GWR publicity collection
Great Western Railway Magazine
One useful form of publicity was the monthly Great Western Railway Magazine. Whilst it was initially conceived as a staff magazine it was also made available to members of the general public either by annual subscription, or as individual copies for purchase from railway station bookstalls and GWR offices.
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Third edition - September 1862
Origins of the magazine
A short-lived publication called The Great Western Magazine was published monthly between July 1862 and June 1864. This magazine was managed by a committee of five GWR employees, all on a voluntary basis, but it was not an 'official' GWR publication nor was it owned by the company. It cost fourpence an issue and paid its way with the help of advertisements. Although early signs were encouraging, the interest of both the committee and the buying public gradually waned to the extent that it ceased publication after only two years. We are fortunate to have in our collection this copy of the third edition of the magazine dated September 1862. It measures about 8¾" x 5½" and consists of 32 pages plus adverts, although an attached slip confirms that the magazine will be increased to 40 pages from the October issue.
Facsimile of first title page - November 1888
November 1900 - title page
In November 1888 the Great Western Temperance Society started publication of their monthly magazine, called the Great Western Railway Magazine, and Temperance Union Record, and priced at one penny. Whilst receiving support from the GWR this magazine was also independant of the company. Its stated purpose was to promote the aims of the GWR Temperance Society and act as a link between the many thousands of staff throughout the company. The temperance movement was very strong at the time with local groups through to very large national gatherings being organised. The potential consequences of railwaymen being intoxicated whilst on duty were well recognised and so the temperance movement was well supported. Have a look at the 'Culham Station in the news' pages under the 'ABOUT/Culham Station menu tab to read about the crew of an engine who, towards the end of 1863, spent a few hours in the Railway Hotel whilst waiting for the line to be cleared following an earlier derailment of some wagons at Culham.
The magazine did not include advertisements within its pages but they were carried on a wrap around outer cover instead. At some time before the summer of 1899 the magazine had dropped the 'and Temperance Union Record' from its title. Circulation had gradually been built up from humble begnnings but by 1903 it had fallen again to a low of just over 2,000. At that time the then secretary of the society, Mr. Maunder, committed the society to take over two loss making coffee taverns from the Great Western Coffee Tavern CompanyGreat Western Railway Magazine
May 1904
Author's collection
Click or tap link for a larger image. This was not a good idea and led to mounting debts which led the GWR to step in and loan the society £750 to clear them. Shortly afterwards, and after some negotiation, the GWR agreed to cancel the society's debt to them in return for taking over ownership of the magazine.
July 1899 - adverts on the outer cover
February 1908 - new size and style
Ordinary edition
Now under GWR ownership
So it came to pass, in August 1903, that the Great Western Railway Magazine became the official organ of the GWR under its ownership with Felix Pole as its newly appointed editor. He immediately started to make changes, both in content and arrangements for distribution, but the cover price remained at one penny and by the end of 1906 the circulation had risen to 20,000 copies a month.
Two significant changes were made during 1905. The first being to reduce the page size, and the second was to introduce an art edition which was printed on better paper and cost twopence. The cover price of the of the magazine remained at either one or two pence, depending upon edition, throughout its life except for a period between June 1918 and the end of 1921 when it was temporarily increased by a penny to two and three pence.
Adverts were now being carried on the front cover, something which was to continue with few exceptions until 1938. Many adverts now began to appear throughout the body of the magazine although in the last few years these had been reduced to inside the front cover and inside and outside the back.
The Editors
Felix Pole remained editor amongst his other duties until 1919 with Edward Hadley taking over for the next eighteen years. The cover price for both the ordinary and art editions temporarily rose by a penny between June 1918 and December 1921 when they then reverted to their previous price where they remained until publication ceased at the end of 1947.
Upon Edward Hadley's retirement in 1937 the reins were taken up by R.F. Tuttle who, from January 1938, introduced a pictorial front cover rather than one carrying advertisements. Sadly he died after collapsing in his office in June 1942. The next editor, Charles Beaumont, was appointed in February 1943 but he too had a short tenure as he died on 31 March 1944 having sustained injuries during an air raid whilst he was on civil defence duties.
His successor was W.H.M Woodley who oversaw the magazine through its final years. He then continued as editor of the Western Region edition of the British Railways Magazine until his retirement in 1958.
Promotion for the Insurance Edition
Insurance Edition
In addition to the ordinary and art editions, a scheme was introduced during 1912 whereby subscribers could choose to pay two pence for an insurance edition. This was identical to the ordinary edition except that it carried the words 'Insurance Edition' on the cover, the extra penny being used to subscribe to a scheme which had been set up with the Northern Equitable Insurance Company to provided for cash benefits in the event of a fatal accident whilst working or travelling on the railway. The August edition of the Great Western Railway Magazine carried this large advertisement promoting the scheme and explaining how to participate. We also hold in our collection a later, but undated, form of application detailing the greater cover then provided. It would appear that arrangements were at some time transferred to the Ocean Accident and Guarantee Corporation Ltd.. The April 1928 edition of the magazine reported that circulation of the insurance edition had steadily increased and by then formed a substantial proportion of the total sales of the magazine.
Whilst essentially being an internal publication, the magazine was also advertised as being available to the general publicClick or tap to see an advert
from the 1947 edition of
"Holiday Haunts" via normal retail outlets. Purchasing the Insurance Edition would presumably not have been of any benefit for non GWR employees.
As already mentioned, with few exceptions, adverts were carried on the front cover until 1938. The title banner changed little until October 1934 when it was redesigned to include the new GWR roundel. In early 1946 the front cover saw a number of changes aimed at modernising its image. Each cover from January to May was slightly different. The January design saw the GWR roundel move to the foot and a change of typeface for the title. February saw the roundel replaced with the twin shield company device and another change in typeface. In March the twin shields were moved to be above the main cover illustration and slight design differences were seen with the April edition, and again in May. This final design then went unchanged until publication ceased in December 1947.
April 1913
Art edition
December 1925
Ordinary edition
February 1932
Art edition
November 1936
Insurance edition
December 1936
Ordinary edition
December 1938
Ordinary edition
GWR Centenary number
September 1935 - Art edition
Coronation number
May 1937 - Art edition
Jubilee number
November 1938 - Ordinary edition
The subject matter covered during the life of the magazine is too great to detail here, but it included staff movements, commendations, items of topical or historical interest, traffic figures, letters from users of the railway and coverage of staff outings and concerts amongst many other topics. Special editions were produced to commemorate significant events such as the coronation or anniversary editions. Reading the magazines gives an insight into the life and times of the GWR and the varied advertisements which it carried are equally fascinating. Our collection includes several complete year runs and many part years of these magazines.
Every year was also available as a bound volume, we have a few examples of these in our collection and, additionally, a set of 22 privately bound volumes covering the period 1923 to 1944.
Peak circulation is reported to have been in excess of 65,00 copies a month but this had fallen away in the years leading up to 1947. The final year saw the magazine covers bearing a series of photographs of staff at work with the tag line of 'Pride in the Job'. It was also the only year which didn't see twelve monthly issues, with March and April being combined , May and June combined, and there being an extra 'Midsummer' edition. This was reported in the final edition as being due to 'the recent fuel crisis'.
Starting publication in the January of 1948, the Western Region edition of the new British Railways Magazine followed much the same format. It still carried some advertisements, its price remained at one penny, was the same size, and the front cover continued with the practice of featuring staff at work under the title of 'Pride in the Job'.
Other railway companies
The Great Western was not unique amongst the railway companies in having a staff magazine. It really falls outside the scope of this page but it is worth mentioning that each of the 'Big Four' companies created by the Railways Act of 1921, which took effect on 1st January 1923, supported a magazine. By their nature they all had similar contents and were, like that of the GWR, available as bound volumes, and we hold examples from all the other companies in our collection. The GWR magazine was published without break with it, like the GWR itself, being little affected by grouping save that its regional coverage did expand to include those smaller companies that it had absorbed. The other three 'Big Four' companies however only came into existence as the result of railway grouping, so their company magazines also came into being from January 1923, although a number of the old constituent companies had produced their own magazines for many years previously.
London, Midland & Scottish Railway - LMS
This company was huge, having around 7,000 route miles and staff numbers to match, which was reflected in a circulation for their magazine reportedly in excess of 70,000 during the 1930s. The LMS was formed from many companies both large and small resulting in an enormous geographical spread. The largest of the constituent companies were the Caledonian Railway with just over 1,000 route miles, the London and North Western Railway with over 2,500 and the Midland Railway with more than 2,000. Of these, the L&NWR is known to have started publishing a staff magazine, the London and North Western Railway Gazette, in 1912.
The company was so large that it produced different editions of the LMS Magazine for each area costing one penny an issue. An option was advertised on each - 'For editions with local news from all areas - price Two Pence'. All editions started with the same ten pages or so of general features, followed by four pages of local news and then maybe sixteen of general features. All versions would have the same page numbers, with the local pages suffixed by a different letter for each area, London and Home Counties Edition being 'A', Midland and South Western Edition 'B', North Western Edition 'C', Northern and Irish Edition 'D' and the Scottish Edition being 'E'. The 'all areas' edition was given the suffix 'F'. By the mid to late 1930s it seems that publication had been consolidated into a single company wide 'Ordinary Edition', still priced at one penny but now having the option of an 'Art Edition' or an 'Insurance Edition' each priced at twopence. A bound volume of the 'all areas' editions for July to December 1932 is held in our collection.
London and North Eastern Railway - LNER
This company was the second largest created by the Railways Act 1921. The principal constituents of the LNER were the Great Eastern Railway, the Great Central Railway, the Great Northern Railway, the Great North of Scotland Railway, the North British Railway and the North Eastern Railway. The North Eastern Railway had the largest route mileage of just under 1,800 miles and the final total route mileage was a little more than 6,500 miles.
The Great Central Railway had published its own magazine, the Great Central Railway Journal from July 1905. First published in January 1911, the Great Eastern Railway Magazine continued to be produced until the end of 1926. It was then relaunched as the London & North Eastern Railway Magazine but continued to number its volumes as having started in 1911. During the 1930s each issue was priced at twopence with the option of one printed on art paper at threepence. Our collection includes a bound volume for 1933.
Great Eastern Railway - GER
The Great Eastern Railway Magazine was first published in January 1911. As a result of the Railways Act 1921, the Great Eastern Railway became part of the London & North Eastern Railway but the magazine continued to be produced until the end of 1926. This copy dates from December 1919 and cost one penny.
Southern Railway - SR
In our collection we have, as there is no index included, what appears to be a privately bound volume of the Southern Railway Magazine from 1937. Shown here is the title page from the July number which carries a photograph of an iconic Southern EMU on the new electric service between London and Portsmouth. It is interesting to note that although this particular magazine only came about following grouping it proudly annnounces in the banner with which is incorporated the South Western Gazette (first issued in 1881).
The Southern Railway was by far the smallest of the 'Big Four' in terms of route miles with about 2,200. It was created by the amalgamation of a handful of tiny operating companies and three bigger ones, the largest of which was the London & South Western Railway (L&SWR) which came into being in 1838, and it is for their staff that the South Western Gazette was independently published. The name was changed in 1916 to the South Western Magazine and it was taken into L&SWR company ownership in 1918. For the first few years the Southern Railway Magazine mentioned the latter name in its banner, without a date of first publication, before presumably realising the original incarnation was a few years older than that of the GWR magazine. Railway companies never did cease to try and outdo each other with significant events in their history. The early editions featured the initials of the main constituent companies of the 'Southern', being 'LB&SC', 'LSWR' and 'SE&C'. This had ceased certainly by the early 1930s, and the masthead varied greatly in style over the life of the magazine.
One innovation which the South Western Magazine introduced around the same time as the GWR equivalent (we can't determine who was first) was an 'insurance edition'. They termed the two editions the 'Official edition' at twopence, and the 'Insurance edition' at fourpence.
British Railways - BR
The Transport Act 1947, which came into effect on 1 January 1948, nationalised nearly all forms of mass transport in Great Britain. British Railways was the business name of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commission (BTC) which took over the assets of the 'Big Four' railway companies. Its operation was divided on a regional basis and each region had its own version of the British Railways Magazine. W.H.M Woodley, who had previously been editing the Great Western Railway Magazine, edited the Western Region editions of the British Railways Magazine up until his retirement in 1958. Whilst starting off costing one penny (1d) a copy in 1948, by the 1950s the price had risen to 3d and 4d for the Insurance edition. The design of the front cover changed a few times during the first few years of publication before finally settling down to the style shown here featuring staff at work under the title of 'Pride in the Job'. One new idea, which continued for many years, was to highlight a station in the region with a photograph and a short description together with photographs of four of the station staff.
In addition to a privately bound volume for 1960 our collection contains a number of individual copies of the Western Region edition, including one from January 1957 which reported on a visit by the Queen to Abingdon in the previous November.
