The Old Great Western
Sta,—Janus's remarks about the Great Western Railway prompt me to mention that last year your paper, among others, was good enough to print our appeal for the restoration of the old title to that part of the British Railways now known as Western Region. At the end of my letter I asked that all those who supported this Association's appeal should send me postcards giving the name and address of the sender and the words: " Give us back the Great Weitern Railway." As a result of this letter postcards poured in from all over Great Britain and from many places abroad. Among these postcards was one signed by the master and the rest of the staff of a station on the old Great Western. In my original letter I made it clear that this Association was non-party, but it certainly approves your statement " that something has been lost that is well worth regaining' Not long after our appeal was printed, there was a change of Government, and we understood that the name of the Great Western was to be restored, so it seemed unnecessary to use the postcards, as originally intended, in the form of a petition. I hope that Janus's remarks, therefore, will serve as a reminder to those in power that to give us back our Great Western Railway would be a move popular with most shades of political opinion: In conclusion, -I would like to make it clear that I am not discussing the merits or demerits of nationalisa- tion, but the value of the name of a railway system which is referred to so often and so affectionately in our literature and in the common
speech.—Yours truly, , WAVENEY GIRVAN, Chairman, The West Country Writers' Association. Tudor House, Prince:on Street, W.C.I.
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