Celebrating Hampshire Historians

Rolt, Lionel Thomas Caswall (Tom)

11 February 1910 – 9 May 1974

Rolt was an engineer at heart but his complex character, as well as being instrumental in establishing the canal and railway preservation movements, also found joy in ‘the beauties of the English countryside’.  He was aware of the rapid changes taking place in post-war Britain and the dangers inherent in the economic concept of unlimited growth in a finite world.  This is particularly evident in his very readable three-part autobiography The Landscape Trilogy.

Tom Rolt was born in Chester and studied at Cheltenham College before taking an apprenticeship in engineering and acquiring an interest in canal boats.  In 1934 he was lodging in Basingstoke when he bought into a motor garage partnership next to the Phoenix public house in Hartley Wintney and became co-founder of the Vintage Sports Car Club, but within a few years he was living on a narrow boat and collecting material for a book of that title, published in 1944.

Narrow Boat was a critical success and led to the formation of the Inland Waterways Association and the canal preservation movement. Rolt then turned his attention to the Talyllyn Railway, becoming chairman of the preservation company. Throughout the 1950s and 60s he was a prolific author, producing biographies of Brunel and the Stephensons as well as classics like Red for Danger a historical study of railway accidents. 

The rise and fall of engineering establishments were also among his subject matter and he was commissioned by A B Fuller of Waterloo Ironworks, Clatford near Andover, to write the story of the concern.  This coincided with the disposal of the Tasker Collection, which was subsequently held in Trust by the County Council and now forms the basis of the Milestones Museum at Basingstoke, looked after by Hampshire Cultural Trust.

Sources

• Autobiography - see 'Relevant published works below'


• The LTC Rolt website

Portrait

Contribution to county’s history

Rolt’s definitive study of Tasker’s agricultural engineering business is a fine example of the genre.  

Relevant published works

• Waterloo Iron Works: The History of Taskers of Andover, 1809-1968 (1969) David & Charles, Newton Abbott.

• The Landscape Trilogy (2001) Sutton Publishing, The three parts of his autobiography in one volume

Critical Comments

Other Comments

'Ramlin Rose: The Boatwoman's Story' by Sheila Stewart (OUP 1993) gives an indication of how Rolt was viewed by those working on canal boats for a living:

'I well remember, just before the war seein 'Cressy' been converted at Tooley's dock. We'd never knowed nothin like it, a workin boat turned all over into a n'ouse. We thought it a terrible waste of 'aulage use, and 'Mr Rolt' her captain, were not quite the ticket. But he was always very civil in passin and 'she' were very pleasant too.' (p. 155)

(The book was originally taken from oral contributions which were captured in the spelling.)

Contributor

Dave Allen, October 2021

Key Words

Canals, railways, engineering, Taskers of Andover, industrial archaeology

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