Trustees

For Charitable purposes, the directors of OTA are also trustees and under the Articles of Association, no director is permitted to benefit financially or in any other way from the company. It is part of OTA's philosophy that directors should represent all aspects of transport interests and cover a wide age range, to ensure continuity.

Martin Jenkins, originally from Wallasey and a graduate of Liverpool University, has had a lifelong interest in most forms of transport, taking his first transport related photograph in 1952. He was the first Chairman of the Liverpool University Public Transport Society and of the Merseyside Tramway Preservation Society, which under his chairmanship purchased an ex-Liverpool tram, which survives today in operation at the National Tramway Museum. His career in theatre and broadcasting has not prevented extensive travels abroad in pursuit of transport subjects for his camera lens, his writing many books on transport topics nor his crucial involvement in Online Video, which produced over 120 DVDs on transport. It was out of that business that Online Transport Archive emerged with Martin as its first Chairman. Using a wealth of material from the archive, Martin has co-authored a wide range of transport-related books including The Leaving of Liverpool which draws heavily upon his own memories of the run-down of the Liverpool tram system. Martin’s extensive collection of transport related material is willed to OTA.

Kevin McCormack, a life-long transport enthusiast, started as a steam train, London bus and civil aircraft spotter from about the age of nine. This was also around the time he started taking photographs on his mother's pre-war Box Brownie camera. Kevin's work took him away from transport but he has been an active rescuer and restorer of vintage vehicles since the age of 14, including two interwar cars and a Victorian railway carriage which remain in his possession to this day. Until recently he held a valid Bus driving license for vintage bus driving, and is involved at the London Bus Museum at Brooklands. A former secretary of the Great Western Society, Kevin is a prolific author on road and rail related topics with over forty books to his name, and intends to leave his extensive photograph collection to OTA.

Charles Roberts was born and brought up in Merseyside, trained as a Chartered Mechanical Engineer and worked in the bus industry around the time of deregulation and privatisation, before embarking on what he refers to as his 'career break' in the academic world. He ran the Maritime and Logistics degree programmes at Liverpool John Moores University until 2017. His interest in all forms of transport dates back to a very early age and has been taking slides - nowadays digital images - since 1973. He has been involved in OTA since its inception and has served as secretary, treasurer and now chairman. He is the co-author of a number of transport books based on material in the Archive.

Peter Waller was brought up in Bradford, where his interest in transport developed as a result of the decline of the city's trolleybus system. Active in trolleybus preservation whilst at school, following university he joined Ian Allan Ltd and was with the company for more than 26 years. With Ian Allan he held a variety of roles, including that of Publisher (Books) for a number of years where he was responsible for the creation of the company's book publishing programme across all subject areas. Going part-time in 2007, he moved to Shropshire and is now a freelance writer and book packager. He's been involved with OTA for almost a decade and was appointed Company Secretary in 2011. He is the author of a number of books for Ian Allan Publishing and other companies, including several volumes on British tramway history. He was appointed a trustee of the National Transport Trust in 2020.

Peter Whitehead was born and educated in Reading and is a chartered civil engineer. With two older brothers already interested, and nurtured by two distinctively different batches of melodious AEC Regent IIs on the route passing the family home, he stood little chance of not developing an enthusiasm for buses from an early age. The occasional Crossley on the route was equally melodious but different and, for an impressionable growing lad, had the added fascination of platform doors. Noises emanating from AEC Reliances on another route nearby were different again. Further afield, the London RTs became another delight and an affinity with East Kent buses developed from holidays in Herne Bay. The existence of trolleybuses would eventually be discovered across the river, but out of reach until swimming lessons at the far end of the route provided due reason for an introduction to a range of quite different noises.

Tom Ferris originates from Northern Ireland where his interest in transport was first stimulated, observing the last workings of steam locomotives there. An interest in public service vehicles grew from time spent as a student working as a bus conductor in Bournemouth, and he was awarded a Masters degree for his thesis, The Ulster Railway Company 1835-1848 from Queen's University Belfast. His career has been spent in publishing, working in a wide range of roles. Whilst a director of Midland Publishing, he collaborated with Online Video, working on a range of programmes dealing with British and Irish transport topics. He has also written many books on aspects of British and Irish railway history. Tom has lived in Shropshire since the 1980s and has been actively involved with the Severn Valley Railway for close to three decades, serving as a Travelling Ticket Inspector, Guard and Assistant Stationmaster at Bridgnorth.

Jamie Green has had a fascination for rail transport for all of his life, nurtured by frequent visits to heritage railways and other such attractions. Originally from Hampshire, he attended Aberystwyth University, and a short career in heritage after the awarding of his Masters Degree gave way to a career as a signalman for Network Rail, and he is now privileged to 'sign' three signal boxes in Shrewsbury, including the largest working mechanical signal box in the world, Severn Bridge Junction. A volunteer with the Severn Valley Railway since 2009, Jamie is now a resident of Bridgnorth, but his transport interests have diversified and he can often be found conducting and driving the National Tramway Museum’s collection of historic trams in Derbyshire. Jamie joined OTA as a director in 2017, and has also recently stepped into the writing world, with his first works published in 2021.

Nick Sturgess was born and raised in the heart of the Derwent Valley Mills, and took an early interest in all things of technical heritage. An interest in trams developed from a young age through living close to Crich and by the age of 18 industrial heritage was his main interest. Gaining a BA(hons) in Heritage Studies in 2008 his first job was cataloguing the transport collection of Winstan Bond. This lead to an MA in Museum Studies and a professional museum career. Having worked in collections roles at the RAF Museum and Chelmsford Museum he became the Curatorial Manager of the Fairground Heritage Centre in 2016, establishing it as an Accredited Museum and overseeing the fundraising and subsequent acquisition of Shaw’s Moonrocket. In 2019 he returned to the Midlands as Head of Collections and Interpretation at Avoncroft Museum, and after a restructure he is now the museum’s Deputy Director. He remains an active volunteer at Crich, having worked there since 2003.

Caitlin Salt grew up in Lincolnshire, where her grandfather was a regular passenger on the Grimsby and Immingham Tramway. Inheriting a keen interest in railways from her father, she studied analogue photography at school, archaeology at university, and received a Masters degree from the University of Edinburgh at a time when Waverley station still saw frequent visits from first-generation DMUs and EMUs. Since then she has transitioned careers into IT, has worked as a software developer for a number of well-known companies, and is now a software development consultant for a Tyneside-based technology company. She has maintained her transport interests, has been an active volunteer on the Severn Valley Railway since 2013, and is also an occasional volunteer on the Ffestiniog Railway. Her historic railway knowledge also led to her appearing as a contestant on the TV show Mastermind, with "The LNER, 1923-1948" as her specialist subject.