Coal on the Loudwater line
Chris Leigh's article on the Maidenhead to High Wycombe branch (SW433) brought back memories as I lived only a few hundred yards from Loudwater station, until we moved in 1968. Much of the coal traffic he mentioned would have been destined for the paper and board (cardboard and millboard) mills which then spread along the Wye Valley.
Manufacturing paper and board requires large amounts of heat and power and, consequently, a lot of fuel. Blotting paper manufacturer T.E Ford, only a few yards from Loudwater station, had, I think, gone over to oil-firing by 1965. However, Hedge Mill (which made high quality packaging cardboard) near Wooburn Green used coal delivered by lorry from Loudwater.
Wooburn Green station served Glory Mill, which made photographic
