Meet Cedric Greenwood, the author of Echoes of Steam and Vintage Voltage and Merseyside: The Indian Summer series. In his own words, Cedric shares exclusive insights into his writing process and inspirations behind his books.
The beginning
“Buses were my first interest, from age four, stemming from the open-staircase Tilling ST buses of Brighton and Hove with I was brought up with. I was disappointed to find later that this was an obsolete design. At age eight I was fond of Oxford’s rattling pre-war buses seconded to the long country routes; their rich red and dark brown paintwork was the most beautiful blend of all bus colour schemes. Eventually, I owned, restored and drove a 1951 Wallasey Leyland double-decker for 30 years before I left it in the Birkenhead transport museum.”
“From age 11, I was hooked on the Great Western’s north mainline and its fine stations at Birmingham Snow Hill, Shrewsbury and Birkenhead Woodside. At 14 I focussed on vintage (pre-war) Southern Electric m.u.s and at 28 I was riding footplate on LMS Black Fives and 8Fs and BR 9Fs over the north-western fells and tape-recording the familiar sounds of the steam age. These recordings were issued by bygone-transport.co.uk in a series of c.d.s that included my interviews with signalmen on the high reaches of the Settle Carlisle line about winter snowdrifts.”
Behind the lens
“My texts on transport provide a broader background to my photographs, taken purely on aesthetic, not technical, interest stemming from a boyish fascination for the subjects on peripatetic moves around Britain with my dad’s job and mine. I naturally compose transport pictures in architectural, industrial or rural settings rather than boring close-up portraits of the vehicles and vessels. I abhor telephoto views for distorting reality and design. My favourite elements of transport was the Mersey steam ferries and the trams of Leicester, Liverpool, the Manx Electric and Glasgow.”
Shop books by Cedric Greenwood here: www.mortonsbooks.co.uk/silverlink
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