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

Committee thought ought to be done. The Town Clerk was authorised to write to the Company demanding that the repairs and painting be carried out immediately, and the covenants of the lease complied with. Plus the additional threat that the Borough Surveyor would from time to time report as to whether those conditions were being attended to. The Town Clerk reported that both the Tramway Company (and the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Company), had acknowledged his letters of complaint about water emanating from the Tramway engines and the railway arches. The Borough Surveyor submitted his report on the condition of the Tramway depot on Ellison Street, and the following resolution was passed on the basis of this report. The Tramway Company would be called upon forthwith to carry out the various work highlighted within. The Coke Shed The eaves on the east side are bad with some slates having fallen off also the gutter on this side is missing. The barge board on the north side is badly cracked, and the slate facia boards need replacing over the barge boards. The north-west arise of the shed is broken off. The Car Sheds The outside walls need repointing and part of the flashing over the entrance needs fixing and repainting. The inch boarding to the case of the pulley weight case of the revolving shutters is broken and cracked to about six feet above the ground. The iron roof principles require scraping and repainting, as does the internal woodwork. The whole of the inside walls require lime washing. The Engine Sheds The lead over the entrance needs reflashing and painting. The pulley weight boxes need repairs. The sand ovens require repairs and repointing. The smoke troughs and funnels want scraping and repainting, as does the under-boarding of the roof. All the internal and external woodwork requires a repaint. Numerous areas of the floor need levelling with cement. The revolving shutter case to the central division needs replacing. The wall between the engine shed and the workshops is badly cracked on each side of the adjoining door, and the revolving shutters to this opening require replacing. All the interior walls need lime washing. The Tool Shed The slates on the roof require attention and the woodwork inside and out needs repainting. The Store Room & Stables The door frames require remasticating. The iron gutters and downspouts require scraping and repainting, whilst some down downpipes are loose. The sills and the tailboards in the stables are broken. Some brickwork requires repointing. The whole of the inside requires lime washing and all the woodwork inside and out needs repainting. The Roof of the Tramsheds All the gutters need cleaning out and the zinc louvres properly repaired. The flashing over the smithy skylight is loose. All the flashings need flattening out and the joints sealed with mastic. There are several loose and broken slates on this roof. All the old putty on the windows wants stripping and replacing, and several of the panes of glass are either broken or cracked. Some pointing to the stone lintels is required. All the external woodwork needs repainting as do all the metal flues. Offices The joints to the ridge and hip tiles need repointing. Some slates have slipped from the ridge. The gutters and downpipes, one of which is cracked, want repainting. A floor ventilator is broken. Several panes of glass are broken and the sash frames in the kitchen (which is also used as a painter’s room), are broken, also they require new fasteners. The Board Room and the Clerk’s Office are very damp to the extent that in several places the paper has come away from the plaster. The water closet (toilet) is in bad condition. The whole of the inside rooms are in a filthy condition, damp and not fit for human habitation. The inside and outside woodwork needs painting urgently. The lavatories are in a bad condition with several broken pipes. The doors have become unhinged and the latches corroded. Water is seeping out onto the fairground, and the walls require pointing. All the joints on the coping stones on the boundary walls need re-cementing. The interior needs lime washing and the woodwork needs repainting. Conclusion The Ellison Street depot is in an extremely bad condition throughout. Nothing whatever appears to have been done to maintain the place. “In fact everything is going worse!”

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