Women Gallery

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 and from the 1870s women had proven themselves to be highly capable in this role. They were given their own women-only workshop and by the 1890s were officially termed French Polishers. This was equal to their male counterparts. In December 1916 a directive was sent out to convert part of the Polishing Shop for the manufacture of aeroplanes. Whether or not these women had a part to play in this we do not know, but they would have come in close proximity to this extraordinary sight

© STEAM Museum of the GWR

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. This photograph is an official Company image, with GWR Chief Engineers Office, Aldermaston. Photographic Department stamped on the reverse. The photo may have been taken to show the work of women during the war, but equally it might have been taken to show joint working between the GWR and LMS whose wagon features in the image. Inter-railway working between the railway companies was actively encouraged by the Government during the war as a means of maintaining an efficient and economic rail service, so staff and rolling stock worked across the different networks in a way that had not been seen previously

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.
Mabel went up and down the country visiting hospitals, factories and fundraising events. This image shows Mabel attending the Women's Guild Conference in Shrewsbury

© STEAM Museum of the GWR