Accession Number

B92

Series Title

CHANGES

Programme Title

CREWE RAILWAY STATION

Producer

Tony Wilkie Miller

Other Credits

Editor: Ken Langston Jones

Transmission Date

03/06/83

colour , sound (sep), 30 mins 43 secs

Synopsis

Programme on Crewe railway station, which serves more destinations than any other station in England and handles over a thousand passengers a day. Opens with "Changes" title sequence, music and various shots of the station including passenger and freight trains, passengers waiting on platforms, announcer and station cafe. Crewe station today is compared with that at the turn of the century: electric rather than steam trains, less busy now with more paperwork and the changing role of train drivers. We see Harold Forster and Andy Evans, two retired station staff, in the station buffet, reminiscing about their time there. Eric Hardy, a retired engine driver, chats to staff in the drivers' mess room. Archive footage shows Crewe station in the 1930s (12m52s to 14m03s and 28m22s to 29m47s). There are shots of the station at night, when 10,000 Royal Mail mail bags are dealt with and we see mail bags being unloaded and staff sorting post beneath the station. There is archive footage of Crewe station sorting office in 1937 and of postmen hooking post bags for passing trains to collect (17m20s to 19m25s). A man speaks about British Rail still being the biggest employer in Crewe with Rolls Royce a close second, but says other companies have moved to Crewe since the mid-1970s. The Co-op tea and coffee factory in Crewe is shown where staff taste tea and coffee. There are shots of Crewe Job Centre and two unemployed youths talk about Crewe's lack of job opportunities. Programme ends with aerial shots of Crewe station.