Bristol Born and Bred

Stanley was born in 1923 at Kingsdown in Bristol where he lived until he was 3 years old.
The family then moved to the Sutton Estate, Brislington where he grew up as the eldest of nine children.

A career in the railway

Stanley left school at fourteen and worked for a short while as a butchers errand boy
before joining the railway. He shortly became the family’s breadwinner.
He began his career with the railway in April 1941 as an engine cleaner but by December
1941 he was working as a fireman on the footplate of steam engines. Eventually he
became a steam train driver and moved on to the InterCity 125 diesel in October 1976. He is said to have driven the first InterCity 125 on its maiden trip.

A sad incident

He had the traumatic experience of being the driver of a train (c1960’s) where a man ran
along the tracks ahead of his train. Despite Stanley throwing on the brakes the man was
tragically run over by the train. Stanley never truly got over this experience.
He retired from GWR after 50 years of service.

Remembrance in the cemetery

He died in December of 2000 at the age of 77 years. He is buried at Arnos Vale along with his beloved wife Alice. His grave number is E256 close to the main entrance to the cemetery. It is made of grey Welsh slate.