Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

There was a rush of passengers going to Headingley in Leeds on a ‘test match special’. The excursions to Blackpool, Southport and Morecambe were all well patronised, according to a spokesman at Accrington Station. On the 28 th , ‘Black 5’ 45073 (Trafford Park Sheds) and Standard 75027 (Moor Row Sheds Whitehaven), came through Accrington double-heading a return leg of the Farewell To Steam Railtour en route to Rose Grove. August Arthur Davidson, the Accrington MP, wrote to the Chairman of BR Mr Henry Johnson, to complain about the state of the sleeper fencing near to the running lines on Lower Antley Street. Several were missing, allowing access to the lines and the dumping of substantial amounts of hazardous waste, which according to Mr K. Foden, the Deputy Chief Public Health Inspector, were responsible for a serious danger to health in the vicinity. In a reply it was agreed that remove this waste and repair the fencing, including raising the height, as it was not sufficient at present to stop children from climbing over it. Mr George Farmer, of Oakdene Avenue in Huncoat, was presented with a long-service certificate for his 37 years on the railways as a Permanent Way Inspector. A young magpie was found floundering in the station yard by a delivery driver, who took it into the booking office where it had since made its home. It was being looked after until old enough to fly away. Christened ‘Maggie’ by the clerks, it amused itself by constantly moving pens around on the desks. September Residents living in Railway View, Railway Terrace and Station Road in Great Harwood, were threatening to boycott paying their rates if something was immediately done to remove rubbish which was being dumped on the former railway line. Cold weather meant that the number of passengers passing through Accrington Station was no more than normal over the holidays. There was only one special train to Blackpool on Monday the 16 th , for the Illuminations, and this was in ‘reasonable’ demand. November Bottles thrown from trains passing over the viaduct in Accrington had caused extensive damage to the roof of the Ambulance Drill Hall on Bull Bridge, which over time had cost £1,500 to repair. The building stood beneath the viaduct and it is suspected that the culprits were football fans, as it seems that the damage caused coincided with the passing of football specials. The passing was noted of Mr John Henry Unsworth, of Radnor Close, in Accrington, who for several years had been the stationmaster at Accrington Station. December On Wednesday the 17 th , two carriages that were being shunted, having been parked on Church East Siding for several days, ran down a slope demolishing a set of buffers and finished up falling onto a public footpath. The signalman at Church East Box first raised the alarm, but thankfully no one was hurt and there were no disruptions to the train services. BR was to launch an investigation into this incident. 1969 ( Such was the falling-off of travelling by train, that the Observer no longer felt it necessary to include reports from Accrington’s Railway Station on the numbers of people travelling on the excursions. Towards the end of the year the major refurbishment of Accrington’s Railway Station began, which would attract adverse comments from the town’s MP, Council Members and passengers alike, as the facilities on the two remaining platforms were now as ‘basic’ as it was possible for them to be. There were also concerns about the timetable changes which would make journeys on what were through services, now less convenient and slightly lengthier. ) During 1969 sheds in Accrington were closed to all motive power and stood derelict for several years until it was demolished in the mid-1970s to make way for new housing. I last paid a visit in early 1972 when it had been badly vandalised. There was all manner of debris dumped into the pit of the wheel-drop, graffiti on the walls and the foreman’s office had been ransacked with documents and broken glass scattered all around. The turntable recess was overgrown and evidence of fly-tipping was all around. January On Friday the 10 th , trains were halted for half an hour whilst the body of Wilfred Hoyle, of Percy Street, West End, was removed from the section of line between Blythe’s Bridge and Church Station. From his injuries it was ascertained that he had been run over by a train. He was an employee of the railway who worked for BR at Accrington Diesel depot. It was thought he had been taking a shortcut to work. Driver William Jones, from Burnley, stated he was approaching Church & Oswaldtwistle Station at about 50mph when he noticed a body on the lines and alerted the staff when he stopped. John Bowker

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