Ernest Marples: The Shadow Behind Beeching

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The railways were also hamstrung at that time by the legal requirement to carry any goods regardless, hence the comment above about racehorses. He was director of AHA International (London campus of the University of Oregon, now GEO London), 2004-14. His ribbon-cutting speech was probably considered twee even at the time, and it was certainly ignored. While the material is sound, the style is frustrating: I lost count of how many times we’re given a digressive preview of the future, e.

The political consensus appears to have been a resounding ‘no’, and Britain’s fast road network became like the National Health Service, free at the point of use. Interviewed by Graham Robson in the January 2000 edition of MINI Magazine, he said: ‘A friend told me about this car in 1979. Traffic engineers in the Netherlands tamed the car (and improved the bike path network); traffic engineers in the UK designed only for the car.

In that capacity he approved the ending of passenger services between Shrewsbury and Bewdley from 9 September 1963. Marples Ridgway's subsequent contracts included building power stations in England, the Allt na Lairige dam in Scotland, roads in Ethiopia and (significantly) England, and a port in Jamaica. In 1959 Marples was appointed as the Minister of Transport which became his most controversial position. I also didn’t like references and citations being placed throughout the text, rather than separately at the end or as footnotes, as this breaks up the reading too intrusively.

It was he who introduced the 70mph speed limit in November 1965 in response to rising road fatalities. The Minister who had opposed Trade Union reform also became a supporter of Margaret Thatcher, although he sat on the cross benches when he received his peerage.A major problem of Britain’s railways was the lack of electrification, an awful lot of trains in 1973 ran on diesel so would be just as vulnerable as motor transport! John Holmes was a neighbour and ‘friend’ of my father’s and I well remember him dropping in and talking about this case. But this background in construction also meant that he was the best choice in Westminster to push forward the modernisation of Britain’s road network, and the political consensus of the time was that this was the way forward.

By the end of the year Fraser was on the backbenches and in 1967 he quit politics altogether to become Chairman of the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board.This is an interesting book for anyone interested in both the early BR era and post-war British politics in general. While large numbers of people had a sentimental attachment to the railways, this did not necessarily extend to using them. Ernest Marples’ detractors are helped in their case by the virtual collapse of British car production between 1972 and 1980, when it was exposed to Common Market imports.

I found the book balanced and non-judgemental and it pays due tribute to Marples’ many achievements. The book does not sensationalise his connection with civil engineering company, Marples Ridgeway, but follows his time at Housing the Post Office, then Transport, as the railways seem to have taken a back seat to roads. He was however one of the first men in St Austell Cornwall to have a Volve 145 estate which he held onto thick and thin for many years. A final chapter covers Marples’ life from his poor relationship with McMillan’s successor, Ted Heath, until his death in 1978. The previous year he had been arrested for drink-driving and received a fine and a one year driving ban.

New housing was urgently needed to replace that destroyed by the Luftwaffe and replace temporary pre-fabricated dwellings. These committees could make recommendations relating to the services provided by relevant Board, but the Minister was not bound to follow their recommendations. British Railways needed to cut back and for all Beeching and Marples are seen as a pair of mad axe men hell bent on destroying the railways, some lines and services were unviable and had to go. This led to accusations of a conflict of interest in his subsequent responsibility for decisions on the relative merits of road and rail transport. He left by the night ferry with his belongings crammed into tea chests, leaving the floors of his home in Belgravia littered with discarded clothes and possessions .