大象传媒

I started work at Malvern Wells Railway Station in 1942 (can't remember the exact date) as a Porter, the duties being varied. Apart from attending to the needs of the passengers, helping with luggage and ensuring the carriage doors were fastened, I also issued and collected tickets and worked out routes if required. Between train arrivals, the platform had to be cleaned (the edges of the platform were whitewashed). Signal lamps had to be cleaned and the oil topped up, then up the ladder to replace them. Cattle trucks had to be swept out as well. And I took my turn with all the jobs. Although the female porters were not supposed to have anything to do with moving the engines or rolling stock, the first and the last trains of the day had to be 'run round' and as there were only female staff on duty at these times there was no option, and it was our job to make sure that the points were changed.
I recall one occasion when there was snow on the ground and an empty train had to be run into the loop line. I checked the Dummy, which showed that the points had been changed - alas the snow had prevented them from closing completely and as the train reversed the last carriage came off the rails. I was not a popular porter!
I had occasion to walk through the Colwell tunnel when an engine driver reported a 'bump' somewhere along the line - I didn't find anything. One very dark and windy night I was going home after seeing the last train on its way back to the depot and locking up when a voice came faintly on the wind 'Jooooaan the Distant is out'. The distant Signal was just beyond the road bridge and designed to shine above that bridge - the loud voice belonged to the Signalman but I was the one who had to go up the signal ladder and relight the lamp. I think I must have swayed up that ladder for about 20 minutes, using probably a full box of matches and my entire vocabulary of bad language before the wretched thing stayed alight.
Thinking to have a change, I asked for a move to Passenger Guard, but it wasn't really practicable because I lived too far from the Depot and in the event of bad weather might not have beeen able to get there - 'No Guard No Train'. I did move to Great Malvern as a Parcels Porter. Parcels were anything from fruit, day-old chicks, passengers' luggage in advance, cats, calves with their legs folded in sacks to prevent them falling over (they had to be carried); one ot two corpses were transported during the time I was there (it was much cheaper to travel alive). The local Boarding Schools sent the pupils' luggage by train and at holiday times the Waiting Rooms were packed with their trunks and truck boxes awaiting despatch. The Government's Telecommunications Research Department (TRE) was relocated to Malvern and we handled a lot of strange packages for them, both large and small.Sunday afternoon was the time for the release of vanloads of racing pigeons. The birds were released one basket at a time, the label was marked with the time of the release and then the whole lot was repacked into the vans to go back to the towns in the Black Country.
Bicycles could be left in the Parcels Office as well and especially at weekends a good number were left whilst their owners went to Worcester for shopping or to go to the Pictures.
In 1944, just after the Allied landing on the French Coast, the King and Queen visited TRE. The 'UP' platform was cleaned, polished and repainted in readiness for the visit but the 'DOWN' platform was left in all its wartime dirt. Station staff din't get a look in at all.
Before I left the Railway in early 1946 I worked for several months as a Booking Clerk.

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