SIDLESHAM

The oldest of Stephens' Manning Wardles was acquired by the Selsey Tramway early in 1907. It was a much-travelled Manning, Wardle & Co. of Leeds standard 'Old Class I', Works No. 21 of January 1861.

The locomotive was built for Messrs. J. & J. Charlesworth of Rothwell Haigh Colliery, 3 miles southeast of Leeds, who reputedly named their acquisition 'Henrietta'. They later sold it to the East & West Yorkshire Union Railway, which connected a number of Charlesworth's collieries with the Great Northern Railway near Ardsley. They in turn passed it on to Messrs Meaking & Dram, contractors of Birkenhead. It was probably in 1897 that she moved on again to enter service with the United Minera Mining Company at their lead mines in Wrexham, North Wales. Here she still carried her name on plates on the cab side sheets, and on the bunker side was a Hawthorn Leslie works plate suggesting that she had been overhauled by that Company at some time. The cab had no rear weatherboard, just pillars above the bunker, ribbed-pattern buffers with a pair of metal-faced wooden dumb buffers in between, a plain stovepipe chimney and a hideous mounting, perhaps in substitution for a dome carrying the safety valves. She was described by the mining company as 'in poor condition' in February 1899 and it was from there that she most likely went on to Herbert Weldon's contract for the Congresbury - Blagdon railway (1899-1901). When offered for sale by Weldon c1903 she was advertised as a 'nice 6 wheel coupled Manning Wardle, just rebuilt by Hawthorn Leslie'. Her last posting was to Blagdon Waterworks, near Bristol, after which she received another thorough overhaul when the four wooden brake blocks were replaced by iron ones working on all six wheels, and more or less standard Manning, Wardle front and rear weatherboards were provided. The Hawthorn Leslie works plates had been removed by the time the locomotive arrived at Selsey, so this last overhaul was probably carried out by Manning Wardle.

MOROUS

The second oldest of Stephens' Manning Wardles was unusual in that it was actually owned, rather than simply ran, on two Stephens railways, the Shropshire & Montgomeryshire and the Selsey.

Morous was an 'Old I' locomotive built in 1866 ( Works No. 178), originally named 'Crampton', which commenced her career with contractors T R Crampton, for the construction of the East & West Junction Railway between Fenny Compton and Kineton in Warwickshire. Although there is some doubt about actual ownership, the E & WJR ran the engine from 1871 as their No 1. At some time in her early career she may have carried the name Kineton and was advertised for sale under that name in April 1874 after which she was removed to work in a quarry. Returning in 1877 she stayed to become known by the nickname 'The Little Kineton', though not carrying the name. In 1902 it was reported that in 1896 she was provided with a new boiler, cylinders and smokebox and although the smokebox was undoubtedly modified there remains some doubt that all such work was undertaken. Although the E&W was a Westinghouse air-braked line, vacuum brakes were fitted at some time, presumably to permit its use with carriages from other lines. At some time after 1904, new 12” x 19” cylinders, eccentric straps and sheaves were fitted, causing the boiler to be raised some 4”, leaving the front of the cab short of the lower cab sheeting by a similar amount. She became the Stratford-on-Avon & Midland Junction Railway’s No. 1 when that Company was created by the amalgamation of several small local lines, including the E & WJR, in 1908.

The Shropshire & Montgomeryshire Light Railway had opened to traffic in April, 1911, but was initially short of locomotives. Stephens had good connections with the owners of the SMJR and No. 1 was hurriedly hired from them, the Company’s accounts showing a hire fee of £22 10s. 0d. paid on 30th June that year. The Locomotive in June, 1911 advised that 'the small 0-6-0 saddle tank locomotive No.1 of the Stratford & Midland Junction Railway has been acquired by purchase' and an entry of £300 in the S&MR’s Locomotive Renewal Account dated 30th June, 1911 may well be the purchase money. The two new Hawthorne Leslie engines were to have carried the numbers “4” and “5”, but as they were delayed, the Manning, Wardle veteran was given the former number instead, along with the name 'Morous'. Still in the Stratford-on-Avon & Midland Junction Railway’s dark red livery, lined in yellow and black, her new name was painted centrally on either side of the saddle tank inside a double oval in which the name of the new Company was displayed. Later, brass name plates were affixed slightly above the painted name, which remained visible below, so an overall coat of paint, probably black or holly green, was applied to the whole engine.

RINGING ROCK

This Class K locomotive was supplied new to Messrs J C Billups of Cardiff by Manning, Wardle on 2nd May 1883 as Works No. 890, named 'Vida'. Later she worked for Messrs Pauling & Co. as their No 7, her last contract for them being towards the end of 1915 to assist in the construction of the extensive sidings at the Royal Naval munitions depot known as H M Skipton Magazine at Salterforth on the Yorkshire/Lancashire border. With that work completed, it seems that the Government kept the engine there for shunting duties. At the end of WW1 it was one of a number of miscellaneous locomotives left on government hands. Having previously been offered to twenty prospective customers, No. 890 was eventually purchased by Holman Stephens in 1922 for use on the Selsey Tramway, although it was to remain his personal property.

Soon after arrival in Sussex, perhaps to ease the loading of coal, a section of the cab roof was removed and the rear weatherboard was moved forward to a position halfway across the bunker. With her livery believed to have been unlined dark blue, she was named Ringing Rock, with nameplates transferred from the K&ESR Manning, Wardle loco that had previously carried that name. Serving the Company to the end, Ringing Rock was last steamed on 24th January 1935. As the property of Stephens' heirs she was then left, together with the chassis of the Shefflex railmotor and its baggage truck, on the transfer siding head shunt at Chichester, to be broken up on site in July 1935.

Originally named 'Resolute' she went to contractor J. M. Smith of Bury in May 1881. Subsequent owners were contractors Gabbutt & Owen of Huddersfield, then in about 1886 Ynyscedwyn Colliery, Breconshire. In 1894 she went to the Burry Port & Gwendraeth Valley Railway, where she became No. 7 'Cwm Mawr'. In April 1905 she was sold to the Avonside Engineering Co in part payment (£200) for a new locomotive to which she bequeathed her name. Avonside extensively overhauled the locomotive. It was fitted with an enlarged cab which took in the coal-bunker, the saddle-tank was extended to the front of the smokebox and an ugly stovepipe chimney fitted. This gave the locomotive quite a different appearance from the original, though the cab was of Manning Wardle's later style. Painted red-brown, she was completed in 1906 and sold to the WC&PR. For some time she ran without name or number, but in 1907 was given the oval 'Weston' brass nameplates previously carried by a 2-2-2WT. These were subsequently removed and replaced by a pair of small cast-iron ones on the cab-sides, one of which is now in the Colonel Stephens Museum. In 1921 the firebox was replaced by a new copper one and at the same time the back of the cab moved forward so that the coal-bunker was now outside it, although still covered by the cab roof. Peckett's of Bristol overhauled the engine sometime in the 1920s, and by then she had been repainted in light green with elaborate red and yellow lining.

Weston was, in the opinion of the staff, the best engine on the line until the arrival of the Terriers and was principal stand-by after they came. Latterly her performance was considerably reduced by serious leaks. Around 1937 one traveller described her as 'a painful sight to watch: the whole engine was "on the jiggle", the cylinder-block shifting in the frame and the smokebox, tank, buffer-beam and footplating obviously loose at the bolts and rivets'. Another observed that the crew always seemed to stand on the outside of the footplate when working Weston, and when he enquired why they told him that they were always afraid of a boiler blow-back. In late 1937 her firebox was repaired, but soon after returning to service the main steam-pipe to the cylinders burst and she was not used again, being scrapped at Clevedon in 1940.

HESPERUS

This locomotive was a Manning, Wardle 'Q' class works No 630 heavily rebuilt by the Great Western Railway. The full history of this locomotive can be found on this site. [HERE]

Brian Janes

www.colonelstephenssociety.co.uk