C O N T E X T 1 2 4 : M A Y 2 0 1 2 17 reaction.Notables such asWoodrowWyatt, John Betjeman and Nikolaus Pevsner rallied the troops. The Royal Academy, theVictorian Society and the London Society all weighed in to government ministers, to no avail.The Architectural Review describedThe Euston Arch as ‘one of the outstanding architectural creations of the nineteenth century and the most important monument to the railway age which Britain pioneered’. After it was demolished, the sandstone blocks were used to repair the floor of the Prescott Channel of the River Lea.TheTransport Trust vowed ‘never again’. Spurred on by a deeply committed and youthful patron, the Duke of Edinburgh, the trust aggressively championed transport heritage. Fifty years on, the Transport Trust remains the only national charity established to promote and encourage the preservation and restoration of Britain’s transport heritage in all its forms – by air, by land on road and rail, and on water, both sea and inland. The trust’s mantra is to help secure, restore and conserve the most relevant elements of what is now left, to ensure that future generations will see, understand and enjoy what earlier generations have achieved. The trust takes its role as an educational charity very seriously. One innovative approach is the ‘OurTransport Heritage’ programme, which offers a virtual tour of Britain’s rich transport legacy. In this era of instant online access to knowledge, there is a real danger that the search engines will only highlight headline events, overlooking detailed timelines and milestones. A sophisticated and extensive website (www.transportheritage.com) covers 900 heritage sites in great depth, almost all which can be readily visited and inspected.Area and regional heritage trails can also be easily generated to encourage heritage tourism. Recent Heritage Lottery Fund research has shown that around half of inward tourism to Britain is generated by interest in heritage. Many of the sites represent extraordinary technical or engineering leaps from the then received wisdom, and deserve to be better exposed and understood by visitors. In the longer term, the sites’ continued existence may depend heavily on a much greater understanding of their importance, context and significance, with a comprehensive overview of each site being presented in a way that will attract a new,wider and younger audience. The programme links with, and takes advice from, national and local historians, industrial archaeologists and other experts, and historical societies. It is wholly funded by theTransport Trust. To be listed on the Our Transport Heritage website, the building(s), artefact(s) or site has to be shown to have special value within its general category; for architectural reasons; as an illustration of progress in social or economic history; as involving technological innovations; for its associations with particular individuals or events; or for their group value. Progressively, the most significant of these locations are being marked by aTransportTrust heritage plaque on the physical site, a time-consuming but extremely valuable exercise. Recently English Heritage drew attention to the importance of the Transport Trust’s plaque programme – too often, plaque schemes lack objectivity and visibility, and are operated with a narrow focus. The trust works with partners such as BritishWaterways, Trinity House and Network Rail jointly to identify the most important sites from a heritage standpoint and to erect plaques most efficiently. Another innovative programme is the £2 million restoration of the Brighton Belle. The biggest heritage rail restoration under way in Britain – and far more challenging than the ‘A1 Tornado’ project, from an engineering standpoint – will see this art deco icon from 1932 returned to mainline use by professional railway engineers.The Brighton Belle was the world’s only electric all-Pullman train.A ground-breaking, all-steel monocoque construction, she was withdrawn from service in 1972. This is not only the first time that a complete train set has been restored, but also the first example of a heritage electricmultiple unit being returned tomainline use.Apart from the intrinsic heritage value of the Brighton Belle (probably the most famous electric train in the world), the project was launched to draw attention to the plight of Britain’s electric traction heritage. Electric traction played a dominant role in Britain and Europe’s 20th century rail heritage, yet it has remained the poor relation of steam. Many, if not most, of the key remaining heritage vehicles are significantly at risk. It is hoped that, once the project is complete, the trust will turn its attention towards the establishment of an Electric Railway Museum, with both static and operational elements. Reflecting the important leadership on electrification taken by the Southern Railway, the putative museum would be located in the south of England, with access to the third rail system. The trust cooperates with less generic heritage bodies to make the collective voice of the heritage movement heard more clearly and coherently.This ranges from our strategic partnerships with organisations such as Heritage Link, the Heritage Railway Association and the Vintage Sports-Car Club to campaign support on single issues at the grass roots level.With financial resources for heritage bodies seemingly universally low, the value of cooperative activity has never been as high. The heritage movement in all its guises relies heavily on the remarkable efforts of individuals within the preservation community. The trust draws the public’s attention to excellence and commitment with its annual awards programme,with each award presented personally by the trust’s patron, Prince Michael of Kent. A special section focuses on young preservationists. Not only do they benefit from the trust’s skills training programmes, but they will also become the guardians of our transport heritage in the future. A recent winner of the preservationist of the year award was PeterVacher, who spent 23 years trying to repatriate a Hurricane airframe from India to restore it to flight. Hurricane R4118 is now regarded as the most historic British aircraft from the secondworldwar to survive in flying condition.The sole survivor from the Battle of Britain, she flew alongside the Battle of BritainMemorial Flight’s Spitfires throughout the 70th anniversary celebrations. Neil Marshall is a trustee of the Transport Trust.
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