornwall to pump out the tin mines when they became flooded on the early 1700’s.
In the mid 1850’s the first rails were laid and eventually there became 7,000 railway stations across India. This replaced the difficult time the Indians had previously bringing their cotton crops across the mountainous terrain by pack horses and bullock carts. By 1926 they had rail links between Bombay, Calcutta and Delhi. Many of the railways had to be made in loop formation to allow for the steep inclines, which meant that the length of the tracks were many miles long.
The train drivers stayed with the same train for their entire working career and oiled and cleaned their locomotives, so they became very attached to them.
Jenny’s father and grandfather were both born in India, as was Cliff Richard, and we also found out that some of our members had links with India through their previous generations. Jenny is also giving a talk to our Family History group about her ancestors later in the year. For more information please contact Linda.