Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

tracks, sustaining injuries which led to complications and these were the causes of his death. Stationmaster Unsworth said, “The lights had been put out in accordance with the statutory regulations”. July Plans for the billeting of evacuees were thrown into confusion on the evening of Tuesday, July 11 th , when at 9pm a train carrying 823 children from the south arrived in Accrington Station, instead of its intended destination of Oldham. However, by Wednesday evening only a few of these children had not found accommodation with local families. A queue had begun to form at 4am on the first morning of the annual summer holiday, and eventually it had snaked its way up Eagle Street as far as the Scaitcliffe Street Bridge. Passengers sat patiently on their cases, trunks and portmanteaus in a philosophical mood, until the first Blackpool bound train came in at 7am. Although the impression given was of a mass migration, ticket sales were 25% down on the previous year. Passengers were allowed access to the platforms in groups to avoid any overcrowding. It was 5pm in the afternoon before the queue had finally disappeared. October The Town Clerk reported to a meeting of the Civil Defence Committee, that the LMS had drawn his attention to the fact that formal agreement for the construction of air-raid shelters on sites belonging to them on or at - 1. Eagle Street, 2. Near to the Station approach and, 3. On Lonsdale Street had expired on March 25 th last. On the assumption that the Corporation still wished to continue with this tenancy agreement, they were prepared to continue with it subject to three months’ notice of termination by either side. In this connection the Borough Engineer reminded the Committee that there were also two more similar agreements with the Railway Company for sites on Charter Street and Mount Street. It was resolved that the Town Clerk could enter into a formal agreement with the Company for a continuation of the tenancy of the sites in question. November The Electricity Committee met and referring to a previous minute the Town Clerk submitted further correspondence which had passed between the LMS and himself, on the subject of illuminating their subway, the upshot of which was that the Railway Company were now prepared to defray the cost of installing electric lighting in the subterranean passage connecting Grant Street with Crossland Street, this subject to the Corporation taking over the obligation of maintaining this lighting in the future. It was resolved to accept the Company’s proposal and to accept responsibility for maintaining this lighting henceforth. December A man who had purchased a workmen’s return ticket to travel from Accrington to Preston, was fined £2 with 12 shillings costs for using a ticket which was only valid before 8am and after 4pm . Sidney Smith, of Blackburn Road in Accrington, had travelled on a single ticket from Morecambe to Preston and then used this ticket to travel back from Preston to Accrington on a train which left before the appointed time. ( There can be no doubt that the War took a heavy toll on the Nation’s railways, not only through enemy action, but through a prolonged period of neglect and under investment on locomotives, rolling stock, permanent way, infrastructure and facilities. There were those who contended that the pre-war glories could never be replicated, but there was no doubt it would take decades to get back to a system approaching the one prior to 1939, despite the best efforts of the people who dedicated their lives to working on the railways. Its fate was sealed and not even Nationalisation could salvage what had been lost.) 1945 February A man from Poynton in Cheshire was fined 40 shillings with 12/6d costs plus a £2 advocate’s fee, after he was found in possession of a 3rd Class monthly ticket which was two months out of date. After he was approached by a Ticket Inspector whilst riding in a 1st Class compartment at Accrington Station, he then offered to pay the correct fare. Having spent the last four and a half years as Passenger Agent for the LMS in Accrington, Mr F. Southern had been appointed to the post of Head Clerk at Manchester Victoria Station, where he had started work some 30 years earlier. April The wait for tickets at Accrington Station was no more than five to ten minutes at the start of Easter, even though more people than in 1944 set off for the coast. On Saturday large crowds were at the station as Stanley supporters were setting off for Burnden Park, whilst Burnley fans were going for the away game against Manchester United. The 12:30 to Manchester crawled up Baxenden Bank with passengers “crammed in like sardines”! On Friday and Saturday the trains for London which left at

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