If however you are interested in finding out about the many hats worn here at South Tynedale Railway then read on… Billycocks and Bowlers A billycock or bowler hat is a hard, felt hat originally created by hat makers Thomas and William Bowler in 1939, reputedly for Edward Coke, the younger brother of the second Earl of Leicester.
Hats are definitely de rigueur here at STR, whether woolly, cloth, cotton, worn with ear defenders, worn with extra ears, or bizarrely worn by a visiting storm trooper last Christmas… Most of the people featured in these photographs are volunteers.
Hats and bears with hats available in our shop!
