Music, like photography, has a knack of transporting us back to former times, which is perhaps why so many songs have the word ‘memory’ in their titles. In this third and final instalment of his ‘Memories’ trilogy, the chosen song title is The Memory Lingers On. Certainly the smell of smoke, steam and hot oil, and the unique sounds of the steam age, linger on in this selection of some 200 of Mike’s superb black and white images, together with a dozen or so colour photographs.

As before, the technically accomplished and beautifully composed pictures reveal the many moods of the steam locomotive in its working environment, now so many decades ago, and cover many far-flung locations around the country. The majority are unpublished, and Silver Link is privileged to be able to present them here in another high-quality book, where they can be savoured again and again.

A lifelong railway enthusiast, Mike Esau took his first picture in 1950 with the family Box Brownie camera. Using more advanced photographic equipment, he later travelled Britain photographing the last decades of the steam railway. Still an active photographer, he has contributed to many other railway books and publications, but Silver Link is pleased to have the opportunity to devote a series of books exclusively to his rich and varied output.