Accrington on Rails - The Tramways: A Complete History - Robert Kenyon

12. In the event of a strike of any of the employees of either Corporation, which would render it impractical for the Corporation of Blackburn to continue with the above mentioned through service, this Agreement to be held in abeyance until the Corporation of Blackburn is again in a position to provide the said service, and in such an event the Corporation of Blackburn and the Corporation of Accrington, shall make the best arrangement practical for maintaining a through service. 13. If any dispute should arise as to whether either party has failed to observe any of the obligations of such Corporation under this agreement, then as so often as the same shall be the matter of difference, this shall be referred to an Inspector or Arbitrator to be appointed by the Board of Trade, and the Corporation found to be in default shall thenceforth observe any directions given by such Inspector or Arbitrator. 14.The Agreement shall remain in place for one year from the date hereof, and thereafter, until determined at the end of any month in any year by one Corporation giving to the other Corporation 6 calendar months previous notice of the desire of such Corporation to so determine the same. IN WITNESS hereof the said Corporations have caused their Common Seals to be hereunto affixed, the day and the year first before written. Similar Agreements were made between - ACCRINGTON CORPORATION & HASLINGDEN CORPORATION on June 1 st , 1909 , and between ACCRINGTON CORPORATION & RAWTENSTALL CORPORATION on March 23 rd , 1910 . Having reached the junction of Market Street in Church with Blackburn Road, the Blackburn service continued along the latter with a passing loop situated on the bend leading up to Blythe’s Bridge, where cars passed under the railway. Here the road surface was lowered to allow low height cars to negotiate beneath it. There was a further passing loop beyond the bridge alongside the Leeds & Liverpool Canal at the point where White Ash Brook passed beneath the road in a tunnel. There was a longer loop straddling the corner at the junction of Blackburn Road with Thwaites Road, then just beyond St. Thomas’s Church on the left the line became double track and stayed double to beyond the unmade road which went to the club house of Accrington Golf Course. From this point the line became single and was built to occupy the centre of the road as it left the West End of Oswaldtwistle to climb towards the Old Mother Red Cap public house. This was a long straight and exposed section which on the approach was doubled as it approached the summit. Going over the hill there was another passing loop situated opposite the junction with Windsor Road, and very shortly afterwards the line became double again from just beyond the borough boundary which is marked by Abbott Clough. Now in Blackburn the line crossed from being on Blackburn Road to being on Accrington Road as it went across the junction with Whitebirk Road on the right and Shadsworth Road on the left. The tracks were now doubled all the way to Blackburn town centre, but at the first cross over just through the lights the cars would pass over the spur leading between the gable ends of two terraced houses into the tramsheds of Intack depot. This was the entrance/exit to the depot until the trams were withdrawn, and was replaced by a new way in and out around the corner on Whitebirk Road. On the way into Blackburn the line had further cross overs at the Fountain public house on the junction with Audley Range, and again beyond the junction with Burnley Road in Furthergate. The lines continued through Copy Nook and Eanam down to Salford. Just before reaching this point there was the first access point to the Boulevard which branched off to the left to run along High Street and came down For ACCRINGTON Thos. E. Higham, (Mayor) and A. H. Aitken, (Town Clerk). For BLACKBURN F.T. Thomas, (Mayor) and Arthur Holt, (Deputy Town Clerk). (A ‘Supplemental Agreement’ was made on June 1 st , 1918.)

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