Roger Wakeley Kidner was a railway enthusiast and noted publisher whose imprint, The Oakwood Press, published many of the earliest books on British narrow-gauge railways.
10 Facts About Roger Kidner
1.
2.
Roger Kidner attended Westminster School where he struck up a friendship with Michael Robbins.
3.
Meanwhile, after a year at the London School of Economics Roger Kidner was working as an editor of travel guides for Benn Brothers.
4.
Roger Kidner travelled widely to research the railways that his authors wrote about.
5.
Roger Kidner visited the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway in 1935 with Catchpole, and the Welsh Highland Railway in 1926 and 1934.
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The Oakwood Press suspended publication during the Second World War, and Roger Kidner served in the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment where he rose to the rank of Major.
7.
Roger Kidner published James I C Boyd's seminal series on the narrow-gauge railways of north Wales, starting in 1949 with Narrow Gauge Rails to Portmadoc which drew attention to the then-closed Ffestiniog Railway and was instrumental in its eventual restoration.
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Michael Robbins 8.
In 1972, Roger Kidner retired from his work in public relations to focus full-time on The Oakwood Press.
9.
Roger Kidner broadened the range of subjects covered, to include biographies of railwaymen and books about trams, traction engines, buses and canals.
10.
Roger Kidner sold The Oakwood Press in 1984, but kept in close contact with the new owner, writing and editing books.