My interest in railways was sparked by family holidays at Barmouth in 1960 and 1961 but it was dormant for most of my primary school years which just about coincided with the last years of steam. I first went trainspotting at Temple Meads in 1967.

At first it never occurred to me to take photographs of the trains I was spotting: while preserved railways were officially certified as "heritage" and thus proper subjects for photography, to take pictures of "ordinary" trains was a waste of precious film.

However, unsettling things were happening: the locomotives that were self-evidently the finest, handsomest and westernest were being targeted for withdrawal; I suddenly found that my local line to Avonmouth had been reduced to single track and its signal boxes closed. I was struck by the realisation that nothing on the railway is static: today's Ordinary is tomorrow's Heritage.