Lionel Thomas Caswall Rolt was born in Chester and for the most part educated in Cheltenham. Always known as 'Tom' he lived the greater part of his life with his second wife Sonia and their sons Richard and Timothy in the tiny hamlet of Stanley Pontlarge in Gloucestershire.
As a young man he qualified as an engineer and retained the love of hand built mechanical equipment and machinery throughout his life. His passionate ideals for preserving our inheritance caused him much inner conflict as he struggled between the desire to preserve the individual skills of the craftsman and his aspirations as a skilled engineer towards the advancement of mechanisation. He reveals this personal torment in the first of his three part autobiography and his philosophical book The Clouded Mirror, realising that the use of his own skills contributed to the advancement of "Mass production" which he had no liking for.
He was a founder member of The vintage Sports Car Club, co-founder and first Secretary of The Inland Waterways Association and founder of the Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society. He also received numerous honours and awards from Universities and Societies and was much sought after to give lectures and speeches on a variety of subjects. During the last twenty years of his life, Tom emerged as a leading figure in the world of industrial history. His ability and experience were recognised both by his appointment to high office, and by academic honours. He became Vice-President of the Newcomen Society, Chairman of the Council for British Archaeology's Research Council, amongst other appointments, and was instrumental in the foundation of the Railway Museum at York. He received two honorary degrees: Master of Arts at Newcastle University in 1965, and Master of Science at Bath University in 1973.
A man with a reserved and private nature Rolt never claimed the distinction or acclamation he richly deserved during his lifetime. Indeed you will find no stone to mark his grave and yet today, scattered around our countryside are many material symbols of tribute to him, including; a named steam locomotive, at least one narrow boat and a bridge. Commemorative plaques describing his many and varied contributions towards preserving our heritage adorn canal lock-sides, Vintage motor-car race tracks, chimney stacks and bridges. His character has been portrayed in a popular TV series and University lectures and other events are held annually in his name and memory.
In 1944, at a time when our canal system was close to extinction, Rolt's first published book Narrow boat was directly responsible for the founding of the "Inland Waterways Association". The success of the organisation's fight to preserve this part of our countries heritage is very visible today as thousands of people enjoy a variety of leisure pursuits along our Inland Waterways and countless others are employed in meeting their needs.
His foresight in recognising the imminent permanent demise of the Talyllyn Railway in North Wales led to the formation of the Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society; the first of its kind in the world. Today it is still run by volunteers and thousands of visitors each year enjoy a delightful trip along its journey into the Welsh mountains.
A prolific writer of around fifty books and booklets covering a variety of subject matter relating to: waterways; railways; motoring; industrial history; biography; philosophy; auto-biography; topography; fiction and ghost stories. He also produced a continuous flow of articles on a variety of subjects for numerous periodical publications and newspapers etc., besides contributing to the works of other authors.
His career into "Journalise" started with a humorous article in the February/March 1938 edition of "The Vintage Sports Car Club Bulletin" written under the pseudonym 'The Phoenician'. Following the huge success of Narrow boat he continued to produce literary works at a phenomenal rate throughout his life. Even as he lay upon his death bed his pen was able to conclude the third and closing part of his autobiography and to conjure up his final ghost story.
Next time you walk your dog along the tow-path, drive along the M1 motorway, (Rolt was the first member of the public to be allowed to do so as he took notes to record its construction in his book The London - Birmingham Motorway), or over the Severn Bridge, visit a steam fair or travel by rail; you will find yourself in an environment synonymous with Tom Rolt.