From the 1830s, Pickford & Co. was the largest of the carrying agents, moved more goods traffic than any other, and so had a correspondingly large need for horses. At Camden, where the company served the London & North-Western Railway (LNWR), new stables were built for 270 horses in 1857-8 after a massive fire destroyed the existing stables. The new stables were highly innovative and decades ahead of their time. However, not only has this provoked little comment then or since, but also almost all the relevant records have been lost. This talk aims to recreate the remarkable if all but forgotten story of the stables’ history, design and function.   

Peter Darley is Secretary of the Camden Railway Heritage Trust, which he founded in 2007.  

Admission: Free to CHS members. Non-members welcome (£2 at the door).