Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

announced that Burnley Manchester Road Station was to be reopened to passenger traffic, having been closed since November 6 th , 1961. On Saturday, the 19 th , there was a Rail Rambler to Llandudno, and the fares were £5:50p and just £1:00 for an accompanied child. August The Transport Police were out and about on their ‘Q Train’ on the East Lancs Line trying to apprehend trespassers on the line. This was a special train, which to all intents and purposes to everyone but those in the know looked no different than an ordinary service train, but was peopled by police officers who would jump out to arrest anyone found walking on railway land. It had resulted in success as three local youths had each been fined £20:00 each having been caught trespassing. Church Stretton was the destination of the Rail Rambler on Saturday, the 16 th , with the option of alighting in Shrewsbury for the annual flower show. October The Development Services Committee met, when the Directorate of Economic Development was allowed to remain in the meeting, despite having declared an interest when discussions were underway involving the Compulsory Purchase Orders for obtaining the following items - The disused BR track-bed at Tottleworth in Rishton and the disused BR track-bed at Lower Cunliffe in Rishton. On Saturday, the 11 th , the Rail Rambler was off to Scarborough for walks on the North York Moors, with fares at £6:50p and £3:25p for a child. Later in the month on the 25 th , there were walks from the Rambler to Malvern, Great Malvern, Ledbury and Worcester. The adult fare was £7:25p and there was a special children’s fare of £2:00 on this occasion. Further to a minute of 1984/85 the Borough Solicitor reported that a Public Inquiry had been held into these Compulsory Purchase Orders on September 11 th , 1985, and reported that the Secretary of State for the Environment had passed these Orders without any modifications on August 5 th last, so that the appropriate actions would now be taken in order to implement them. November Chester for walks in the sandstone hills was the destination of the Rail Rambler on Saturday, the 8 th , with fares of £5:00 and £2:50p. The Recreation & Amenities Committee met and the Town Clerk presented an application from Wallis’s Amusements to use part of the Brown Street Park & Ride site to accommodate the autumn travelling fairground. It was resolved to refuse this request and as a consequence this bi-annual event would not take place this year, but would be accommodated on the yet to be completed site of the dis used British Railways land adjacent to Charter Street. This in future would be designated as an official events park. At a meeting of the Highways & Transportation Committee the DES&T presented correspondence received from the Chief Executive/Clerk to LCC, which contained request from British Railways to treat their annual proposals for timetable changes as strictly confidential. BR explained that this was essential following deregulation, for them to be sensitive about the speed at which bus operators could easily change their operations in order to compete with railway operations and it was resolved that - (1) That a report on significant aspects of the timetable proposals, if any, be presented to this Committee in the section of the agenda and considered only after the exclusion of the public, on the basis that it would contain exempt information, by virtue of Paragraph 7 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972. (2) That Lancashire County Council would be notified of this decision. (3) That this item would be considered under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, and the relevant ‘special’ circumstances, required the need to reply by November 14 th . December The Highways & Transportation Committee met when the DES&T commented upon the decisions taken by bus operators and British Railways regarding Christmas and New Year transport. The Town Clerk then reminded Members, that at the previous meeting they had accepted that the confidential report on the timetable changes by British Railways would be treated in the strictest confidence. A letter had subsequently been received from Lancashire County Council containing a summary prepared by the County’s Surveyor of the timetable proposals for the Inter-City services from May 1987, and the local services on the East Lancashire Line. This was circulated to all the Members, and the Town Clerk was asked to forward any observations by them to the County Council. 1987 January Rail Ramblers opened up with a trip to Ravenglass and Greenod on Saturday, the 21 st , and this was followed a week later with one to Buxton.

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