David Wittamore took his tape recorder for an outing and called in at Stockport No.2 signal box for an August evening rush hour in 1981.

At such times Stockport was, and still is, a very busy location on the former London & North Western Railway's routes from Stoke and Crewe into Manchester. The line at Stockport was electrified at 25Kv as one of the earliest stages of the West Coast Electrification project; semaphore signals began to disappear in 1955 when the line between Stockport and Levenshulme (towards Manchester) went over to colour light as a precursor to fully resignalling the area.

The station still boasts two signal boxes, one at each end of the station. Stockport No.2 is at the Manchester end just beyond the station platforms on the up side of the line. Beyond the signal box the railway passes onto Stockport Viaduct over the River Mersey and sundry roads and industrial landscape.

On this double CD set you will hear the sounds of block bells ringing, levers crashing, and the general noises of a busy location. With your CD you will receive a  booklet setting out the modus operandi at the location, a description of the lever leads, some historic facts, an explanation of the various special bell codes that were in use and much more.

The recordings are excellent for sound effects or just wallowing in nostalgia. When you play the CDs just close your eyes and let the sounds take you back ......