Happy Birthday – Sir Daniel

Today is Sir Daniel Gooch’s 201st birthday. Born in Bedlington (now part of Northumberland but once a detached part of Durham), he was born in a now long since demolished house near the war memorial in Bedlington front street, later moving to what is now the Grapes (formerly The Kings Arms) public house. 

According to his memoirs, his mother recalled a thunderstorm in the early hours of the morning on his birthday, fortunately the weather is much calmer 201 years on! 

Happy Birthday Sir Daniel, we hope that this blog and your website www.gooch200.com will announce the 200th anniversaries of your life achievements to come!

Thanks for reading! RH

Daniel Gooch, the first Royal Train driver!

On June 13th 2017, HM The Queen marked the 175th Anniversary of the first train journey by the British Monarch, following Queen Victoria on her journey of June 13th 1842. 

In the 1842 journey, Queen Victoria travelled upon the Great Western Railway and was driven by the then Daniel Gooch (age 25) assisted by Mr I. K. Brunel. 

Thanks to the  Railway Magazine in its July 2017 issue for publishing this article. 

Sir Daniel Gooch group to visit Alnwick?

As you may be aware, the ABTRA group (www.abtra.wordpress.com), are attending the Aln Valley Railway Summer Fair this Sunday (30.7.17) to raise funds and awareness of the group. 
The ABTRA stand at the Bedlington Picnic on 1st July 2017.

Part of this groups intended purpose  is to raise awareness in the local area of Sir Daniel; born in Bedlington in 1816, and who as we are beginning to broadcast more regularly, and who had many great achievements. 

It’s hoped that the new leaflets will be ready in time for launch at the AVR stand on Sunday, and hopefully begin the process of raising awareness of Sir Daniel in his native Northumberland. 

Please come along and meet our Committee Members on Sunday, details available on the ABTRA blog: http://wp.me/p7JgS7-3R. 

Thanks, RH.

The Swindon Hooter

A common sound at many industrial places of the past was the sound of a ‘hooter’, a deep sounding whistle to wake up workers for a shift or sounding the end of the shifts, from collieries, shipyards and, in this case, Swindon Works. 

The works at Swindon and Sir Daniel have close connection, with Sir Daniel being involved in the selection of the site at little over 175 years ago! To mark the anniversary, a replica ‘hooter’ was manufactured by Colin Hatch (article and credit for photo). The replicas were sounded by John Walter, the man who last sounded the originals and the first for the replicas (BBC Article on the Swindon Hooters) to hear them, please click the link here: Swindon Hooters, YouTube clip.

Thanks, RH.

Gooch200 as part of ABTRA

Today is the first anniversary of ABTRA, the group which is proposing to raise awareness of Sir Daniel Gooch in his hometown of Bedlington, Northumberland, also home to the world famous Bedlington Terrier. Please see the ABTRA Anniversary blog post for more info!

Thanks, RH.

Micro Museum for Gooch in Bedlington?

From discussions by ABTRA Committee Members, we are looking into the possibility of a micro Museum in Bedlington, Northumberland dedicated to Sir Daniel Gooch and his family (several of his family members had Railway connections). Please see the ABTRA Projects – July 2017 blog post for more information. 

This museum would be ideally located somewhere near the Grapes public house in Bedlington, which was the Gooch family home, Sir Daniel Gooch having been born in a now demolished property on the opposite side of the road. 

Sir Daniel had an important part to play in the fledging Great Western Railway, by becoming its Locomotive Superintendent, and later its Chairman. He also chose the site of Swindon Works, and by doing so founded the modern town of Swindon. 

Quite a life and thus is only a small part of what he achieved! Please check back soon to find out our latest progress. 

Thanks, RH.

Trial and Tribulation – The early Transatlantic Cables (1850’s and 60’s)

Please watch the following documentary on YouTube for details about the vision for an undersea telegraph cable: 

History of Transatlantic Cable
Thanks, RH.

Mark Williams on Sir Daniel Gooch.

From the excellent series of documentaries ‘On the Rails’ starring Mark Williams of Harry Potter fame; Mr Williams covers the work of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and his locomotive engineer the young Daniel Gooch. 

Please click this link to view the YouTube clip. 

Thanks, RH.

The Atlantic Cable, Gooch’s Role.

Please find below a link to view the role of Sir Daniel Gooch in the laying of the first successful transatlantic Cable in 1866, which revolutionised transatlantic communication!

Gooch played an important role, through the purchase of the Great Eastern, Brunels’ visionary ship and allowed its use to lay the cable. 

For more information, please Click HERE: http://atlantic-cable.com/Article/Gooch/

Thanks, ABTRA Committee. 

Sir Daniel Gooch – Help required!

Hello all, 

Thank you to everyone who has offered supportive messages for my attempt to raise awareness of Sir Daniel in his home town of Bedlington, Northumberland and about him more generally both in the U.K. & possibly more internationally.

I unfortunately can’t continue on my own trying to research then publish information on this blog, on the Gooch 200 website, and also on the ABTRA Gooch page, due to other commitments on my time. However, I would like to enquire if any local people in Bedlington and its surrounding area, or perhaps more widely would like to become involved and help me through ABTRA (the Ashington, Blyth and Tyne Railway Association) then please do! 

I suggested that the Daniel Gooch project be brought under the ABTRA fold as not only was he born in the area, but he has a strong family connection to the Longridges of Ironwork and Enginework fame in Bedlington, and became a well known Locomotive engineer in his own right. In addition, joining with ABTRA also means that we have the potential to raise funds to carry out small projects, and both projects I feel would mutually benefit one another. 

Any help would be very welcome, even if just to send through useful website links or read a bit about him and his family to pull together the knowledge about him. As Chairman of ABTRA, I’ll be raising this at our next Committee meeting, to see if we can form a Sub-Committee dedicated to Sir Daniel and hopefully begin to make a headway in publicising him in time for his 201st birthday! 

If you are in any way interested, please email: abtra.membership@outlook.com 

More news to come shortly so please keep visiting! 

Thanks, RH.