Women Collection

Paddington Telephone Exchange, London, 1906
An image of a female operator connecting callers to the railway system at Paddingtons Telephone Exchange, London, 1906

Women workers in the Permanent Way Dept at Reading, 1943
Three ladies from the Permanent Way Department are pictured here at Reading in April 1943 off-loading wooden blocks from a wagon

Workers riveting a locomotive boiler in V Boiler Shop c. 1942
In this image taken at Swindon Works sometime during the latter half of the war, three women are shown working on the riveting of a locomotive boiler in V Boiler Shop

Bodinnick, Cornwall, c. 1935
View of Bodinnick, Cornwall, c.1935. Two ladies wearing straw hats and a dog are walking down Hall Terrace towards The Old Ferry Inn and the Bodinnick Ferry landing

Medical Fund Society Offices, c. 1930
Behind the scenes at Swindons GWR Medical Fund, a range of work was undertaken including record keeping in the Societys offices on Milton Road

Women working in the Swindon Works laundry, c1930

No 9 Carriage Trimming Shop, c1930s
Two ladies are sat weaving luggage racks for the carriages built at Swindon Works. The majority of women were employed at the Works in roles that required good dexterity and skill

Soldiers and Sailors Buffet at Paddington Station, 1919
A shot capturing the last servicemen to be offered refreshments at the Soldiers and Sailors Free Buffet at Paddington Station on 28th June 1919

Women employee in the Road Motor Department at Slough, 1944
The Road Motor Department at Slough was another area that saw the employment of women in traditionally male roles. This photograph was taken on April 18th 1944

Swindon Works employees manouvering a wheel set by crane, c. 1940
In this photograph a female crane operator is working alongside two male colleagues, manoeuvring a locomotive wheel set into place

Female employees at Swindon Works making lamps, c. 1940
A larger group of female employees have been photographed here engaged in the making of lamps at Swindon Works. The tin lamp bodies

Bather, August 1931
GWR publicity image of a woman wearing a diamond patterned swimming costume and cap leaning over a wall at the seaside in August 1931

Exmouth Promenade, Devon, July 1950
A GWR publicity view of the Esplanade at the seaside town of Exmouth in Devon, July 1950. Groups of young ladies wearing sunglasses are seen walking along the promenade in the summer sunshine

Female Clerks at Swindon Works, 1916
This image of female clerks was taken in May 1916, just 10 years after women were first employed in clerical positions within the GWR

Swindon Works Polishing Shop in 1914
A photograph taken on 7th August 1914 of the Polishing Shop in the Carriage and Wagon Works. French polishing was a skilled trade

No 9 Shop, Sewing Room, August 1914
The date of this photograph is 7th August 1914. Just three days after Britain entered the war. By this date there were already women employed at Swindon Works

The Goods Yard at Cardiff Docks in 1943
The Goods Yard at Cardiff Docks in September 1943 is the subject of this image featuring a group of ladies stacking boxes that have probably just been off-loaded from a goods train

Swindon Works employees welding superheaters for locomotive boilers, 1942
A group of female employees are welding the superheaters for locomotive boilers in P1 Shop. As rail operation was essential to the war effort

Shell production for World War 2 in 24F shop at Swindon Works, 1942
An image of the shell production line in 24F Shop showing view of the workshop space for shell inspection during World War 2

War time work in Q Shop at Swindon Works, 1942
This image was taken in March 1942 and shows four women operating a large pressing machine in Q Shop. The women are making 4.5inch copper bands for ammunition shells

Production line for wartime shells in No. 24 Shop, Swindon Works, 1942
No.24 Shop, on the Carriage and Wagon side of Swindon Works was fitted out with two production lines for 25-pounder shells

No 9 Shop, Sewing Room, 1966
This view of the sewing room was taken in 1966. It shows several women sewing large pieces of fabric, possibly sheeting for wagons

Ladies Hairdressing Salon, Great Western Royal Hotel, Paddington, 1930
One of the services provided at the Great Western Royal Hotel was hairdressing. This ladies hairdressing salon was the height of luxury for guests to the hotel

Swindon Works Canteen Staff, 1986
Six members of Canteen Staff at Swindon Works are in this photograph taken in March 1986. By this date the closure of the Works was underway and many staff had left

Women protesting against the closure of Swindon Works, 1985
This group of female protestors were photographed in 1985 campaigning against the planned closure of Swindon Works, which happened the following year

Sewing Room at Worcester Sheet Shop, 1960
A row of female seamstresses have been photographed in the Sewing Room at Worcester Sheet Shop in about 1960. Operating their industrial sized sewing machines

Aberystwyth Enquiry Office, late 1950s
The Enquiry Office at Aberystwyth Station in the late 1950's is the subject of this photograph. These three employees would have had a public facing role helping passengers with the details

Swindon Fencing Team, 1950
The lady in the centre of this image is Violet Dear. Violet was employed by the GWR at Swindon Works. She worked with fabrics that went into the royal trains

Staff at Gloucester Station 1944
A group of station staff are photographed in front of a locomotive at Gloucester Station in 1944. Women held roles at railway stations during the war that were, until then, male occupations

GWR Operatic Show - Virginia, 1937
15 glamorous members of the GWR Operatic Society can be seen here promoting their performance of Virginia in 1937. On the bottom row, far left, are sisters, Marjorie Colman and Dorothy Challis

Polish and Sewing Shop outing, c1920s
Staff outings were a popular part of GWR working life. This image from the 1920s shows a group of women who worked in the Polishing and Sewing Shops at Swindon Works

Female wartime workers, 1943
This line up of women at Paddington Station shows the varied jobs female GWR employees undertook during the Second World War

Female permanent way workers, c1940
During the Second World War women were employed in various different roles within the GWR. The women here fixing track chairs to wooden sleepers as part of their role within the permanent way

Women workers at the Road Motor Department, Slough, March 1944
During the Second World War women were given jobs normally assigned to men. At the GWR Road Motor Depot at Slough this involved car maintenance and repair

Railway Queen, Mabel Kitson, June 1928
In 1927 15 year old Mabel Kitson became the Railway Queen. She represented all of the railway companies in Britain. Her father worked for the GWR as a signalman

Woman pasting a billboard poster at Paddington station, 1943
Woman up a ladder pasting a billboard poster at Paddington station, 1943. The poster reads Remembrance Day FM Earl Haigs Appeal. Wear a Flanders Poppy. A locomotive in steam is in the background

Female worker servicing a Thorncroft lorry at Slough Road Motor Department, 1944
During the Second World War women were given jobs normally assigned to men. At the GWR Road Motor Depot at Slough this involved car and lorry maintenance and repair

Swindon Works War Work, 23rd January 1942
Female workers sorting 25 PDR shells. Work issued by the Ministry of Supply

No 9 Shop, Sewing Room, 1930
This busy scene from 1930 shows about 30 women in the female sewing room. On the left a row of women work on sewing machines

Office Staff at Paddington Station, c. 1920s
This image of an unknown office at Paddington Station was probably taken in the 1920s. It shows a number of women at work at desks and some are using typewriters at tables

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