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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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 Posted -
12/09/2004
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18:29
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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.
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Noel
New Member
9 Posts
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Posted - 27/10/2006 : 13:35
The signal appears to be lower quadrant, which seems a bit odd.
Noel
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Invernahaille
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Posted - 27/10/2006 : 13:41
Butterworth Hall Mill. It saw out its last years as T.PT. (Textile Paper Tubes). It produced spinning and winding cones etc for the textile trade.
Ted. You are correct, the Tim Bobbin was, and still is, at the bottom end of Dale St. at the bottom of kiln lane where it becomes Bridge St.
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Invernahaille
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Posted - 27/10/2006 : 13:54
Present day Milnrow Railway Station, with the Sonoco works to the front left as you approach the station from Station Rd.. The photo was taken from the Harbour lane side of the station.
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Invernahaille
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Posted - 27/10/2006 : 15:34
Ted. Milnrow station with a Rochdale bound D.M.U. This photo also illustrates the care taken of the station. Flower beds etc. It is hardly surprising that Milnrow and Newhey stations were always in the top rankings of the best kept station competition.
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handlamp
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Posted - 27/10/2006 : 15:37
Robert, thanks for putting on the pics, yes Swales's did produce tpts at B. Hall in my time (51-58). Presumably the Sonoco Works occupy the former goods yard and the Esso site - regretably the only thing I recognise are the good old Lancashire hills and they look a lot cleaner than they used too. You're getting close with the apparent direction of the dmu but it was certainly going towards Rochdale, which of course the clear signal confirms- I'll leave it a bit longer to see if anybody spots what's apparently missing.
Ted |
Invernahaille
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Posted - 27/10/2006 : 15:51
correction to the aqbove photo. It is actually Manchester bound. Apologies.
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handlamp
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Posted - 27/10/2006 : 15:54
Robert, you posted that cracking picture while I was posting my comments - I assume you mean Oldham bound train , but if it was then the same item is missing as was in my photo. When was that pic taken please? I expect the board on the up platform will be a `two or three car' length indicator which wasn't there in my time and the flower bed doesn't seem quite as wide as the ones we first made. Incidently, on your earlier pic of the up platform it seemed to contain plenty of litter - presumably it was taken after the station ceased to be manned. The condition of the platforms on this photo are more as I remember them.
Ted |
handlamp
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Posted - 27/10/2006 : 15:58
Robert, Back again, asking for another memory refreshment - whose was the chimney adjacent to the goods yard please?
Ted |
Invernahaille
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Posted - 27/10/2006 : 18:44
Ted. I cant remember what the mill was called. The main part of the mill is still there, but it is split into small units carrying out motor repairs and such like. However what I do recall was that it ceased to be a cotton mill around 1958/9. It was then taken over by Ratcliffe springs. I think that Cyril Smith (now Sir Cyril) was a salesman for them at the time before setting his own spring works up in Rochdale. I remember my dad helped with demolishing the chimney around 1960. The access to the mill was off Dale St on the left hand side facing the Rochdale direction between New st and Charles lane. I tried to locate the street name off an ordnance survey map but it is not designated.
The earlier photo of Milnrow station was taken around 1968/9. I remember that I used to go down to the station with my mate Verner when Harry Cash was working there, and that would be late 1967 early 1968 just before Harry was paid off.
The second photo must have been taken around 1958/9ish. The mill chimney in the background was demolished in 1960.
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TOM PHILLIPS
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Posted - 27/10/2006 : 19:16
I think it was called either Ladyhouse or Fieldhouse mill,if iam wrong iam sure i'll be corrected,the info i have is that Tathams yard in the 50s was between Harbour lane and the Ladyhouse/fieldhouse mill,not far from Rochdale/Milnrow Rd,not to far from the Bridge st turn off which leads on to Dale st,at the Tim Bobbin where it meets Kiln lane...
"Work,the curse of the drinking class" |
Invernahaille
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Posted - 27/10/2006 : 19:41
Tom, I think Ladyhouse mill was at the end of Ladyhouse Lane and Harbour lane. Tathams used to store ladders etc in the remains of the building or at a site just off Ladyhouse lane that was taken over by Dennis (piggy) Hughes. Fieldhouse mill was at Firgrove near Belfield.
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Invernahaille
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Posted - 27/10/2006 : 20:15
Tom. Apology. I have just phoned my mate in Milnrow. It appears that the Ladyhouse Mill I was referring to on Ladyhouse Lane, was the old Ladyhouse Spinning Mill. It must have been big because the historical records state it had a 79 bobbin capacity (joke) The mill in the photograph is called Lady House works. The spring makers was called Norris' and not Radcliffe.
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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 28/10/2006 : 07:30
Now there's a name cropped up there that rings bells! When I was doing Ellenroad I often went up to Dennis Hughs’ scrapyard up Halifax Road to have a root round for useful bits. It was in an old quarry and was a treasure trove because Piggy (never call him that to his face!) had been building up his pension fund in there for years. There were complete steam engines buried in the various piles. In the later years his main source of income seemed to be taking in aluminium scrap and baling it for re-melt. The baling machine worked all day flat out. I don’t think he ever charged me for anything I found in the yard, things like old valves, valve wheels contemporary with the engine and odd castings and bits of steel stock. I once saw his wagon come in and tip a big heap of milling cutters out on the floor, tons of them. They were no use to me as they were all big ones but when I thought of all the money and effort that had gone into making them…. A lot were brand new and still in their protective gelatine coating. As time went on the ministry of something decided that all scrap storage had to be on concrete surfaces and the run-off water treated before releasing into the environment. In the end Dennis decided to empty the quarry and if my memory serves me right it was at a time when scrap prices were low. If he could have held on a bit longer he would have done a lot better.
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
TOM PHILLIPS
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Posted - 28/10/2006 : 12:38
I think he also had the nickname "Redneck",I think Phil Grocotte used to do a bit of cash in hand work for him at the quarry,bagging top soil or something like that...
"Work,the curse of the drinking class" |
Invernahaille
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Posted - 28/10/2006 : 14:21
Ted. My understanding is that there were two ways of getting a train to Manchester from Rochdale. One way was from Rochdale via Castleton and Moston. The other was the Rochdale, Milnrow, Newhey, Shaw, Oldham etc.
So the train in the above photo is on the Manchester via Oldham platform.
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Barnoldswick Railway memories
