| Author |
 Topic  |
|
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
|
|
 Posted -
12/09/2004
:
18:29
|
Posted by Stanlery for 'Handlamp'. (Ted Harrison, a member from Newark)
BARNOLDSWICK LMS RAILWAY STATION AND ITS WORKING IN THE EARLY FORTIES
Having entered the service of the LMS Railway at Skipton on 24th February 1941, where I trained as a Booking and Parcels Clerk, I was transferred to Barnoldswick as a Junior Clerk on 30th June of that year. The duties of my post, which was remunerated at the princely sum of £35 per annum, were split between the Passenger and Goods Offices which were situated adjacent to each other on the sole platform.
Barnoldswick was the only station on a single line, located 1mile 1342 yards from Barnoldswick Junction at Kelbrook, which in turn was 1166 yards west of Earby Station Box on the Skipton to Colne line. The line had originally started life as the Barnoldswick Railway in 1871 but, in March 1898 the local company had approached the Midland Railway to see if it would purchase the line outright. As the line had always paid out a `regular and reasonable’ dividend the Midland agreed to do so and powers were secured in 1899. For many years it appears that the Barlick folk had to make do with hot water bottles as a source of heat until authorisation was given to fit steam heating to the two locos and nine carriages allocated to the Branch on 16th November 1922, some 20 years after the Midland had fitted their main line coaches. The Branch finally closed on 27th September 1965.
Barlick was the place that gave me my first taste for the `thrills’ of railway operating. The single line was worked by the `Only one engine in steam or two or more coupled together’ system, section V1 of the Rule Book. All points on the single line were locked by the train staff which the driver held as his authority for being on the single line. The staff was round and black with the person responsible to receive and deliver it to the driver being the Signalman at Barnoldswick Junction. The only signal at the station was an old Midland `Stop Board’ which protected the level crossing on Wellhouse Road and the Coal Yard beyond. The oblong Board fully presented to approaching trains gave a danger aspect (with red bullseye lamp above), a clear indication being given when it was turned 90 degrees to a side on position, i.e. parallel to the line facing Wellhouse Road.
Every lunch time found me hurriedly partaking of my sandwiches in the Porters Room before going out to `help’ with the shunting of the Goods Yard. This took the form of pinning down or releasing wagon brakes or `knobbing up’ points, only rarely was I allowed to handle a shunting pole. Most evenings I returned to spend more time with the leading porter and the engine crews until the last train at 9:35pm when I usually had the treat of driving the engine. A push and pull train was allocated to the Branch, being propelled towards Earby. When propelling the driver was located in the cab at the front end of the leading coach (normally two on the train) with the staff where he operated the vacuum brake whilst the fireman operated the regulator on the locomotive. It was the practice of most crews, prior to shutting off power, to open the regulator momentarily to the full, then close it at the bridge over the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. The train then `coasted’ to the Junction which was traversed slowly until the driver had surrendered the staff to the signalman. On receipt of the bell code to indicate that the staff had safely been delivered the regulator was opened with some gusto for the run into Earby. Mr. Dawes, the Station Master, must have been aware of my activities as his house and garden overlooked the all station area but he turned a Nelsonian eye and never restricted my enthusiasm in any way.
The Booking and Parcels Clerk was, and had been for many years, Louis Barwick, a much respected member of the community and a leading light in the town’s glee union. He had a good baritone voice and would frequently burst into snatches of anything from the Mikado to the Messiah. Cotton manufacturers travelled to the Manchester Market each Tuesday and Friday and two of their number would sometimes come into the office and join him in song. Exceptionally Louis retained his entitlement to uniform dating from the Midland Railway days when his duties included the examination and collection of tickets. An avid pipe smoker he was often blamed for the destruction of the gas mantles with his practice of lighting paper spills from them. Although then in his early sixties, he had a good head of wiry hair. Tommy Corkill, a Goods Guard from Skipton, regularly cut the hair of most of the staff on his visits but did his best to avoid Louis on the alleged grounds that his hair ruined the scissors.
The parcels were delivered by horse van, the van man being another stalwart, Charlie Moore. Nowadays one is inclined to forget that horses had to be fed and watered twice daily and Charlie, or a substitute, had to attend the stables for this duty at weekends and on bank holidays. Charlie thought a lot about his horses and I recall his sadness at loosing one of his favourites when he loaded it into a horse box for transfer to another station. When a telegram was received advising the timings for a horsebox with a replacement horse for him from the Stables at Oakham he had extreme difficulty containing his excitement until the train conveying it arrived and he had viewed his future workmate.
Another long standing member of the team was Tommy Westmoreland, one of the two Leading Porters. Tommy was a big genial chap who seemed equally happy diving under the buffers to perform coupling on the passenger trains, wielding a shunting pole out in the yard, or dealing with the public in the office or on the platform. I suppose his trade mark was his tobacco tin, pipe and pen knife which he seemed to be perpetually using to cut up his twist. When I first started at Barlick the other leading porter was Joe Creasey who was soon transferred on promotion to Leeds as a shunter and he was replaced by Dick Dawson. Dick had come from Clitheroe and had recently taken up residence on, or near to, Wellhouse Road. The one other member of the platform staff was Walter Scales who resided at Skipton.
One regular daily visitor to the Booking Office was Henry Carter, a local newsagent, who usually arrived around 4:15pm to collect his evening newspapers. Henry was renowned for his hobby of the manufacture of cigarette lighters and he kept the staff well supplied with these, particularly at that time, very useful items.
The Goods Department was very busy as most of the commodities for shops and industry were being conveyed by rail. Large quantities of explosives were also received from, and forwarded to, Gledstone Hall which was being used as a military storage depot. The town cartage work was performed by a horse and dray, industry and out lying areas being served by one or more Scammell units loaned from Skipton. The Goods Office was manned by Mr. Reynolds, the Senior Clerk, and Miss Mary Wensley with myself halftime. In 1941 the system which had prevailed from the days when the railways took over from the stage coach still prevailed and every consignment required an invoice, raised at the sending station and sent to the receiving station, with full details including weight and charges shown thereon. Apart from assisting with the invoicing, as was to be expected with the junior post, I was allocated the more menial tasks. One of these was `abstracting' details from invoices station by station and `summarising’ the financial information thus obtained for each railway.
The Branch was normally serviced by a Class 1 0-4-4 tank engine and two coaches fitted with push and pull equipment which did not require the presence of a guard on the train. However in my time there, so far as I can recall, until around 1:00pm, a Class 2,3 or 4F 0-6-0 covered the passenger service on top of its freight work which, of course, involved `running round’ the coaches at both stations and a guard being employed. Barlick trains connected into and out of all trains at Earby between 7:00am and 9:48pmSX, 10:27pm SO. Even at that time the branch trains were usually lightly loaded. One glaring exception was the 11:10pm from Barlick which conveyed around 200 `late night revellers’ fresh from the regular Saturday evening dance at the Majestic Ballroom. There was no booked Sunday service but the Branch occasionally opened for special trains. In the winters of 41/42 and 42/43 traffic had built up to such a degree that I can recall at least three or four freight specials running on the Sabbath. The booked freight service on weekdays arrived from Skipton around 6.10am when traffic was `set’ in the Goods and Coal yards and departed around 1/30pm. `Mixed’ trains (i.e. conveying passengers and freight) on which the freight wagons were not required to have continuous brakes, were scheduled to run on the Branch. A train departing Barlick around 5/30pm was booked as a mixed train and regularly conveyed the maximum of 20 wagons with a brake van and quite frequently included wagons of explosives
Early in 1943 Rodney Hampson entered the service and commenced training for my duties and it was apparent that my days at Barnoldswick were numbered. As anticipated `the call’ came on 16th March 1943 when I was transferred to Colne, still a Junior Clerk (but this time filling a senior position as Booking Clerk) , my rate of pay having risen by then to £55 per annum.
|
|
| Replies |
| Author |
|
|
Another
Traycle Mine Overseer
6250 Posts
|
|
Posted - 21/05/2009 : 19:24
" I'm a self made man who worships his creator"   |
Another
Traycle Mine Overseer
6250 Posts
|
|
Posted - 21/05/2009 : 19:25
How about the above painting from Hobbo. Beautiful composition. Nolic
" I'm a self made man who worships his creator" |
pluggy
|
Posted - 21/05/2009 : 20:20
My mother took me to Blackpool on the train in 1965 the day Barlick station was closed to passenger traffic. I was 7 at the time and don't remember much except it took a long time to get there. 
Need computer work ?
"http://www.stsr.co.uk" 
Pluggy's Household Monitor |
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
|
|
Posted - 22/05/2009 : 06:57
Talented and accurate. Far better than a photo. I've said this before but Fred Norcross at Nappa once told me that in his youth, when the station at Nappa was open, if they finished haytiming in good time of an evening they would have a wash, jump on the train and go to Blackpool for a quick drink and a dance in the Tower Ballroom. Catch the last train and be back home in bed before midnight. Try doing that today.....
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
handlamp
|
Posted - 06/12/2009 : 15:46
For Railway Anoraks, I.ve just been reading MALLARD by Don Hale, formerly editor of the Matlock Mercury who led the campaign to clear the name of Stephen Downing, imprisoned for 27 years for the murder of a Derbyshire girl in his local church yard. It's, without doubt, the best I've read on the subject from an historical angle.
Ted |
Tizer
|
Posted - 06/06/2010 : 16:54
This is not to do with Barnoldswick but I couldn't find a better place to post it. When I was a child in the 1950s in Blackburn we had neighbours called Stan and Lily Roberts. Stan was a railway signalman and I can remember going to his box at Daisyfield Junction, and he was also at Wilpshire for a time. My Dad says Stan was injured once when a train ran into his signal box but thinks he was then in a box somewhere near Clitheroe. Stan loved scooters and three-wheeler cars and Lily also rode a scooter. Stan died quite a while ago but the last I heard of Lily she was in a nursing home in Blackburn. I wondered if anyone can remember such a railway accident near Clitheroe where a train or engine hit the signal box?
They were a lovely couple and unsophisticated. They realised most people were putting showers in their bathrooms but they had no experienceof this new-fangled thing. So to assess whether a shower might be of benefit to them, Stan got in the bath and Lily used a watering can to pour hot water over him!
|
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
|
|
Posted - 07/06/2010 : 06:22
Ted, Thanks for that I'll seek it out.
Tiz, that was pure empirical research in the best traditions of English Science. What better way to find out?
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
|
|
Posted - 11/06/2010 : 07:02
Ted, I got a second hand copy of the Mallard book and read it. You were right, a very comprehensive history of the loco and a good read. Not bad for £3 inc P%P!
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
handlamp
|
Posted - 11/06/2010 : 15:10
Glad you liked it Stanley, thought it was very comprehansive, for a lay man like Hales was, so far as the rivalry for speed between the two companies up to the war was concerned.
Ted |
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
|
|
Posted - 11/06/2010 : 23:56
Ted, I thought that was a very interesting point about the strain on the co-rod bearing shells, both crosshead and journal, being greater on the overun than driving at speed. Never come across that problem with mill engines of course and it makes a lot of sense. Can't help thinking that the inside journal and bearing was a bit of a weak point and of course only got the initial dose of lubricant before starting. They must have known that because they mentioned putting thicker oil in as a safeguard before starting that last run. A wiper lucricator wouldn't have worked of course because of the centrifugal force at high speed, they would have needed a forced lubrication system via drillings in the axle. In one of Newton's tapes he mentioned that his dad commented on that once when looking at a loco. Smart man our Johnny!
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
Invernahaille
|
Posted - 24/07/2010 : 20:13
Two photos of Newhey station taken 30 years apart.
Edited by - Invernahaille on 25/07/2010 2:41:23 PM
Edited by - Invernahaille on 26/07/2010 10:39:15 PM
|
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
|
|
Posted - 25/07/2010 : 05:35
Newhey is a station waiting to happen. Thirty years ago the idea was floated of extending the Manchester tram system to Rochdale, they are still talking about it after lots of changes in government on funding. I wanted to put a car park in the clover-leaf junction at the Mway, plenty of room for it and room for an access road in. Put a footbridge over the road and you have one of the best park and ride facilities in the country. At first I was ridiculed but then RMBC realised I had a case. They explored the idea but Ministry of Transport kyboshed the idea by refusing to countenance any change of use for the derelict land in the clover leaf. One of these days they will have a rethink and do it but you won't hear me get any credits!
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
Invernahaille
|
Posted - 25/07/2010 : 14:40
The vibes I am picking up from Newhey/Rochdale residents is that the funding for the expansion, is on a knife edge. I dont really know, I am too far away to have a finger of the pulse.
It would be a shame to lose this transport link, in whatever form it is.
|
handlamp
|
Posted - 26/07/2010 : 15:07
Very rural appearance compared with what it was some fifty years ago and dissapointing to see the single line and apparent fragile state of the track which I suppose only carries dmus nowadays. Why can't I get the first photo up though?
Ted |
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
|
|
Posted - 26/07/2010 : 16:49
Ted, Geograph image isn't posting because it's not on our server. Always a problem with linked pictures, we rely on another server. Far better if they are posted on the OG site.
With the present cuts it could be a while before anything happens to upgrade the line. 35 years since the scheme was proposed....
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
Barnoldswick Railway memories
