The collection

The tickets in the Wingate Bett collection date from 1840 to 1977 and were used on railways, buses, ships, airlines, ski lifts and trams around the world. After much correspondence the collection was donated to the Central Library in 1979 by Mr. Bett’s widow Jean. Mrs Bett donated the collection in its entirety as she didn't want the collection to be broken up. The collection consists of over 1 million tickets mounted in 170 albums.

The collection was first exhibited in the Central Library in April and May 1980 and has since been housed with the Railway Collection in the Library of Birmingham. It has gained interest from people nationally and internationally through the years and enquiries come from as far away as Australia! The collection has subsequently been indexed and this index is stored alongside the main collection.