Guy Mitchell and the Brook House Miniature Railway

Extracts from a letter to Totley Independent by William. C. Carter

Guy Mitchell and the miniature railway at Brook House, circa 1905

 In your July/August Issue No. 135 under the item "Totley's Miniature Railways" you ask if any Totley residents have some recollections of the "Brook House Model Railway" which they would like to share with you.

Regrettably, I have not been a Totley resident since 1940, after 32 years in Totley and Bradway, but as a former resident, I do have a clear recollection of Guy Mitchell's model railway at Brook House, Grove Road. From 1908 till 1913 we lived at Grove Villa, now known as Bridge House, at the northern corner of Grove Road with Abbeydale Road South.

Guy Mitchell was a comparatively young and wealthy man but already retired as an invalid. It seems that as a result of a severe attack of rheumatic fever in his youth, he had a bad heart, something which no doubt could have been controlled in today's advanced heart surgery. At Brook House, which in his time was very beautiful with a large garden, he created a children's dream-world.

He and his young and charming wife had four children, all daughters. The eldest, Lillian was around my age, perhaps a year or two older. Then came twin girls, Emmeline and Irene (Emmie and Reenie as they were known) a little younger than I. Finally, still hoping for a boy, a fourth girl was born. Mrs. Mitchell told my Mother that, in desperation, they were determined to name her after her father, and found the feminine of "Guy" naming her "Guyder".

Guy Mitchell indulged the girls and their friends, so I had many rides on the railway, and lazy afternoons in the boat on the lake. It all seemed on such a grand scale to our small eyes, but I believe that the railway was indeed quite extensive. I remember that one came out of a short tunnel straight into a station, just like arriving at Grindleford after the Totley tunnel. It was indeed complete with railway equipment as your report. They bought a Belsize 12/14 2-seater car, a popular model by the standard of 1913. Guy couldn't drive, much less swing-start it, so his enterprising wife learned both to start it by hand and to drive, a not too common accomplishment in those days.

Guy Mitchell indulged the girls and their friends, so I had many rides on the railway, and lazy afternoons in the boat on the lake. It all seemed on such a grand scale to our small eyes, but I believe that the railway was indeed quite extensive. I remember that one came out of a short tunnel straight into a station, just like arriving at Grindleford after the Totley tunnel. It was indeed complete with railway equipment as your report.

 

They bought a Belsize 12/14 2-seater car, a popular model by the standard of 1913. Guy couldn't drive, much less swing-start it, so his enterprising wife learned both to start it by hand and to drive, a not too common accomplishment in those days.

 

Guy must have died, still I believe in his late thirties, somewhere around 1915-16. There had, of course, been no question of his going to the 1914 war. Mrs. Mitchell stayed on for a time, in deep mourning in common with so many war widows. She sold the Belsize to Miss Elllison, who lived at the Grange. The Mitchells eventually moved away to Grindleford, just above the Sir William, a house with an astounding view, but after 1917 I lost touch.

 

William C. Carter

Old Windsor, Berks.

12 July 1990



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