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meet
Arthur Beckenham
• Educationists are notoriously enthusiastic supporters of their cause and Arthur Beckenham is certainly no exception. He has brought to his appointment as director of training and education of the Chartered Institute of Transport a great deal of drive and enthusiasm and a wealth of experience in transport operation and education.
Arthur's presence at Portland Place since August 1970 has been well felt both inside the Institute and out. At the CIT he introduced the twice-yearly Transport Research Bulletin and the Education and Training List. Those who know him or have met him will vouch for his determination in pushing forward the Institute's name and propounding to educationists and employers alike the advantages of study for its examinations. He believes the Institute now has the beginnings of a forward-looking policy which means things to people in the industry.
At only 46, Arthur has had a wide and varied career starting with the Great Western Railway and later, after service with the Royal Engineers ltransport) in the UK and the Middle East, with the Western region of British Railways. He spent 12 years with the East African Railways and Harbour Administration where he was involved with the administration of road, rail and water transport and port operations. During this time he was a part-time lecturer in Nairobi on courses for the Institute's examinations and spent a period on the staff of the Nairobi Railway Training School. He returned to the UK in 1963 to take up a full-time career in transport teaching.
At the North Western Polytechnic, London, where he was head of the transport studies division, before taking up his present post, he developed various transport study courses.
Transport studies have undoubtedly had a special fascination for Arthur who, was the 1966 Henry Spurrier Award winner, was enabled to study road transport management in North America. Many years earlier he won a British Railways region essay prize gold medal.
Besides his interest in transport Arthur lists among his hobbies mountain walking, foreign travel and the theatre. He was at one time a member of the Royal Geographical Society and used to give help to the Society's expeditions to East Africa. He also managed to climb several high mountains in East Africa, Private flying is another of his interests. He believes that a roan who has the strength of character to learn to fly a plane will succeed in
life now there's a thought. D.G.L.