BEECHING: A MAN OF HIS TIME - OR AHEAD OF IT?
June 1 next year will be the 60th anniversary of the appointment of ICI director and physicist Dr Richard Beeching as the first chairman of the new British Railway Board, and despite the passage of time, the name continues to generate debate, discussion and demands.
Indeed, he has been described as ‘the most hated civil servant of all time,’ and is still seen by swathes of the general population as the man who took away our beloved steam engines and closed our portfolio of branch lines.
The month before he began his four-year stint at BR, our future sister title commented: “The appointment of Dr Beeching has aroused mixed feelings both inside and outside the railway service. Surprise and concern have been expressed because the choice did not fall on a senior railway officer who could have brought to the new board many years of specialised
