Blog
Fear challenges loyalties of community that just wants to be part of Britain
“WE JEWS used to keep our heads down, so no one would notice us. We didn’t want to stand out or be seen as different. We just wanted to get on and be accepted as part of British society like everyone else. But now it’s all become very different. Things have changed…” As the sun […]
Read More How I snuck ahead of the Queen on the new Borders Railway – Britain’s first domestic main line to be built for more than a century
NOT OFTEN in a lifetime do you get ahead of the Queen! But as Her Majesty opens Scotland’s new Borders Railway today – the longest domestic main line to be built in Britain for more than a century – I was lucky to get one of the 100 tickets to board the very first train […]
Read More Thrilled to be on inaugural train on Britain’s first new domestic main line for over a century
THIS week I’m privileged to be among the passengers on Britain’s first new domestic main line for a century – rolling through the delightful scenery of the Scottish Borders. I’ve written the story of the line in my new book The Trains Now Departed: Sixteen excursions into the lost delights of Britain’s railways http://bit.ly/1r1FrBy. It’s a […]
Read More The Trains Now Departed – and the line that never closed. Could this be the cheeriest railway in Britain?
THE CARRIAGES are shabby and have seen better days – and the service is sparse, with just five trains each way over its 75-mile length. Some of the stations have primitive facilities, with barely enough shelter to shield passengers from the cutting winds that blast down from the Pennine hills. Yet I’m thinking this […]
Read More Steaming to Victory – and my visit to Churchill’s ghostly Tube HQ at Down Street station
At last achieved my ambition of getting access to the spooky Down Street station on the Piccadilly Line, which I wrote about in my book Steaming to Victory. Here are some of my pix. Full of memories of Churchill – though I didn’t hear the legendary ghostly laughter from the tunnel. This is an extract […]
Read More A lovely evening with The Trains Now Departed at the Owl Bookshop – and thanks to all who came along to my talk
A LOVELY evening yesterday talking to local book enthusiasts in Camden about my new title The Trains Now Departed – and the prospects for HS2. It was a fun evening – and thanks to all who came along. Thanks, too, to our local bookshop, The Owl, in Kentish Town Road for hosting. Local bookshops are […]
Read More The Trains Now Departed: ‘Meticulous and extensive research – once started, it’s difficult to put down’, says National Railway Museum Review
A SUPER review of ‘The Trains Now Departed’ by Russ Rollings in the National Railway Museum Review. He writes: The fascinating stories are very readable, peppered with anecdotes and obscure facts. As with Michael Williams’ previous book Steaming to Victory, he has done extensive and meticulous research. Once started it was difficult to to put […]
Read More Save the Gresley duck! I back authors’ and artists’ appeal – from the Camden New Journal
WHY we need to save the statue of Sir Nigel Gresley and his Mallard at King’s Cross station. My quote in this week’s Camden New Journal @gresleyduck
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