People often say that the gift of a camera at an early age sparked a lifetime’s interest in photography but for Chris Lenton this wasn’t quite true.
For my eighth birthday, in 1972, I received a Kodak Instamatic 25 along with a 12 exposure black and white 126 film, which was duly loaded and rapidly exposed. After that, the camera was rarely used, probably owing to the obstacle of having to buy film for it.
The camera arrived at the very beginning of my railway interest. At that time, the nearest place for us (Dad, younger brother and me) to watch trains was Brookhouse Colliery, which was a short, down-hill walk from home. A handy iron bridge over the Sheffield to Lincoln line, midway between Wood-house and Kiveton Bridge stations, provided an excellent view not only of the main line and pit head buildings but also the railway activity within the colliery itself. It was the venue of my first recorded loco sighting - D5577 - and we went there a lot!
The line was not especially busy but the occasional coal train would pass in between the regular DMU services between Sheffield, Lincoln and Cleethorpes, which were almost always in the hands of the Lincoln based Derby class 114 two car units. The freights brought a variety of traction, usually Tinsley based members of Classes 20, 31, 37 and 47. We enjoyed standing on the bridge, simply waiting to see what would happen and, with semaphore signals clearly visible in both directions, there was often a keen sense of anticipation.
The colliery itself operated an interesting fleet of locos, whose comings and goings could be sa-voured when the main line was quiet. They included a dark green Yorkshire Engine Co. ‘Janus’ 0-6-0, a pair of deep blue Sentinel 0-4-0s numbered 4044/1 and 4044/2, which seemed permanently coupled together, a 1952-built Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0 numbered DL4 and the ‘celebrity’, ex-BR Class 04 D2229. A wooden extension to the bridge passed directly over the colliery weigh bridge and we en-joyed watching the seemingly enormous wagons passing slowly beneath the planks, pushed by one or other of the shunters, working hard.
Back to the camera. Most of those initial 12 exposures became wobbly prints of friends and family but two featured trains at Brookhouse - my first two railway photographs. Class 37s were the subject of both. The first was of a clean looking 6783 at the head of a loaded rake of 4 wheel mineral wagons, travelling in the Sheffield direction with the head code 9T66 .
The second photo shows the Man
