Thomas the Tank Engine's Cambridgeshire creator honoured by plaque

The Thomas The Tank Engine books spawned TV shows, films, toys and theme parks

A blue plaque has been unveiled at the former home of Thomas the Tank Engine's creator to celebrate the books' 75th anniversary.

The Rev W Awdry wrote the first book in The Railway Series in 1945, and a year later became rector at Holy Trinity Church in Elsworth, Cambridgeshire.

Cambridge Past, Present & Future put the plaque on the old rectory to mark the books he wrote there.

His daughter, Veronica Chambers, said she was "delighted and moved".

She said the plaque was "in tribute to my father, the man who wrote the stories about Thomas and engines with personalities, but who was also, most importantly, a very dedicated and hardworking rector".

Awdry created Thomas to entertain his three-year-old son Christopher when he was sick with a bout of measles.

Steam engine 'an extrovert'

The tales developed into 26 Thomas the Tank Engine stories, before Christopher took over their writing in 1972.

Speaking on Desert Island Discs in 1964, Awdry said: "Of all the mechanical contrivances made by man, the steam engine is the most human.

"The steam engine is an extrovert."

The Rev W Awdry (right) wrote the Thomas The Tank Engine stories for his son Christopher (left) when he was poorly

Awdry remained rector in Elsworth until 1952 when he moved to Emneth on the Norfolk/Cambridgeshire border.

Appointed OBE for services to children's literature, he died in 1997, aged 85.

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At the time of his death, the Railway Series books had sold more than 50 million copies. They have inspired toys, theme parks, TV shows and, most recently, a series of computer animated films.

Earlier this year, Prince Harry introduced a special episode of Thomas the Tank Engine to mark the 75th anniversary.

James Littlewood, chief executive of the charity Cambridge Past, Present & Future (PPF), said Thomas "must have inspired thousands of railway enthusiasts and engineers".

Cambridge PPF has previously erected blue plaques for people such as mathematician Alan Turing, feminist Millicent Fawcett and hospital founder Dr John Addenbrooke.

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