The Early Victorian Railway Excursions - Susan Major

There is a widely held belief, that Thomas Cook invented the railway excursion, Susan Major has carried out much in depth research and discovered that this is not true. - - Thomas Cook was responsible for encouraging middle-class people to go on more expensive excursions. - - The railway excursion is almost as old as the railway itself, dating back to the 1830s, when hordes of people from one town, would descend on another for a Sunday day trip. - - The Millions go Forth, takes the story of the early railway excursions from the late 1840s to the 1860s and covers a very colourful period of railway and social change in British history. - - The early excursionists had those who opposed them, in the form of the Church of England and the non conformist movement, who hated the idea of people enjoying themselves on a Sunday. - - There were also journalists and politicians, who also hated the idea of the masses moving around the country and tried to stop such capers. - - This book for the first time covers this interesting period of social history and destroys a lot of myths attached to early railway travel. -