| Description | Chris Wookey, DOB 2/8/1957, was a student at Brunel University 1975 - 1979, obtaining BSc Hons Applied Biochemistry. He was a keen railway photographer and Chairman of the Brunel Railway Society for two years.
Following his untimely death in March 1989, at the age of 31, his family donated his collection of railway photographs to Brunel University in his memory.
The Collection is of considerable historical interest as it consists mainly of photographs of British railway stations and signal boxes.
The Railway Company abbreviations are those used by the Ian Allan Pre-Grouping Atlas and Gazetteer. Where possible, station names current at the time are used. |
| AdminHistory | Chris Wookey, DOB 2/8/1957, was a student at Brunel University 1975 - 1979, obtaining BSc Hons Applied Biochemistry. He was a keen railway photographer and Chairman of the Brunel Railway Society for two years. He was an active member of the Christian Union and wrote several articles in the student newspaper "Le Nurb" using the pen name "Big K". He organised and captained the 5-a-side football team called "Locomotive Brunel". After gaining his degree and leaving Brunel he taught Chemistry for almost ten years at Ryden's School in Walton-on-Thames.
Following his untimely death in March 1989, at the age of 31, his family donated his collection of railway photographs to Brunel University in his memory.
The Collection is of considerable historical interest as it consists mainly of photographs of British railway stations and signal boxes.
Chris Wookey was a meticulous worker and all his photographs were labelled and cross referenced to his negatives.
Work of cataloguing the collection was started on behalf of Brunel University Library by Tom Richards, and was continued by Warwick Burton with assistance from Matthew Wilson.
Reference numbers are made up of
W for Wookey
first number = the film number
second number = the number of the print within the film.
"Condition of the photographs is generally good, but where the negative is sub-standard it is marked with *. "
The Railway Company abbreviations are those used by the Ian Allan Pre-Grouping Atlas and Gazetteer. Where possible, station names current at the time are used.
Cataloguing by Brunel University Archives and Special Collections, from Dec 2021, has maintained this original numbering system but has reverted to the original order of film / print within the film, instead of A-Z. This has revealed once more the journeys Chris took along the railway lines of the UK, which were hidden by the A-Z system. |
| CustodialHistory | Collection created by Chris Wookey, donated to the University by his family in 1989. Housed and managed off site by Mr Warwick Burton until his death in 2016, when they were returned to the University. Stored in Special Collections until the merger of Archives with Special Collections in 2021, Managed and catalogued on CALM according to ISAD(G) from Dec 2021 by the university archivist. |