Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

At Church Magistrates Court, the Flegg brothers from Oswaldtwistle were found guilty assaulting Seth Ashton and the Stationmaster Adam Sharples, at Church & Oswaldtwistle Railway Station. This incident was sparked when the ticket collector challenged George Flegg to produce a ticket for the last train from Blackburn. When prevented from exiting through the barrier the assault took place, whilst his brother struck Sharples who had come to investigate this altercation. They were fined 10 shillings and five shillings respectively. June The General Purposes Committee of Accrington Town Council expressed alarm at the prospect of ‘some’ railway companies cancelling their Saturday half-day excursions, “Which are such a boon to the working classes”. They expressed the strongest hope that the L & Y would not follow suit. The Council also expressed its hearty approval of the reduction in the price of Second Class fares, and hoped the Company would add to the number of Second Class carriages included in their trains to meet the increased demand. It was also resolved to request the L & Y to put on a later train to Burnley on Sunday evenings, as the last train departed Accrington at 20:05. Also to put on an additional train to Manchester on Sunday afternoons at some mid-point time between the 10:45 and the 16:05 departures. October The Council received a letter from the L & Y, stating that their engineer was preparing a plan for a proposed footbridge from the Scaitcliffe side of Accrington Station, which would be submitted to his directors as soon as it was completed. December The Watch Committee resolved to send a sub-committee to inspect the lighting under the railway bridge over Willows Lane and at the level crossing at Meadow Top. Following the sub committee’s inspections, it was resolved that street lamps should be erected at Meadow Top Crossing and adjacent to the railway arch on Hyndburn Road, as had been requested previously in a letter from a resident in January 1896. But not to alter the lighting arrangements close to the bridge over Willows Lane. 1899 February Accrington Council heard a letter from the Secretary of the L & Y, offering the sum of £400 as compensation for the loss of land forming part of the cemetery on Burnley Road in conjunction with the quadrupling of their tracks in Huncoat. It was resolved that seeing this offer was very much less than the Corporation’s own assessment of the value of this land it should be rejected. Further, that the Corporation was prepared to go to a single arbitrator agreed by both parties for a satisfactory conclusion to this issue. The L & Y was asked to submit a list of names of who they wished to nominate as arbitrator, with the Corporation submitting a supplementary list if it was thought that none of those candidates was felt appropriate. April The Legal & Parliamentary Committee received a letter from the L & Y with regard to the station accommodation within the town, stating that new and increased accommodation was receiving most careful consideration, and plans were in the course of preparation. May A letter from Messrs Eagle & Sons was received by the Legal & Parliamentary Committee reporting on their recent meeting with the surveyors of the L & Y, who promised to submit a scheme for the exchange of cemetery land to facilitate a widening of the tracks in Huncoat. It also contained details of the Company’s proposed arrangements for the exiting of passengers from the Railway Station, in order to alleviate their current inconvenience. June The L & Y wrote to the Health Committee acknowledging receipt of a formal notice that proceedings would be taken against them if they failed to stop water from running out of the railway bridges in the town. The Health Committee heard a report from their Inspector, stating he had been called to Accrington Railway Station to remove the carcase of a pig which had been run over and killed by a train. Despite the fact that the L & Y’s Veterinary Inspector had signed an indemnity to say it should be destroyed, it was taken to the abattoirs and dressed for human consumption! A letter was also received from L & Y, outlining what steps they were taking to rectify the nuisance caused by water draining out from their bridges. July The longest non-stop service train operated by the L & Y passed through Accrington. This was the summers-only service connecting Halifax with Blackpool and return, a distance of 65 miles. August At a meeting of the General Works Committee it was resolved to ask the L & Y to have the ‘rough faces’ of the stonework on several bridges redressed to remove them. These were identified as on Scaitcliffe Street, Ormerod Street, Whalley Road and Willows Lane. A meeting of the Health Committee

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