Online Resources for Exploring Old Railways in the UK
- Self-paced with Life Time Access
- Certificate on Completion
- Access on Android and iOS App
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This course is about the online resources available to research old railways and other historic locations in the UK.
First, we look at the old maps available on the National Library of Scotland website - a wonderful resource. The Ordnance Survey published the first series of maps covering the whole of the UK in the 1880’s. The NLS has digitised all of these maps and the later map series right through to the 1960’s. That makes it possible to view the changes in a landscape or location over time.
The course will show how to use the online maps to identify the routes of dismantled railways and other items.
The course will also look at several other online information sources about the old railways and other historical structures.
This course is aimed at those researching railways and other historical sites in the UK. Other countries are not covered but if British history is your thing, I think you'll find this course useful.
Who this course is for:
- Learners interested in UK railways
- Students of UK history from the industrial revolution onward
- Students interested in old maps
- There are no pre-course requirements
- How to explore the routes of old railway lines in the UK and their remains in the modern landscape
- The digitised old maps of the UK available online
- Online records of historical locations in the UK
- Online maps of old railways in the UK
A short introduction to this course on the online resources available to explore old railways and other sites in the UK
An overview of the online resources available to research old railway lines and other historical locations in the UK
A brief introduction to the old maps available on the National Library for Scotland website - https://maps.nls
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1880's to the 1960's have been digitised by the National Library of Scotland and are available for public use. Some older maps are also available. This is an excellent resource for historical research.
This session covers details of two websites that contain information on old railway routes and sites, and other historic sites, in Scotland.
Complete this project to help you understand how to use the resources presented.
In this course I have used the area of Springburn in Glasgow to present the online resources available for historical research. As I mentioned, the Forth and Clyde Canal and the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway have both influenced the growth of Springburn as an industrial centre.
The small town of Bonnybridge lies on the Forth and Clyde Canal, and close to the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, around 18 miles East of Glasgow and 3 miles West of Falkirk.
Today Bonnybridge has around 7,000 residents, but in the nineteenth century it was a major hub, with 3 railway stations and many important industries.
Use the resources presented in this course to answer the following points:
- Use the mapping to identify the location of the three railway stations in and around Bonnybridge
- Identify why the town had three stations. Wikipedia also has some useful information on this.
- The famous Falkirk Wheel was opened in 2002 about 2 miles East of Bonnybridge on the Forth and Clyde Canal. Use the resources to identify what the site for the Wheel was in the past, and explore the site over time
Course Project
