Rail strikes - Not the current ones - mid 1950s

[Kevin51]

I am trying to find the dates of a British Railways strike in the summer of the mid 1950s. I am actually trying to collate where the family holidays were in which years and I know one year we went to a holiday in Dymchurch or Littlestone Kent and we had to go by coach. I thought the big rail strike was 1956 but the only reference I could find was a National Emergency in June 1955. Trying to search rail strikes on the internet only shows up the current ones.

 

[yorksrob]

I am trying to find the dates of a British Railways strike in the summer of the mid 1950s. I am actually trying to collate where the family holidays were in which years and I know one year we went to a holiday in Dymchurch or Littlestone Kent and we had to go by coach. I thought the big rail strike was 1956 but the only reference I could find was a National Emergency in June 1955. Trying to search rail strikes on the internet only shows up the current ones.

I've read about a fairly lengthy ASLEF strike in 1955. Hit pick-up freight quite hard.

Presumably had the strike not occurred, you'd have caught the Ashford - New Romney line which called at Littlestone on Sea (closed 1967).

 

[6Gman]

I am trying to find the dates of a British Railways strike in the summer of the mid 1950s. I am actually trying to collate where the family holidays were in which years and I know one year we went to a holiday in Dymchurch or Littlestone Kent and we had to go by coach. I thought the big rail strike was 1956 but the only reference I could find was a National Emergency in June 1955. Trying to search rail strikes on the internet only shows up the current ones.

Saturday 28 May to Tuesday 14 June I believe.

Pretty confident with the start date; 14th might be the last date of the strike (work restarted on the 15th) but it MAY be that 14th was date of the return to work.

(Should add it was an ASLEF strike; I believe NUR drivers were still working. Created a lot of ill-feeling which lasted for years.)

 

[Kevin51]

I am just wondering if may parents would have taken a summer holiday that early in the summer. I suppose it might have been possible. I know we went to North Norfolk in 1958. We had a holiday in Folkstone which for some reason I thought was 1956 but nothing to confirm this. I am assuming the holiday was 1955, 56 or 57. Were there any other long summer strikes in those years? I do vagueley remember a long bus strike around that period as well and having to walk or hitch a lift. I gather it was common for car drivers to give lifts to anybody waiting a bus stop for a non existent bus.

 

[Drogba11CFC]

Saturday 28 May to Tuesday 14 June I believe.

Pretty confident with the start date; 14th might be the last date of the strike (work restarted on the 15th) but it MAY be that 14th was date of the return to work.

(Should add it was an ASLEF strike; I believe NUR drivers were still working. Created a lot of ill-feeling which lasted for years.)

He's drawn a line across the cab for each of us to stand
Since he found I'd joined the NUR while he was an ASLEF man

 

[30907]

Saturday 28 May to Tuesday 14 June I believe.

Pretty confident with the start date; 14th might be the last date of the strike (work restarted on the 15th) but it MAY be that 14th was date of the return to work.

(Should add it was an ASLEF strike; I believe NUR drivers were still working. Created a lot of ill-feeling which lasted for years.)

It is actually one of my earliest memories, aged nearly 3: my parents had booked a holiday at Westgate-on-Sea (easy to get to from Bromley S) and I have a vague memory of being in a car in flat countryside (Thanet Way?). Whether a neighbour drove us (they had a car) or we used a cab I don't recall, but my sister had just turned 1 and a coach wasn't an option (and they went from Lewisham anyway!)

 

[Bevan Price]

I am just wondering if may parents would have taken a summer holiday that early in the summer. I suppose it might have been possible. I know we went to North Norfolk in 1958. We had a holiday in Folkstone which for some reason I thought was 1956 but nothing to confirm this. I am assuming the holiday was 1955, 56 or 57. Were there any other long summer strikes in those years? I do vagueley remember a long bus strike around that period as well and having to walk or hitch a lift. I gather it was common for car drivers to give lifts to anybody waiting a bus stop for a non existent bus.

1955 had the only long summer strike on BR (by ASLEF). It led to big losses in passenger & freight traffic, and the start of big financial deficits for BR.

 

[Kevin51]

OK must have been 1955 and my parents took an early summer holiday I seem to remember going by car. We lived in Leyton and the only bit I remember is the Blackwall tunnel. The return was by coach and remember Victoria coach station. I have memories of the standard gauge at New Romney and or course the RHDR running.

 

[mailbyrail]

My father was booking clerk in Stratford on Avon station and took me to work with him on 14 June 1955, the day my sister was born. My first memory of anything in life, playing in what seemed like massive ticket cupboards beneath the booking office window and having boiled egg soldiers. I was just under two at the time. No such thing as paternity leave then but he would have known it wasn't going to be a problem with me in the office that day!

 

[6Gman]

I am just wondering if may parents would have taken a summer holiday that early in the summer. I suppose it might have been possible. I know we went to North Norfolk in 1958. We had a holiday in Folkstone which for some reason I thought was 1956 but nothing to confirm this. I am assuming the holiday was 1955, 56 or 57. Were there any other long summer strikes in those years? I do vagueley remember a long bus strike around that period as well and having to walk or hitch a lift. I gather it was common for car drivers to give lifts to anybody waiting a bus stop for a non existent bus.

I'm pretty sure there was a bus/ coach strike in 1957.

 

[Bevan Price]

I'm pretty sure there was a bus/ coach strike in 1957.

There may have been some bus strikes, but remember that in 1955, many towns and cities had their own bus operations, so only your "local" area / operator may have been affected.

 

[Gloster]

Googling 1955 train driver strike throws up a number of results. On the Brighton branch of ASLEF site it says it was seventeen days starting at midnight on May 28th. Other results show (or is it shew) supporting information.

EDIT: A bit in the Railway Magazine says that agreement was on the 14th June, suburban services were near normal on the 15th and mainline ones on the 16th. (The item is on the second page of the Google results.)

 

[6Gman]

There may have been some bus strikes, but remember that in 1955, many towns and cities had their own bus operations, so only your "local" area / operator may have been affected.

It (1957) was a national bus strike involving 100,000 staff. Some sources state that it included municipal operators; others that it was solely the "provincial" operators (i.e. the Tilling and BET companies). I think the latter is more likely. That would have included the likes of Ribble, Midland Red, Black & White, East Kent etc. so medium- and long-distance routes would have been badly affected. Getting the corporation bus from Cemetery Gates to the City Centre may have been fine but getting from town to town or town to seaside would have been difficult (also in towns without municipal operators).

 

[Bevan Price]

It (1957) was a national bus strike involving 100,000 staff. Some sources state that it included municipal operators; others that it was solely the "provincial" operators (i.e. the Tilling and BET companies). I think the latter is more likely. That would have included the likes of Ribble, Midland Red, Black & White, East Kent etc. so medium- and long-distance routes would have been badly affected. Getting the corporation bus from Cemetery Gates to the City Centre may have been fine but getting from town to town or town to seaside would have been difficult (also in towns without municipal operators).

I don't remember our local corporation (St. Helens) having a strike at that time - just a work to rule & overtime ban in the late 1960s or early 1970s that lost a lot of passengers because services got very unreliable.

 

[TheSeeker]

There's a great radio episode of "Hancocks Half Hour" concerning the rail strikes of this period. It's on you tube.

 

[L+Y]

I've heard the 1955 strike discussed at some length elsewhere. Just how damaging was it in the medium term? Clearly the issues that led to Beeching were developing anyway by the mid fifties, but would they have come to the fore so quickly without the 1955 strike?

 

[Gloster]

I've heard the 1955 strike discussed at some length elsewhere. Just how damaging was it in the medium term? Clearly the issues that led to Beeching were developing anyway by the mid fifties, but would they have come to the fore so quickly without the 1955 strike?

It is often said that it pretty well killed off livestock traffic, although it is possible that this is one of those self-perpetuating beliefs. For that matter, many in top management would probably not have been very sorry to see it go.

 

[RT4038]

I've heard the 1955 strike discussed at some length elsewhere. Just how damaging was it in the medium term? Clearly the issues that led to Beeching were developing anyway by the mid fifties, but would they have come to the fore so quickly without the 1955 strike?

I suspect that (a) traffic which railways did not do well [either quality of service and possibly cost/revenue ratio, such as local passenger and wagonload/less than wagonload freight] declined more rapidly as traditional customers were forced to find alternative means and stuck with it; and (b) the decision makers were convinced that the country should not be susceptible to being held to ransom by railway staff, and alternative transport was to be invested in.
Just how damaging either was to the railway industry is conjecture, as both factors were being influenced by other developments too.