To what extent is Source B's view on the impact of the railway on Stoke Breurne supported by other sources?
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Introduction
History Coursework: Canal at Stoke Breurne Question 3: To what extent is Source B's view on the impact of the railway on Stoke Breurne supported by other sources? Source B was taken from a book Called "On the Canal" in 1858, by John Hollingshead 20 years after the completion of the railway. The source shows an almost unrecognizable village from the one described in Source A, it sees Stoke Bruerne as a small, inward looking settlement that had no provision or hospitality for tourists. As soon as the railway came out people stopped using the canal because the railway was a much faster means of transport to take your good from one place to another. The journey was also much smoother so goods didn't break before they reached their destination. Source B talks of Stoke Bruerne as a "small street of cottages, with many outlying barn that does not covet patronage of strangers". ...read more.
Middle
In source B it says that Stoke Breurne is a 'small cottage street' this point is backed up by the Ordinance Survey Map where it shows the new railway is built near a village called Roade, therefore everyone moved to Roade because of the railway leaving Stoke Breurne a small village before everyone had moved in. It also says in Source B that a lady was standing outside a house with a thatched roof, so even though slate was coming in so new roofs could be made, because of the new railway not that many goods were being brought into Stoke Breurne. This can be proved in the minutes of 7th August 1851, in this minute it says they closed one of the locks because not many boats were coming in. this can also be seen on the site evidence that one lock is not being used. Last of all John Hollingshead wrote in source B how there wasn't any food anywhere. ...read more.
Conclusion
In addition, the source displays a very one-sided answer, like source A, which would mean again that it is not a valuable source on its own. He could have visited Stoke Breurne the day before all the new stock was to come in for the week that's why there wasn't any food left. I conclude that this source is useful because even though John Hollingshead exaggerated that fact that no profit was coming in, every other point he has made has been backed up by the other sources proving it to be reliable. In general, source B gives an image of the village at the time of the railway. Any information given about the villages other than the atmosphere are simple implications. There are no definite statements, such as the village was wealthy, which is from Source A, I was simply able to deduce facts from the sources which I could then further back up with other sources. Without other sources, source B would be fairly useless. However with other information the sources are quite useful and appear to be reliable. ...read more.
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