The Railway Haters by David L. Brandon, Alan Brooke - 9781526700209

The Railway Haters: Opposition To Railways, From the 19th to 21st Centuries [Hardcover] David L Brandon and Alan Brooke\n\nThe Railway Haters by David L. Brandon, Alan Brooke\n\n The railways symbolized the changes taking place in Britain as a result of the Industrial Revolution, and they themselves greatly contributed to these changes. 'Old Wealth', in the form of the great landowning dynasties and the landed gentry, was under challenge from 'New Wealth' the energetic industrial and commercial, urban middle class. Railways, with powers of compulsory purchase, intruded brutally into the previously sacrosanct estates and pleasure grounds of Britain's traditional ruling elite and were part of this clash of class interests.Aesthetes like Ruskin and poets like Wordsworth ranted against railways; Sabbatarians attacked them for providing employment on the Lord's Day; antiquarians accused them of vandalism by destroying ancient buildings; others claimed their noise would make cows abort and9