Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

Rishton Station recorded ticket sales of almost 700 on the Friday, 270 of which were to the coastal resorts and on Saturday 918. November On the 8 th , at Great Harwood a stone mason, Albert Bentley, was killed in the goods yard of Rishton Railway Station, which would result in the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway facing a law suit for negligence. A LINE THAT NEVER WAS 1886 January Considerable interest was being shown in another proposed scheme to build a railway connecting Accrington with Clitheroe. Both Councils and the Local Boards had shown support for this scheme. The line would leave the East Lancs line at a point 600yards to the east of Accrington’s Railway Station ( at a point just beyond Whalley Road ), and run in the shadow of Whinney Hill into the heart of Clayton-le-Moors, a town which did not have any railway connections. It would include a station somewhere in the Oakenshaw district. The line would then continue until it met the North Lancs Loop beyond Harwood Bar, some ¾ of a mile north of Great Harwood. After passing over Martholme Viaduct it would again branch off to the north and join the Blackburn to Hellifield line in the village of Barrow two miles south of Clitheroe, by means of obtaining running powers over the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railways metals. It would provide a direct link between the two towns. Another objective of this scheme was to build a branch off to Sabden and have intermediate stations at Read and Wiswell. An additional possibility was to have a connection to the line between Rose Grove and Daisy Field to the west of Simonstone providing another direct connection, this time between Burnley and Clitheroe. The length of this new line connecting Accrington and Clitheroe would be 9 miles and 44 yards, considerably cutting the journey time between the two towns which currently could only be done with a change of trains in Blackburn. There were no major obstacles requiring works or construction on the proposed line of the new railway, and the steepest gradient would be a short length in Clayton-le-Moors of 1:50 where it would have to cross the Leeds & Liverpool Canal. Resolutions in favour of this line had already gone forward from both Accrington and Clitheroe Councils along with the Local Boards of Clayton, Padiham, Whalley and Sabden. On the evening of Tuesday, the 19 th , a meeting was held in Clayton-le-Moors’ Mechanics Institute where there was an attendance of about 350. Mr Thomas Hacking was in the Chair, and other interested parties included Messrs A. Appleby, Joshua Hacking, W. H. Hacking, H. L. Wilson, J. Tennant, S. Holgate and J. Smith who was Clerk to the Local Board. Having extolled the virtues of having a railway through the town the Chair moved a resolution approving the building of the Accrington, Sabden & Clitheroe Railway, and this was seconded by H. L. Wilson. A second resolution was passed to allow the setting up of a fund to finance a committee to promote the scheme. Steven Holgate then proposed a third resolution in order to allow the formation of a committee of 14 gentlemen, with powers to co-opt extra persons, in order to collect the subscriptions necessary to defray the preliminary expenses for the formation of this group. Mr Appleby, who had spoken very enthusiastically in favour of this railway, announced subscriptions could be anything amounting up to £150. At the meeting held in Accrington Town Hall on Wednesday, the 20 th , Mr Baker, the solicitor acting for the promoters, explained the scheme, stated that successful meetings had been held previously in Sabden and Barrow. He told the assembly, Chaired by the Mayor Councillor Maden, that as far as industry and commerce was concerned, “When it comes to railways it is a case of the more the better. At present Accrington has no facility for going directly north, and for a town of its size Accrington compares unfavourably with other towns with similar populations”. The Mayor then outlined the advantages of the line by pointing out, “During the summer there is much traffic between our town and the Ribble Valley, and this line will go a long way towards easing the amount of traffic which is wearing out the surface of the roads, and would cut the journey time by a considerable amount”. He was sorry that up until now the people of Accrington had given a ‘lukewarm’ response to this project. In answer to a question Mr Baker stated the estimated cost of the railway would be in the region of £259,000, which would be offered to the public in the form of £10 shares. He did not think the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway would oppose the Bill, as on numerous occasions they had been asked to build such a line and had repeatedly refused. Mr Holden asked if after construction the Company would sell out its

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