Welcome to the 
web pages:
Robert and Barbara
Darlaston
Birmingham childhood, family scenes and steam
railway photographs,; compiled by Robert
Darlaston
FAMILY
PAGES
Gallery 2010: June: South
Wales; Robert’s 70th
birthday; back to School. Cornish holiday in May,
and a memory of snow in January. Additions,
28/7/10
Family
Favourites: “Family Favourites
and Desert Island Delights”: Family
photos from the 1940s to date, plus favourite
music, art and literature, and some holiday
and cruise photos from recent decades. New material 8/5/2010
Family
Trees: The family back to the de Harlastons in 1373. Seven generations of Hopkin Smith, plus our
link
with Ivor Novello. Also historical narrative about the family
with photos from 1890 – 1958 Additions
25/1/09
Memory
Lane: “Harebells on the Common” -Birmingham in the
war and 1940s: rationing, hospital,
Amberley Prep
School, trams, wireless, schoolboy nonsense,
Welsh farm holidays, and Robert’s first pin-up. Additions 4/8/10
KingEdwardsSchool: A memoir of Robert’s
school days at King Edward’s School,
with contemporary photographs, plus an
account of a return to K.E.S. in 2006 (updated, 6/3/2008)
KES Reunion: A trip on the Severn Valley Railway and a visit to Canon
Lunt’s widow, April 2010 (Updated
29/4/2010)
Banking Years: Some mildly humorous incidents from Robert’s career, with
rather embarrassing photographs
Birmingham
Pictorial: Photos of the city
in the 21st century, including a few bits of history. Additions, 6/4/09
1959 - Revisited Colour photos from the Midlands, South Wales
and Scotland, taken in 1959 New 7/9/2009
Goostrey: Pictures of our
Cheshire village with Goostrey weather statistics from 1987 to 2010 Updated
4/8/2010
Trams: Birmingham trams photographed in 1953, plus
some old postcards of trams and trains Additions,
27/7/2008
North Wales 2009 Caernarfon Castle, Snowdonia, Beddgelert,
Welsh Highland Rly, Pistyll Rhaedr falls.
New 21/1/10
RAILWAYS 
Over 250
photos by Robert Darlaston of steam trains from 1953-1965
Railways 50years ago: Steam in the 1950s: Birmingham and West Midlands, South Devon,
Swindon, Wales; GWR Slip Coach (new
14/2/08)
Railways1: West Midlands; train-spotting at Birmingham Snow Hill; South Wales (incl Llantrisant and Afan
valley) 1953-62 Updated 16/3/08
Railways2: Mid-Wales railway journey via Brecon in
1959 and West Country railways from 1957-62
Railways3: Railways in the Scottish Highlands in 1959
- 1961 and the Isle of Man Railway in 1965 New
material added 23/7/08.
Railways4: Birmingham New St; steam scenes from
around
Railways5:
The
decline of steam from 1964 to 1968. Closure of the old Birmingham Snow Hill. New material added 13/7/08.
Tyseley: Scenes at the GWR station
and loco depot in
Welsh Highland
and others The
Welsh Highland Railway near Beddgelert;
the Llangollen Rly Spring 2009 gala, with GWR 9017; Welshpool & Llanfair 2009
with
comparative scenes from 1956 (Additional material, 17/8/09)
HOME
PAGE This
page last revised 4/8/2010.
Our e-mail address: robertdarlaston[at]btopenworld[dot]com (this
is not a link: please re-type replacing
[at] with @ and [dot] with . )
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Photographs ©
Robert Darlaston unless otherwise stated
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