Watching the Western Trains Go By - Ponsandane, Penzance 1960

The start of my interest in transport Will the next one be a Castle, Warship or Hall? Probably one of the reasons why almost 60 years later I am still fascinated by things Great Western and the West Country. A photograph taken of me watching trains arriving and departing Penzance in autumn 1960 or spring 1961 by my mother Elsie Luxton using a Kodak Brownie 127. The unusual flat roof of Ponsandane Signal Box which lay beside the level crossing which then gave access to the beach can just be made out along the fence line. Why did my mother waste the shot on me and not those fast vanishing GW locos or those nice shiny new hydraulics?

Penzance Harbour Circa 1963

Exploring Penzance Harbour with my father John William Luxton. I am standing on the grab which was used to unload the colliers which brought in coal for the nearby Penzance Gas Works. Camera: Kodak Brownie 127 mark 1

Giew Mine 1965

Exploring Giew Mine in 1965 - the start of my interest in Industrial Archaeology and mines in particular

RMV SCILLONIAN II at Hugh Town Harbour 1965

I am sat on the bollard next to RMV SCILLONIAN II at Hugh Town Harbour, St Mary's, Isles of Scilly. Photograph was taken on my first visit to the Isles of Scilly taken shortly after the BEA Helicopter service started operations from Penzance. I did not return to Scilly until 1991, though became a regular visitor between 1991 and 2005. I intend to start visiting again in the near future. Camera: Kodak Brownie 127 Mk1

Exploring the remains of the Pentewan Railway - 1969

I am seen here exploring the remains of the Pentewan Railway here in April 1969. There had been an article on the railway in the February 1969 edition of Model Railway News and I asked my father to take me to have a look. The point still worked! The remains present were from the railway's second period of operation when the harbour section had been rebuilt to serve a concrete works. The full line 2ft 6in gauge line to St Austell had closed in 1918. Camera: Brownie 127 mark 3

Lytham Creek Motive Power Museum 1971

Your webmaster aged 11 photographed on the footplate of a 2ft gauge diesel locomotive at the Lytham Creek Motive Power Museum in Lancashire. I am in school uniform as at that time there was school on Saturday mornings to 12:15. My parents would pick me up direct from school and we would go out for the rest of the day. Camera: kodak Brownie 127 Mark 3.

Morwellham Quay - April 07, 1976

Your web master sat on the Manganese Mill grind stone at Morwellham Quay on the River Tamar, West Devon in April 1976. As well as using the Praktica I had not quite finished with the Brownie 127 which can be seen in my hand. this camera being used for prints by this time. Camera: Praktica Nova 1 SLR.

Aller, Somerset - September 11, 2020

Grave of William Luxton (1912) and his daughter Dorothy Isabel Luxton (1925) in Aller Church yard. His wife Annie is mentioned on the grave but it is not known if she is buried here. Annie died in 1933 at Cotford Mental institution, Norton Fitzwarren. Probate records showing that her assets were transferred to my grandfather Harold William Luxton.

John & Elsie Luxton Wedding Day - July 09, 1956

My mother Elsie Luxton with her uncle John Francis Critchley and her sister Eileen White at Mossley Hill Church, Liverpool.

John & Elsie Luxton Wedding Day - July 09, 1956

My mother Elsie Luxton on her wedding day at Mossley Hill Church, Liverpool.

John & Elsie Luxton Wedding Day - July 09, 1956

My father John William Luxton and my mother Elsie Luxton on their wedding day at Mossley Hill Church, Liverpool.

John & Elsie Luxton Wedding Day - July 09, 1956

Family group at Mossley Hill Church at my parent's wedding. Left to right: John Francis Critchley (Uncle) Emily Lavinia Luxton (my paternal grandmother) Mary White (my maternal grandmother) John William Luxton Elsie Luxton Eileen White (my aunt) Unknown - believed to be a colleague for my mothers from Boots store in Liverpool City Centre.

John & Elsie Luxton Wedding Day - July 09, 1956

My mother Elsie Luxton on her wedding day at Mossley Hill Church, Liverpool.

John & Elsie Luxton Wedding Day - July 09, 1956

Line up at my parent's wedding. Back row left to right: Unknown. John Francis Critchley (my great uncle) Unknown Peter Critchley (my second cousin) David Critchley (my second cousin) Unknown Unknown Unknown Front row: Emily Lavinia Luxton (my paternal grandmother) Mary White (my maternal grandmother) Elizabeth Jane Critchley (my great aunt) John William Luxton Elsie Luxton Minnie Samuels (a great aunt) Eileen White (my aunt)

John & Elsie Luxton Wedding Day - July 09, 1956

My father John William Luxton and my mother Elsie Luxton on their wedding day at Mossley Hill Church, Liverpool.

John & Elsie Luxton Wedding Day - July 09, 1956

Family group at Mossley Hill Church at my parent's wedding. Left to right: John Francis Critchley (Uncle) Emily Lavinia Luxton (my paternal grandmother) Mary White (my maternal grandmother) John William Luxton Elsie Luxton Eileen White (my aunt) Unknown - believed to be a colleague for my mothers from Boots store in Liverpool City Centre.

Harold William Luxton - Circa 1917

Two photographic studio portraits of my grandfather Harold William Luxton believed to have been taken at the same session at a photographic studio in Fleetwood, Lancashire. One photograph is embossed "H.E. Howarth - Fleetwood" who appears from internet searches to have been a Fleetwood photographer who also published postcards. Born into a farming family from Somerset in 1898 he served in the Royal Navy during World War I. His cap ribbon bears the letters H.M.T.B.D. - His Majesty's Torpedo Boat Destroyer. He visited Fleetwood during his naval days where he was to meet his future wife Emily Lavinia Roskell. Following a family dispute over his mother's decision to sell the family farm he left home after the war and moved to Fleetwood where he married in 1921. I have seen a record which suggests he continued to serve in the RNR for a while after the war with the rank of A.B. At Fleetwood H.W. Luxton worked in the fishing industry until 1938. For some unknown reason he decided to move to Liverpool and bought a newsagents shop on Smithdown Road, opposite the Brook House Public House. He later bought the adjoining shops "The Chippery" (now the Greenbank Fish Bar") and a stationery shop. He sold the "Chippery" in the early 1960s to a tenant but retained the Newsagents and Stationery Shop. He passed away in May 1979 almost 11 years to the day after his wife. My father John William Luxton continued to run the shops until his death in 2007. A few months later my mother and I closed the shops and sold them on to a local property developer who converted the shops into two lock up commercial premises. The attached residential accommodation being converted to student accommodation with additional rooms being created in the sizeable roof space.