Sir Gerald Nabarro

Sir Gerald David Nunes Nabarro (1913-1973) was a British businessman and latterly Conservative Party politician. He served as Member of Parliament for Kidderminster between 1950 and 1960, before retiring on health grounds. He returned to Parliament as MP for South Worcestershire in the 1966 General Election.

Nabarro became involved with the SVRSevern Valley Railway soon after the Railway’s formal opening in 1970. The SVRSevern Valley Railway did not have the funds necessary to purchase the southern section of the line between Alveley Colliery and Foley Park, for which BRBritish Rail or British Railways was asking the prince of £74,000. In addition, the issue of the Bridgnorth By-pass potentially severing the line was also not resolved; the possible bill for a bridge being more than £60,000.

Nabarro suggested raising money through the flotation of a public company, to be named Severn Valley Holdings Limited. The flotation began in early 1972 with Nabarro duly appointed Chairman and Viscount Cobham as President.

The share issue was a success, raising £110,000 of new funds by December 1972. However Nabarro had a forceful personality and began to refer to the SVRSevern Valley Railway as ‘my railway’, often making operational decisions without consulting the volunteer workforce (his management style was also described as ‘a committee of one’). It also appeared that he was planning to abandon Bridgnorth, with the site being sold for development and the proceeds being used to pay dividends to shareholders. Evidence of this included installing a run-round loop at Eardington and moving the Head Office to Bewdley, where he had the buildings redecorated at cost to the railway despite offers from the volunteers to do this.

Matters came to a head in early 1973, following Nabarro’s dismissal of the Operating Superintendent from his paid position. The deteriorating relationship with the volunteers led to the very real threat of a strike by the workforce. In the event, Nabarro agreed to step down in March 1973. He was suffering from ill health at that time, having recently suffered two strokes. Having announced a decision to retire from the Commons on health grounds, he died on 18 November 1973.

References

Article in 2015 SVRSevern Valley Railway Souvenir Special (MNA Media Production), "Santa Claus, Steam and the Abominable Showman"
Gerald Nabarro on Wikipedia
SVRSevern Valley Railway News (various)