On the right track with exhibition

A BIRMINGHAM man has created a lasting tribute to one of the world’s most creative photographers and is all set to unveil his hard work at the NEC this weekend. Train enthusiast Bob Essery first fell in love with railway tracks at the age of seven as his father used to take him to spy the railway lines that ran round the back of his home in Hall Green and he has been off the rails ever since.

So much so, in fact, that he has already compiled a number of books on the subject and after a chance encounter with the late Dennis John Norton’s son, Mark, found an ideal way to utilise his skills and passion by creating a lasting memory to the renowned photographer. “I met Mark purely by chance as I was looking for pictures of old Washwood Heath for a history book I was compiling,” he said.

“He told me that he had none of the pictures I was looking for but he did have some old photographs of the Birmingham railway lines that his father, Dennis had taken as he was a keen photographer. When I saw his photographs I was blown away - they were amazing! They were not just ordinary pictures of railway lines like you would have thought. This guy got right down on the tracks and showed an aspect to railway lines that any ordinary passenger would not even think about.”

In fact, the photographs were so impressive that he was forced to separate one book into three parts in order to accommodate the material. “The book had to come in three parts. The first part shows photographs of the busiest Birmingham railway line going through New Street, the second part shows the Tamworth and Saltley lines whilst the third and final part is all about the lines running through Halesowen.”

Understanding that the subject of railways is something of a niche culture, Bob added his own informative text as a guise to get people more interested in the book and he believes that it will be picked up by much more than rail enthusiasts. “A lot of the photographs show how railways used to be the main resources for workmanship as well as showing the beautiful countryside routes that some of the tracks run through,” he said.

“There are a lot of rail enthusiasts and even those not interested in railways will surely admire Dennis’ creative photographs.” For Bob and Mark though, there could be no better way to remember Dennis than to show his innovative work and his passion to the world in this way.

“It really is a beautiful memorial to him,” added Bob. “He was such a fantastic photographer and the results in his work are amazing. “This is a great way to introduce the world to him but also, for Mark, is the best way he can remember his father - by picking up my book and seeing his dad's passions and work all in one place. I'm really pleased with it.”