[London and South Western Railway]

This tidy, 1920s presentation album showcases a handsome array of travel posters for picturesque destinations and tours along the London and South Western Railway. Scores of delightful advertisements offer getaways to places like Weymouth (“The English Naples”), North Cornwall (“King Arthur’s Land”), Sidmouth (“The Sunniest Spot in Glorious Decon”) and other “Scenes by the Sea” and in the country including Bournemouth, Swanage, Weymouth, Southsea, Lee on Solent, Isle of Wight, Lyme Regis, Seaton, Sidmouth, Budleigh, Exeter, Plymouth, Ilfracombe, Bideford, Covelly, Bude, Boscastle, Tintagel, Padstow, Newquay, Guernsey, Jersey, Normandy, Brittany, Paris, and others.

There are numerous references to Waterloo Station, LSWR’s point of service in London. Waterloo’s iconic stature as a station today is in large part thanks to LSWR, which financed significant improvements to the station. Many posters also mention “H. A. Walker, General Manager,” referring to Herbert Ashcombe Walker, who ran the railway from 1912.

The book was either compiled as reference or perhaps used as a sample book for a traveling agent or salesperson.

The travel posters come from the eventful final chapter of the company’s existence. British railways were under state control during the First World War, that control extending through to 1921. In the same year, Parliament enacted the Railways Act 1921, also known as the Grouping Act, which was intended to stem losses being made by many of the railway companies at the time. In effect from the beginning of 1923, the Railways Act 1921 saw LSWR merged with other companies to form the Southern Railway. Southern Railway remained in operation, with Walker as General Manager, until 1947.