Humberette, 1915

As the name implies, the Humberette was a small car produced by Humber, a well known British car manufacturer. The first Humberettes were built from 1903-1905 and were small, two seaters, the name being a contraction of 'Humber' and 'Voiturette' (the French term for small motor car), and were built in large numbers. A Humberette stars in the film 'The ? Motorist' (1906), featured in my previous post - . They were later produced from 1914 to 1915, however due to the Great War production stopped. The 1914-15 model looked vastly different from the earlier Humberette and looked very modern for its time. This example, based in Essex, was made in 1915

Watch 'The Magic Sword', 1901

Brush Steam Locomotive, 1906

This is a typical industrial steam locomotive of the Edwardian, built in their thousands and used at relatively small railways such as at coal mines, quarries, large factory sites, dockyards and construction sites, often on relatively poorly constructed tracks, and not as glamorous as the large express engines used by the main railway companies. Usually built with four or six wheels, and usually as tank engines with the water held in a 'saddle tank' straddling the boiler, similar looking locomotives were made from the 19th century up until the 1950's to nearly identical designs by many manufacturers. This one, a 0-4-0ST (meaning no forward unpowered wheels, four powered wheels, and no unpowered rear wheels, with ST standing for Saddle Tank), was built by Brush in Loughborough, Leicestershire in 1906. What is unusual about this Locomotive is that Brush are, and were during the Edwardian era, more famous for building electric locomotives - in 1904 they built two Electric Locomotives for the North Eastern Railway for use on the Tyne Quayside, and also made Electric Locomotives for export and other British companies.

This Locomotive was built for work on Swansea Docks, and was fitted with a bell to warn people of it's presence. It was acquired by the Great Western Railway in 1924 who fitted their usual copper casing for the safety valve which can be seen on top of the water tank. In 1928 it was sold back into industrial use in Kent, and worked there until the 1960's when it was given to the Leicestershire Museums Service. It is now on display at the Snibston Discovery Park, and as can be seen, it is still in it's original paintwork

Zeppelin Raids - Public Safety Poster, 1916

This poster, issued by the Emergency Committee of Seaham and District Commission on April 11 1916. It tells the public of what to do in, and when to take action and shelter from, an attack by Zeppelins and other aircraft. The threat to the British public from Germany in the First World War was no light matter - in December 1914 Hartlepool, Scarborough and Whitby were bombarded by German ships to provoke a response from the Royal Navy, and Zeppelin and Aeroplane raids were to occur throughout the First World War - London was on the verge of a firebombing offensive in 1918 when it was called off at the last minute as it was felt it would affect the chances of a Peace Treaty when the time came, as by this time the war was going very badly for Germany

Dennis 8hp Car, 1902

This early Dennis with a Tonneau body dating from 1902 was at the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run Concourse Event in Regent Street, London in November 2011 where I photographed it. Dennis built cars in Guildford, Surrey from 1899 until 1915, afterwards they concentrated on Lorries and other large commercial vehicles

North Eastern Railway Goods Shed, 1913

Moved and rebuilt brick by brick from Rowley Station to Beamish, this is a typical North Eastern Railway Goods Shed, recreating how it would have looked in 1913. Most UK railway stations had a goods shed - large cities would have had enormous houses, but most stations serving towns would have had something like this, with one railway line running through it for wagons or vans to be unloaded and loaded sheltered from the weather, usually with a platform inside or outside and a small crane to help with heavy or awkwardly shaped objects (This example has a platform inside and outside, and a crane inside and outside too). From the goods shed, onward transport would be made by a horse drawn vehicle, or more increasingly in the Edwaridan era, a petrol or steam lorry. Nowadays, goods sheds are a thing of the past, as any railway freight is dealt with in large yards, and the vast majority of goods sheds have been demolished, however some have survived either on preserved railways or converted to other uses

Sunlight Soap Advert

MMC Motor Car, 1903

Seen at the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run Concourse Event on Regent Street, London, in November 2007

Golders Green London Underground Poster, 1912

This poster extols the virtues of Golders Green Station by showing the journey times and train frequencies into central London in 1912 since the opening of the station in 1907 - the early London Underground companies were often encouraging people to move to the suburbs, where they could travel via the companies into London for work. I used to live at the end of the Northern Line and travel through Golders Green often - it's one of my favourite stations, as on my trips into central London it was the last open air station before going underground, and so on the way back home would be my first gasp of 'fresh' (well, fresher than that in central London and underground) air when the doors opened. It also still shows it's Edwardian origins despite modernisation, especially the original roof supports

Maudslay 32hp Tourer, 1910

1910 Maudslay advert

Maudslay were a manufacturer of large, expensive motor cars in the Edwardian era, and this 1910 built 32hp Tourer is a perfect example of the cars they were producing. The Maudslay radiator style is very distinctive, in a time when the radiator style was the most distinguishing feature between various car manufacturers. Maudslay had their own special type of engine - the 'Maudslay Patent Overhead Hinged Camshaft and Valve Gear', meaning that the top part of the engine hinges back to give easy access to the engine parts can be repaired or replaced easily, without taking the whole engine out or disassembling the car.

To give an idea of the cost of this car when new, the basic product, meaning the chassis, wheels, radiator, engine and other basic but vital parts was £875. Once you include the body, lights and other parts to make it complete as a useable motor car, it goes up to around £2000 - in 1910, the average annual wage for a skilled engineer was around £125. This Maudslay is now on display in the Coventry Transport Museum