Ernest Marples: The Shadow Behind Beeching

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In addition, in 1998 the State of Israel reportedly presented Richard Greenbury with a Jubilee Award, "the highest tribute ever awarded by the State of Israel". Haywood, R. (2016) [2009]. Railways, Urban Development and Town Planning in Britain: 1948–2008. London: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781315603568. ISBN 978-1-317-07164-8. OCLC 948604876. The British Highway Code was first launched in 1931. At the time, there were 2.3 million motor vehicles on British roads and tens of thousands of horse-drawn vehicles.

Cooke, B.W.C., ed. (February 1965). "Notes and News: Dr. Beeching leaving B.R.". Railway Magazine. 111 (766): 113. The first driver to pass the half hour test of basic driving abilities and knowledge of the Highway Code was a Mr R. Beare of Kensington, 16 March 1935. Tests were suspended four years later for the duration of the Second World War (1939 to 1945), not resuming until 1946. Minister of Transport, Leslie Hore-Belisha, who rewrote the Highway Code (second edition, 1934). He introduced pedestrian crossings as part of the 1934 Road Traffic Act. Source: Public Domain. Motorways had a major impact on modern Britain. It became easier to distribute goods across the country, new holiday destinations were discovered as villages, towns and cities became better connected, and ‘drive time’ radio was born as commuters took to their cars for longer journeys.East West Rail link second phase plans submitted". BBC News. 27 July 2018 . Retrieved 22 October 2019. In 1959 Marples was appointed as the Minister of Transport which became his most controversial position. In his first year of office, Marples opened the UK’s first stretch of motorway – the M1 from Watford to Rugby. Many more would follow and by the end of his tenure the country was criss-crossed with brand new roads. These massive construction projects were completed by various engineering firms including his own, Marples Ridgway, raising questions of a serious conflict of interests. Perhaps Marples is most infamous for appointing Dr Beeching to British Railways with a brief of devising a profitable railway network. His subsequent report “ The Reshaping of British Railways” (commonly referred to as “Beeching’s Axe”) led to drastic cuts across the UK and the dismembering of many of Britain’s local and historic railway lines. In this case, they have endeavoured to present their subject in an objective way, warts and all, without being tempted to the sensational. They revealed that from humble beginnings, Marples became a man of substance by 1938 through property dealing, albeit with the support of an older business friend. Unfortunately he is only remembered by many for his introduction of parking controls, railway closures and questionable business practices which culminated in a midnight flit to Monaco on the Night Ferry in 1975 to escape the taxman. The top catholic exorcist Dom Robert Petit-Pierre claimed the exorcisms he had to perform at the Astors huge estate and Wards cottage, contained the most potent satanic entities he had ever come across, including the spirits of several murdered boys. In anticipation of the 1962 Act, the Conservative Government appointed Dr. Richard Beeching as Chairman of the BRB with a brief to recommend and implement the changes necessary to stem BR British Rail or British Railways’s rapidly growing losses. [1] His approach was to draw up a list of railways for closure, thus continuing and extending the scope of the closures already carried out by BR British Rail or British Railways. His first report, published on 27 March 1963, recommended the closure some 5,000 miles of railway, around 30% of the network but less than twice the mileage already closed by BR British Rail or British Railways before his appointment. The Conservative Government accepted his report and closures began, peaking in 1964. Following the October 1964 General Election, Marples was succeeded as Transport Minster by Labour’s Barbara Castle. Labour had pledged to halt rail closures, but after election went on to oversee some of the most controversial closures in Beeching’s report.

Did Beeching, who died in suburban obscurity in 1985, deserve to become a bogeyman? He would have hated the easy scapegoat he has become. Critics cast him as cold, analytical and heartless; a bean-counter with no regard for the subtleties of rural life. The reality was rather different: Beeching was a self-effacing, good-humoured and highly intelligent man. As a PhD student at Imperial College London in the 1930s, he had worked on early plans for an atomic bomb. Many would say his brief career in infrastructure was altogether more destructive. After the war, Smith returned to ICI as technical director and was replaced as chief engineer of Armament Design by Sir Steuart Mitchell who promoted Beeching, then 33, to the post of deputy chief engineer with a rank equivalent to that of brigadier. Beeching continued his work with armaments, particularly anti-aircraft weaponry and small arms. In 1948 he joined ICI, as personal technical assistant to Sir Frank Smith; he remained for around 18 months, working on the production lines for various products such as zip fasteners, paints and leathercloth with a view to improving efficiency and reducing production costs. He was then appointed to the Terylene Council, and subsequently to the board of ICI Fibres Division. a b c "East Grinstead - Baron Richard Beeching". 21 February 2001. Archived from the original on 21 February 2001. There is a cul-de-sac in the Leicestershire village of Countesthorpe about 7mi (11km) south of Leicester city centre aptly named Beeching's Close. Countesthorpe railway station was served by the former Midland Counties Railway line between Leicester and Rugby, although this was closed in January 1962, well over a year prior to the publication of The Reshaping of British Railways. The gardens of the houses on the west side of the close meet the boundary of the old line. Beeching, R. (1963b). The Reshaping of British Railways (PDF). Vol.2 (Maps). London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.The Development of the Major Railway Trunk Routes" (Bound Booklet). Railways Archive. British Railways Board. February 1965. p.104 . Retrieved 10 July 2019. Upon returning to ICI, Beeching was appointed liaison director for the agricultural division and organisation and services director. He later rose to become deputy chairman from 1966 to 1968. In the 1965 Birthday Honours [17] it was announced that he would be made a life peer, and he was created Baron Beeching, of East Grinstead in the County of Sussex on 7 July 1965, [18] in the same year he became a director of Lloyds Bank.