Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

Manchester Locomotive Society. Tickets were 8/- and there would be free admission to the Railway Museum at the destination. An interesting addition would be a 3rd Class ‘Town Runabout Ticket’. This would be available on any train for the five days Monday, the 30 th , to Friday, August 3 rd , and unrestricted travel from Accrington, Baxenden, Church and Huncoat to Southport, Blackpool, Morecambe, Fleetwood, Lancaster, Preston, Windermere Town, Grange-over-Sands, Barrow, and with a change in Ulverston to Windermere Lakeside, with the option of a cruise between the piers at no extra charge. The price of this ticket was 23/6d. August On the 10 th of the month, Baxenden Railway Station closed to passenger traffic, although the goods facilities would remain in operation for almost another decade. On the Monday morning of the 27 th , the goods yard at Accrington Station forecourt was the venue for the finals of the local Goods Vehicles Show & Parade. Out of an entry of twenty contestants the winner was the oldest entry, a Scammell ‘Mechanised Horse’ driven by Mr F. Bentley. A Karrier ‘Bantam’ came second, whilst third and fourth places were also won by Scammells. September Besides the usual trips to the Lancashire coast, BR was offering several excursions including to Sowerby Bridge for 3/3d, Brighouse for 3/9d, Mirfield for 4/6d, Thornhill for 4/9d, Wakefield for 5/- and Hull for 11/-. This train departed from Accrington at 11:00 with a return from Hull Paragon Station at 19:35. There were evening runs to both Blackpool and Morecambe for their illuminations, along with repeats of previous excursions to Sheffield/Chesterfield and Bolton Abbey or Ilkley. October At a meeting of the Highways Committee the Borough Engineer reported that the British Railways Executive, London Midland Region, was proposing to carry out repairs to the Iron Bridge at Meadow Top, which connected Horne Street with Marlborough Road. This work would be carried out on two consecutive Sundays, November 30 th and December 7 th , and would result in the temporary closure of the bridge whilst this work was being carried out. A 41 year old fire-dropper employed at Accrington sheds was found lying in ‘great distress’, near the lines within the Charter Street sidings. At the subsequent inquest a fireman said he had discovered Thomas Edward Brown, who appeared to be struggling for breath, and that an ambulance had been called but he was pronounced dead on arrival at Victoria Hospital. The Coroner stated that a post mortem had revealed the deceased had not been involved in an accident but had died of natural causes. Following a career totalling 52 years on the railways, engine driver T. Coulton, of Fountain Street, had retired. He had started work at Accrington as an office boy in 1899 when 13 years old, and following spells as an engine cleaner and fireman, by the age of 20 he was driving locomotives and had spent the last 20 years in the passenger link. Mrs Coulton was not quite so enthusiastic about his career by saying afterwards, “Pity the girl who marries a railwayman”. November The Labour MP for Accrington, Mr Harry Hynd, who himself had started work on the railways at the age of fourteen as a clerk at Perth Station, had taken exception in the House of Commons to remarks made about “the amount of thieving on the railways being a national disgrace, and perpetrated by workers who constantly scream for higher wages”. Figures showed that amongst the 605,000 people employed by BR only a very small percentage had been caught pilfering, and that in the past three years the amount of merchandise which could not be accounted for, had actually gone down. Mr Hynd said, “If railway employees, who were amongst the poorest paid in the country, had a decent living wage then perhaps the temptation to steal would diminish”. December On Sunday, the 23 rd , BR were operating a pre-Christmas excursion to Millom for 10/9d, via Lancaster 5/3d, Carnforth 6/-, Silverdale 6/3d, Arnside 6/9d, Grange-over-Sands 7/3d, Kents Bank 7/6d, Ulverston 8/6d, Dalton 9/-, Roose 9/6d, Barrow 9/9d, Askam 9/9d and Kirkby 10/-. This train would depart Accrington at 10:02, Church & Oswaldtwistle at 10:05, with a return from Millom at 19:05. A football train was the recommended travel for Burnley’s home game against Preston North End on Boxing Day, departing Accrington at 13:22, Huncoat 13:27. The fares were 11d and 9d respectively, with a return from Burnley Central at 16:15. There was also a train for Bury for their game against Coventry City at 1pm for 1/9d return, coming back on the 16:25 from Bury Bolton Street, or on any other later train.

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