[Article based on a longer obituary prepared by David Slater for Lancaster Canal Trust]

Gordon Biddle, railway and canal historian, author, long serving member of the Lancaster Canal Trust, an early chairman of IWA North Lancashire and Cumbria Branch (as it was then called), and one-time vice president of IWA North West Region died on 8th April 2024. He was 95, and had been an IWA member since 1967.

Gordon was one of the earliest supporters of Lancaster Canal Trust when it was founded by Sid Wordsworth in 1963 as the Association for the Restoration of the Lancaster Canal, albeit at a distance as he was not resident in the area. However, in 1969 his work required a move to Lancashire and  he lost no time in becoming active, taking over the editorship of the Trust’s magazine,  continuing  until 1976.  Born in Coventry, he trained as a surveyor, and until retirement was a Member of the Incorporated Association of Architects & Surveyors, Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.  His job  took him all over the country and  he always carried his camera, amassing a large collection of photographs, particularly of railways, something which authors of books on railway history have much to be grateful for.  Gordon was one of the founding members of the Railway & Canal Historical Society in 1954, with the aim of  accurately recording railway history, Gordon becoming  its first Secretary. He also served as President and was at the time of his death, Vice-President of the Society.

Another of the founding members of the Society was IWA founder member Charles Hadfield who was keen that the Society should devote itself not only to railway history but also waterway history. Hadfield had already written British Canals and was  engaged in the writing of a series of books covering waterways history by region. Gordon’s friendship with Hadfield  led to the two of them co-authoring Canals of North West England, published in 1970 in two volumes.

[Photo of Gordon Biddle taken in 2023, which was used in the Order of Service at his funeral]