Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

most we have done is allow selected councillors to view the plans here in our offices in Manchester, and we cannot make any exceptions to this rule in the case of Accrington. Councillor Rawson said in these circumstances they should form a deputation to go and examine these plans as had been suggested by the Railway Company. April The L & Y wrote to inform the Town Council that an extra Booking Clerk was now in employment at the town’s railway station. Also a letter was read out from the Chief Traffic Manager of the Railway Company in which he declined to submit the plans for the alterations to Accrington Station, but expressing willingness to meet with the Town Clerk and Borough Engineer to discuss them. It was resolved that two councillors would accompany these officials to inspect these plans. At a meeting of the Health Committee it was resolved to install a urinal in a recess, at the top of Grant Street, next to the entrance to the subway. May The 1,100 employees of Messrs W. Smith & Co., of Accrington, were treated to a day out on two special trains from Accrington to Blackpool, and each given 2 shillings to spend in the resort. The trains departed Accrington at 7:55am and 8:10am. The workers from the three cotton mills owned by the Smith family, the Park, Melbourne and Victoria, lined the platform in Blackpool Station to cheer the newlyweds Mr & Mrs Smith on their arrival following their marriage, the reason for this celebration. The weather somewhat dampened the plans for outdoor activities and the return trains departed at 9:45pm and 10pm respectively to arrive back in Accrington in good time. In both directions the trains had sped along in fine style, cutting the normal three to four hour journey by a considerable amount. June The local Trades Council was seeking measures to have the Cheap Fares Act of 1883 properly enacted, as it had seemingly been largely ignored by the railway companies. The Act abolished duty for passengers travelling on workpeople’s cheap trains. It stated that fares which cost in excess of 1 penny per mile should not be liable to tax, and that return fares and period contracts would not be liable to tax providing that rate did not exceed 1 penny per mile. The Act also stipulated that tax would be levied at a rate of 2% and could be levied on fares exceeding these rates. It also stated that in the opinion of the Board of Trade “sufficient and reasonable” Third Class accommodation should be provided on all suburban trains operating within populations of 100,000 or more, between the hours of 6pm in the evening and 8am in the morning. The BoT had said that if these conditions were not met they would refer the evidence to the Railway Commissioners, who had the powers to order train operating companies to provide these services at a rate of 1 penny per mile or less. It stated that a disproportionately large amount of discounted fares were available to the middle classes in comparison to the working classes. It also would petition that workpeople’s tickets would be valid after midday rather than at 4pm as was currently the case. The Accrington Observer & Times reported a rather unsavoury case as follows - Two men, Thomas Townsend of Portland Street and John Ormerod of Park Street both in AA cc cc rr ii nn gg tt oo nn ,. wT heer eo ff of eunncde ghuaidl t yt aokfe inn dp el acceen ti nl y aa sc soamu pl tai nr tgmSeuns ta no fAt nh ne C2 l2a: r5k5e roeft uWr enl lei nx cgut or sni oSnt r tereati na l fsroo imn Sc oa ml f opradr ttmo eAn ct .c Sr ihneg tsot ant. e dI t t hh aa td s hb ee eknn eawl l etgheedmtehna to nt hl ye btywsoi g hmt e, ann hd atdh aftotl hl oewoef df e nhceer hiandt oo cacnu rer me dpat ys tr he ep ot rr at ei nd wt haes aasps pa ruol ta ct oh ian pg oRrat emr swb ohtot ot mh e nR awi lewnat yt oS ttahtei ocno, mwphaerrtemwe hn et . nTthhee Gt ruaai rnd hoafdt hs teotpr pa iend, Ws hiel l hi aamd Ht ees nt irf yi e dWtahl ka et rt hoef gL iorwl we rahsoiuns ea Ls taant ee , oRf odsies tGr er os sv ew, iwt ha sh ea rl s col ostuhme smaonnde db ot no ntehte i nc osmo mp aer tdmi seanr tr ,a ay .nBd oht he ma nedn asdadi dr etshseeys . hMa rd Sgtiovne en s t, ht he eg Fi rol rseommaen mP oo rnteeyr, abtuAt cocnr i bn eg itno gn qS ut aetsi toi no ,nseadi dh aa td abqout ha rgt ievre pn afsatl sme i nd anmi g ehst oh na dt hbaete Sn a ltoucrkdeady imn soirdnei nt gh eh ec ohma dp arret cme ei vnetd, aan dc o tmh ma t uPnCi c aEtvi eo rni nf gr ot omn Rwaams swb oa it tt ionmg tt oh atta kt he et ht we mo mi net no custodyDefending the accused Mr Britcliffe asked if there was anyone else in the compartment, to wA ghai ci nh sshhee arne spwl i ee dr e d“ n“on”.o “”A. Bn rdi twc l ai fsf ne ’ twiet nytooun wt oh oc l faoi ml l o wt headt tt hh ee sper ot ws eoc umt reinx hi natdo gt ihvaetn c tohme pma retnmeevnetr?y”

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