Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

meeting held in January with representatives of BR’s management team in Preston. He pointed out that following protracted correspondence with them, BR had now confirmed that a shelter was to be constructed on the Burnley-bound Platform on Accrington Station, for use by passengers after the main station booking hall and waiting room had closed each day. Berwick-upon-Tweed was the destination of the special charter on Saturday the 20 th , with 47:450 on ten carriages. This was another Crewe-based engine. May Engine 47:471 of Crewe was on the end of the ten-carriage special to Clacton-on-Sea on Saturday the 6 th , with 47:478 of Stratford Shed in East London powering the return. Six days later the destination of the Rambler was Scarborough, with an eight-coach train made up of 51584-59581-51575-51585-59587-51581-51919-54503. June At a meeting of the Recreation & Amenities Committee, Councillor Slynn reported that horse riders were causing some damage by churning up the footway and damaging trees by tethering grazing horses in the former British Railways cutting in Great Harwood. There was also a potential danger to walkers from riders galloping along in the cutting. He advised that these could be interpreted as ‘criminal damage’ and therefore liable to prosecution. He then outlined proposals for a horse riding area in the town. It was resolved to bring these points to the attention of the horse riding clubs in the town, and pending this the introduction of new Bye-Law Notices which would be put up at the railway cutting reading - “ Borough of Hyndburn Council - NO HORSES ”. The Highways & Transportation Committee of LCC had allocated the sum of £12,000 towards the cost of improving the platforms at Rishton Station, and this work would be done in the ensuing twelve months. Meanwhile the Rail Ramblers Association had been successful in their talks with BR to keep their popular excursions running. It was announced that they would now operate on a ‘charter’ basis and not be ended completely as BR had previously intended. Henceforth, the Ramblers’ Association would charter these trains themselves rather than BR organising them, but BR had agreed to sponsor and advertise the first three trips, but thereafter the next six would be on the new arrangements. However, tickets would no longer be sold from BR’s stations, but would be available from various other outlets. ( Foster’s newsagents on Abbey Street and the Fell & Mountain Shop on Water Street were two of these in Accrington .) Having now chartered the DMU sets the Ramblers’ Association were off to Cardiff on Saturday the 14 th . This nine-coach set was made up of 51904-54487-52058-59388-51943-53431-53496-59137 53474. The DES&T next submitted a letter from the Chief Executive/Clerk to Lancashire County Council, which asked for the views of Hyndburn of the possibility of the Council making a financial contribution to the Railway User Groups in Lancashire, and for the Members to decide if they were prepared in principle to giving aid to one of these bodies. It was resolved to make a donation of £50:00 specifically for the use of the East Lancashire Line Association. July It was during this month that the buildings surrounding the Viaduct on Bull Bridge were removed to make way for the Hyndburn ‘Link’ Road. These included the St John Ambulance Drill Hall, which stood beneath the central arches and had occupied that site since 1902. ( Amongst very many other events, it was also the annual venue for the Observer Cup, the snooker tournament sponsored by the local paper .) August The Ramblers’ excursion this month was on Saturday the 17 th , to Shrewsbury. This time the set was made up of six cars numbered 53634-59387-51934-53487-59148-53421. September The DES&T explained to a meeting of the Highways & Transportation Committee that the sales of the weekly version of the ‘travel pass’ introduced in November, 1983, had been quite encouraging. It was therefore now proposed to introduce a daily pass. This basically would be an ‘off peak pass’, and it was hoped to introduce more customers to this bus/rail facility. LCC had recommended the acceptance of this as an attractive extension to the facilities for travel in Lancashire. The cost of this pass would be £4:30p for an adult and £2:15p for a child, with the extra concession that one child could travel for free with an adult ticket. The revenue generated would be apportioned between British Railways and the operator in the area where the pass was purchased. It was resolved that in view of the concerns expressed by Members regarding the future on transportation in general, and on the North East Lancashire Line in particular, the extension of the Bus/Rail facility would be approved.

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