Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

the 18 th , which was to include a coach tour through the Woburn Animal Kingdom in the fare of £3:50p and £2:35p for a child. The Edinburgh Military Tattoo was the target on Saturday the 13 th , and the fare of £5:75p and £3:75p for a child included entry into one of the performances. Scotland was visited again on Monday the 15 th , but this time Stirling was the destination, where passengers could for an extra 70p enjoy a coach tour through the Trossachs. ( These two trips over the border were however fully booked .) Barrow & Ravenglass were revisited on Tuesday the 16 th , with the ride on the ‘Ratty’ not included in the fare of £1:40p and 85p for a child. There was a repeat of the popular trip to Chester and the North Wales Coast on Sunday the 21 st . October The Hope Valley was the destinations of the Ramblers’ Excursion, which departed Accrington at 09:10 on Sunday the 5 th , calling at Edale at 11:29, Hope 11:36, Bamford 11:40, Hathersage 11:35, Grindleford 11:50 and Sheffield at 12:05. There were organised walks from Edale and Hope. The return left Midland Station at 17:45 and was back in Accrington for 20:15 and the fares were £1 to all stations except Sheffield, which was £1:25p, with children half price. On Saturday the 18 th , there was a special to London for the Motor Show, with adult fares at £4:30p and children £2:50p. November Departing overnight on Friday the 21 st , there was another ‘Mini-Weekend’ in Torquay on offer. It arrived at 06:00 on Saturday and returned at 16:00 on Sunday, having sampled the coach tour of the area as on previous visits. The fares were £12:60p, for a child 3 to 14 £7:20p, and for an under three £2:95p. With Christmas on the horizon London became the focus of many of the trips, beginning on the 17 th , and going through to December the 11 th , every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, leaving after 09:30 and returning on any train on the same day, there was a discount ticket available at £5:50p and £2:75p for a child. There was also the option of the ‘Mini-Weekend’ in the Capital on the weekend of the 29 th /30 th , at £10:40p and £6:65p respectively. December Another special to London ran on Saturday the 6 th , for £4:30p and £2:50p for a child. Available every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday up to Saturday the 18 th , the Ladies’ Day shopper was on offer again, allowing two women or one woman and up to two children have a day out in London for £8:50p. York was the destination of the excursion which operated on Saturday the 13 th , and the timings were Rishton 08:17, Accrington 08:22, York 10:20, the return departed at 17:52, and was back in Accrington at 19:42 and Rishton 19:54. The fares were £1:75p for an adult and £1 for a child. BR were keen to promote the tickets available on their services at reduced fares and bargain prices, and these included, Away-day Trips, Weekend Jaunts, 17-Day returns, Book Ahead ‘economy’ returns and Season Tickets. During December and on into the New Year, ‘Twosome Tickets’ were available to Blackburn, Bolton, Preston and Manchester. All these were available by any train after 09:30 on Mondays to Fridays and any train on Sundays. 1976 ( Despite the continuing popularity of excursions and special trains, there was still the underlying threat of a full closure of the East Lancs Line. At least now the people in authority were aware of the possibilities and were monitoring the situation closely. Another section of the 1888 buildings at Accrington Station would soon disappear. ) January Because of the heavy traffic anticipated on January 3 rd , an extra train was put on to Blackpool at 13:01 arriving at 14:05, and returning at 17:18 back at 18:14. The issuing of children’s tickets was limited on all trains up until 14:00 and normal fares applied on all trains. The Mini-Weekends to London began early with one on Saturday the 3 rd , and another just a week later. They would begin again on Saturdays from the 24 th to February 28 th , at £10:40p and £6:65p, returning on any train on Sundays. Bookings would have to be in by the Tuesday before the intended day of travel, to secure accommodation in a Grand Met Hotel. The demolition of the original station booking hall on Eagle Street began. After it had ceased to be used by the parcels division it had remained in use until the end of the year by the engineers in the Permanent Way Department up to their relocation to Rose Grove in January. Councillor Jimmy Dunne made a call for an ‘action group’ to be set up, in order to fight against any further reductions to train services on the East Lancs Line. This call came at a meeting of Hyndburn’s

323