Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

May Despite the protests from several sources, as of May 2 nd , Accrington’s Goods Station would no longer accept consignments which did not amount to a full van or wagon load. However, it was stated that this would have no effect on the handling of parcels traffic. Full loads would still be handled at the yard, which still amounted to hundreds of tons every year, and a new crane had been installed at the depot only two years previously for this specific purpose. In the Baxenden, Helmshore and Haslingden area this type of traffic would be concentrated at the depot in Waterfoot. There was also a concern raised about the extra amount of traffic on the roads resulting from this move. Responding to these criticisms, Mr J. L. Henderson, Public Relations Officer for the Transport Commission in his correspondence ( dated April 28 th ), stated - “There seems to be some misunderstanding with regard to our new scheme for dealing with ‘bseu nf do rr i el es ’s. sT ht he anne wf u al lr rtar nu cg ke ml oeandt ss . a Wr e et haartea ccoonl lvei cntci oe dn at nh da t d tehl iivs e wr yi lsl e rr evsi cuel tb ians ead bo ne t Bt el ra cskebruvri cnewbi lyl pnrootivfiidcaintigondiwreacst gcivaerntagtoe ttroadaenrsd. BfruotmonBAlapcrkilbu7rn. One complaint raised was that no official th , the District Office wrote to all the firms with wt hhe i cTho wwne Cdloe rbkuos fi nAecscsr, i tnog taodnv, i st he et hTeomw no’ sf tChheasme bc he ar nogf eTsr. aTdhei sa nc do rtrhees pl oocnadl eNnactei own aa sl Faal sr om ceirrsc’ uUl antieodn .t o ” Bradford City was hosting Stanley on the 4 th , on the final Saturday of the season, and a train was run from Rishton at 12:13, Church & Oswaldtwistle 12:18, Accrington 12:23 and Huncoat at 12:28. The return fare was 5/6d from Rishton and 5/- from the other three stations. The return left Manningham Station at 17:15. ( Bringing jubilant fans back after a 3-0 victory. ) The Town Clerk submitted the correspondence he had received from the General Manager of the British Railways Executive and from the local Member of Parliament, to a meeting of the General Purposes Committee. This was on the subject of moving goods traffic from Accrington to Blackburn which had occurred from May 2 nd , last. On Sunday, the 8 th , the destination was Fleetwood departing Accrington at 08:52 then Church at 08:55 returning at 7pm. Fare from Accrington was 5/-, Church 4/9d, with fares to Thornton (Cleveleys) 3d less. Besides the usual runs to the coastal resorts BR were repeating the Chesterfield excursion on Sunday, the 15 th , along with one to Ripon departing town at 10:00, calling at Skipton fare 3/5d, Bolton Abbey 4/3d, Ilkley 4/9d, Otley 5/-, Harrogate 7/- and Ripon 8/3d. The trip to Llandudno was also operating again on this same day. At midnight on Saturday, the 28 th , the Association of Locomotive Engineers & Firemen came out on strike, and Accrington Station was practically deserted. Over the Whitsuntide period, Sunday, the 29 th , excursions were to have operated to Longsight for Belle Vue, Chesterfield, Coventry and Ilkley. Ilkley should have been repeated again on the Monday and there was a ‘scenic’ trip planned to Harrogate via Settle, Hawes and Wensleydale, with a two hour stay in Settle and four hours in Harrogate. The fare would have been 11/3d and it was due to depart Church at 09:43, Accrington at 09:45. June On Monday some trains did operate, including the 06:05 to Manchester, whilst the Preston to Todmorden train came through at 06:25 to be followed by the 08:30 Colne to Manchester. There were also trains from Blackpool to Colne and another for Preston. It was impossible for staff at the station to give information of what would, or would not run. “This was ironic for BR had arranged a ‘bumper’ programme of excursions and trips over the Whitsun weekend”, stated an official. On the first weekday of the strike only 24 of the timetabled trains actually ran out of the normal number of 120. One train from Blackpool had arrived in Accrington at 20:00 carrying a large number of passengers returning from Blackpool, and temporary measures were put in place to keep the postal services moving. During the first week only about one-fifth of the normal quantity of goods were coming through Accrington. About 60 members of the National Union of Railwaymen had continued to work at Accrington’s engine sheds, and priority was being given to maintaining supplies of fuel to the power stations. On June 6 th , there had been only about 25 trains through Accrington in the morning, about one quarter of the normal throughput, and an ‘emergency’ timetable had been posted up, which would operate ‘until further notice’. This included -

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