The Midland Railway Study Centre Assemblage Trails

THE MIDLAND RAILWAY ASSEMBLAGE TRAILS
"The Enthusiast's Trail"
Stop Six: The Tamworth Bench

A little further along....

A simple bench fornmed of two planks for the seat and one for the back rest, with three ornate cast iron legs to support it. Tamworth is painted in large lettersd on the backrest

Stop 6

Where: E4 blue

What: Tamworth platform bench

Material: Wood and cast iron

Why: These platform benches, with their distinctly simple yet ornamental style, were ubiquitous on Midland Railway stations. Yet, as it turns out, they were not the MR’s own product and were instead bought-in from a local foundry (possibly Handyside’s of Derby, but this has never been confirmed). Whoever the supplier was, they were certainly not exclusive to the Midland as this design can be seen on other railways and corporation parks all over the country. In the picture below, the staff of Spondon station are using one of their benches for this group shot.

Ref: RFB12819

A photograph of seven uniformed Midland Railway employees ranging from barely teenaged to middle aged, three are sitting on one of these benches with the name Spondon just visible beteween them, the other four are standing behind