Category Archives: Transport

On either side from the carriage window

I’ve recently been away on holiday and when I returned to my morning commute to the University Library, it struck me how much a part of modern life the rail commute is to many. From the familiarity of knowing exactly … Continue reading

Posted in Cambridge, Holidays, Railways, Transport | Leave a comment

Life after the Titanic

William Thomas Stead.  A man well known in his day: an investigative journalist, a hard-hitting social campaigner and a forthright man.  He championed women’s rights and supported the suffragettes; promoted the Poor Law, backed the labouring classes and trade unionism; … Continue reading

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Titanic in the Tower

Sunday sees the 100th anniversary of the Titanic disaster. For the last few months we’ve been finding lots of works about the Titanic in our collection. Even today there are very few people who don’t know the story of the … Continue reading

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Aircraft in War and Commerce

What has struck me about the University Library Tower Collection is how quickly new technologies were embraced in the early 20thCentury and how detailed, well informed books were quickly published. One of the most exciting new technologies of the day … Continue reading

Posted in Aircraft, First World War, Transport, War | 1 Comment

The sinking of the Lusitania

This week of cataloguing I came across a rather sad and strange reminder that our project is gradually approaching the 1st world war. In my 1907’s shelf of books I found the ‘launch book’ for the Lusitania, the ocean liner … Continue reading

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Ode to… a tram accident

Perhaps one of the best known disaster poems is William McGonagall’s infamous “The Tay Rail Bridge Disaster.”  In fact he seemed to rather specialise in writing about calamities, but he was and is by no means alone.  Poems have been … Continue reading

Posted in Oddities, Transport | 4 Comments