Well it seems our trip to Alresford fascinated a few people who wondered why Hampshire was popular with Thomas the Tank Engine stories!!! Thanks to David Parker we only found out that the author was a Hampshire Hog!!!!! We "borrowed" this to give you the full story of the author Rev Wilbert Vere Awdry who was born in Romsey HAMPSHIRE!!! Chris and Caroline Rev WILBERT AWDRY an Anglican clergyman, was the author of the 'Thomas The Tank Engine' childrens books after living in Box next to the old railway station. It was a way of entertaining his young son Christopher as he recovered, in isolation, from scarlet fever. Christopher demanded that he be told the stories again and again and, in the way of small children, corrected his father whenever inconsistencies crept into the retold stories. For no other reason except to avoid this embarrassment, Wilbert wrote the first stories down on available scraps of paper. To add to the story telling, the Rev. Awdry drew simple pictures of steam locomotives on the paper along with the stories. "Edward" was the first engine's name. This gave birth to "Edward's Day Out", the first in almost a hundred simple moral tales about the exploits and adventures of a group of railway engines given human personalities. Mrs. Awdry believed that these children's stories had some merit and encouraged her husband to formalise them. In 1945 the first of the Railway Series of books "The Three Railway Engines" appeared. This was a book, small enough for children's hands, containing three stories. The book was laid out with the text on the left hand page and a full page illustration of an incident in the story on the right. The illustrator for the first dozen or so books was C. Reginald Dalby, who established the basic appearance of each locomotive character from the Rev. Awdry's sketches and by looking at real steam engines in use in Britain at that time. Thus an obscure 0-6-0T Class E2 shunting engine built in the Victorian era became the model for Thomas, now known to millions of children worldwide. As the stories developed, the location and other features of fictional railway system emerged. Many stories were based on actual happenings on British Railways and its predecessors. More locomotive characters appeared, learning to deal with the troublesome trucks and to become "really useful engines" as they pulled their trains over the railway system presided over by the stern but kindly 'Fat Controller' - Sir Topham Hatt. He continued to write a book every year until 1972 when he finally laid down his pen, only to have it taken up by his son Christopher, who in 1983 published more stories written for his son. Ten more books of the Railway Series have now appeared so far under Christopher's name. It wasn't until 1984 that a whole new generation of children were introduced to Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends when the first of the TV. series of that name was made. Wilbert Vere Awdry was born in 1911 at Romsey in Hampshire. His real interest in railways began after moving to Box as a child at the age of 6 when he lived at 'The Wilderness' in Church Lane, where from the upstairs window he and his father engaged in spotting trains on the G.W.R. Paddington to Bristol line. Two years later he moved to another house in Box Townend', and the year after to another house close to Box Station called 'Lorne Villa ', (now Lorne House a 'Bed and Breakfast' - see elsewhere on this site) in London Road. He listened to the steam. trains whistling, puffing and shunting and imagined that they were talking to each other; especially when the 'Box resident' tank engine was used to give the goods trains an extra push up the incline to Corsham. In 1924 he went to Marlborough School and never returned to Box as his family moved house on the death of his aged father in 1928. Wilbert was ordained in 1936 and served in a number of churches for 30 years. But the success of the books meant that he could 'retire' and concentrate on writing. Ten years ago he opened the viewing gallery on the railway bridge w hich faces the Western end of Box tunnel. He received an O.B.E in the 1996 New Years Honours list. --- All of our Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. And attachments are also scanned before being added. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.471 / Virus Database: 269 - Release Date: 10/04/2003