Benedict Le Vay's grandfather was an Inspector of Railways in India during the British Raj. His mother spent her childhood on their private railway carriage touring india. And now Le Vay an interest in railways seems in their DNA has written a book titled britain from the rails. He talks about it all to Alison Gibson

Over lunch in Kensington with the author of a new guide to Britain's railways, I learn two things. The first is that if you want to publish a travel book, it helps to be a celebrity. "When I suggested my first book, publishers told me it was a good idea, if only it could be written by someone famous," Benedict le Vay said. Fortunately he found a publisher who disagreed.



The second thing I learn is how to serve risotto. The waiter comes to our table carrying an enormous round of parmesan cheese, with the risotto in a well in the centre of it. He takes a spoon and scoops out the risotto on to a plate, adding scrapings of parmesan as he does so. I have never had lunch served out of cheese before.

Le Vay's book, Britain from the Rails, is rather like my lunch experience. It is full of risotto moments, unexpected asides that make you raise your eyebrows. It is this that elevates the book from travel guide to rattling good read, and not just for rail enthusiasts.

That I am reading this book at all is pure accident. I have no special interest in railways. I contacted le Vay about another book, and by coincidence he had just published this one. Then I found out that his interest in railways originated in India, and as I was writing for an Indian paper, I decided this was fate. I was meant to review this book.



His grandfather, Major Frederick Cole, was Inspector of Railways in India from about 1915 to 1930. His mother Marjorie was born in India in 1913 and spent much of her childhood living aboard her father's private railway carriage as it rolled around India with her mother Hilda and two live-in servants. "They would hook it up to the Bombay Mail or whatever and criss-cross the country," le Vay says. "Of course it didn't work where you had a break of gauge."

That problem gave rise to a game that the family played when he was growing up in South London. "All the children and any neighbours crammed on to one sofa," he says. "At the blow of a whistle everybody rushed to get a place on the other sofa. The game was called I think Raipur Junction."

He recently discovered that Victorian children played the same game but called it Gloucester after the station in England where different gauges met.

India pervaded his childhood in other ways too. "We grew up with Indian silver, Indian phrases, and dal and pakoras for Saturday lunch long before Britain adopted Indian food as a national favourite," he says. "There was a feeling of a connection to that distant land which had been cut. Not that my grandparents or parents were against Independence."

Le Vay's grandfather Freddie Cole, Inspector of Railways in India below (1914)

During the First World War his grandfather and his unit from India built the railway from Basra to Baghdad in Iraq, then Mesopotamia, after the invasion by British India. "Come the 1990 war, we had all that CNN footage of 'smart bombs' taking out bridges along this route," le Vay says. "I remember an American TV reporter looking at the wreckage puzzled why an Iraqi bridge's twisted wreckage had 'Dorman Long, Middlesbrough' stamped on the side. I wanted to yell at the TV: 'That's because my granddad put it there last time this stupid idea was tried!'"

Le Vay visited India in the 1980s. "I absolutely loved it," he says. "I travelled many of the routes my grandparents had used. One of the best bits was the Darjeeling railway up into the Himalayas, which I compare in my book to the Ffestiniog in North Wales. Both are amazing survivors, have ancient steam, have a spiral to gain height, and endure more rain than is reasonable."

Le Vay's mother Marjorie in India when she was a little girl (1920) Read More Read Next Story Creating a better world with open minds› Trending Stories Latest Photos Latest Videos Latest Web Stories ADVERTISEMENT Mid-Day Fast ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT