This is the overall title of a series of books that we have produced to explain the history of the railway, and in particular to do so in a way that children and young people should find interesting. There are now four books in the series, as follows.

The series is mainly themed round the fictional character of "Bert the Middleton Lad" and his descendants. To complement the series, when you visit the railway you will see cut-out images of Bert, produced by the same people who are producing the books. In particular, one of these images is arranged so that if children want to pretend to be Bert - perhaps to have their picture taken - they can.

The production team is as follows.

The author of the stories is Sheila Bye, who is also the Middleton railway's archivist.
The pictures that illustrate the stories are by Richard Stead, who is the Middleton Railway's resident artist.
Production is by Janet Auckland.

Bert's Tales of Middleton 1758 - 1880

This was the first book in the series, and was produced in 2014. Here is the picture that appears on the front cover of it (© Richard Stead 2014).

Bert's Tales front cover

Copies of the book are on sale in the shop at our Moor Road headquarters, price £3.00p. Alternatively, you can order a copy by post, but to cover postage and packing we have to charge £5.00p per copy. All proceeds from the sales go to the Middleton Railway. For details of how to order, please click here to download a copy of the order form.

The Story of the Very First Steam Engine

Richard Stead has written this second book in the series and illustrated it in the style of a graphic novel, which describes why the Middleton Railway's first steam engines were built.

Below is an illustration of the front cover of it (© Richard Stead 2015).

First Steam Engine book cover

Copies of the book are on sale in the shop at our Moor Road headquarters, price £1.25p. Alternatively, you can order a copy by post, but to cover postage and packing we have to charge £3.25p per copy. All proceeds from the sales go to the Middleton Railway. For details of how to order, please click here to download a copy of the order form.

Harry's Tales of Middleton

This is the third book in the series, and features the fictional character of "Harry", who is Bert's grandson. It brings Bert's story up to date, describing life on the railway up until the 1960s. Below is the front cover of it, featuring a photograph of Fred Youell and a picture of the locomotive 1697 (© Richard Stead 2018): to find out their significance you will need to read the book!

Harry's Tales front cover

Copies of the book are on sale in the shop at our Moor Road headquarters, price £3.00p. Alternatively, you can order a copy by post, but to cover postage and packing we have to charge £5.00p per copy. All proceeds from the sales go to the Middleton Railway. For details of how to order, please click here to download a copy of the order form.

Middleton Broom Pit: Canaries & Ponies

This is the fourth book in the series, and was produced in conjunction with our special project Last Coals to Leeds, which commemorated the history of Middleton Broom Pit up until its closure in 1968. Below is the front cover of it (picture © Richard Stead 2018).

Canaries and Ponies front cover

Copies of the book are on sale in the shop at our Moor Road headquarters, price £3.00p. Alternatively, you can order a copy by post, but to cover postage and packing we have to charge £5.00p per copy. All proceeds from the sales go to the Middleton Railway. For details of how to order, please click here to download a copy of the order form (which will open in a new browser tab or window).