The Northern Salvo
Incorporating Weekly Notices, Sectional Appendices, and Northern Weekly Salvo
Published at Station House, Kents Bank, Lancashire-North-of-the-Sands, LA11 7BB and at 109 Harpers Lane, Bolton BL1 6HU (both Lancashire)
email: paul.salveson@myphone.coop
Publications website: www.lancashireloominary.co.uk
No. 322 September 2024
Salveson’s half-nakedly political digest of railways, tripe and secessionist nonsense from Up North.
Into the Autumn
Welcome to the September Salvo, with a few more thoughts on railways, riots and Rocket. As always I try to balance the more discursive stuff with comment on railways, life and politics. Enjoy it and feel free to comment. But first…I was saddened, but not shocked, by the recent riots, stupidly termed by the BBC as ‘protests against immigration’. Let’s be clear, these were racist attacks on vulnerable
people and communities. The police and courts were right to take a tough line and it was heartening to see a strong response from many communities in support of people and buildings that were attacked. So far, so uncontroversial. However, I think the sentencing in some cases may do more harm than good. Locking up an elderly woman, probably with mental health issues, for posting admittedly highly unpleasant messages on facebook might not be a good use of the prison system. A stern telling off with a fine and community service might have been a better solution. For now, towns like Bolton, Rotherham, Sunderland and elsewhere need to unite and champion what’s good about their communities, and that needs willingness on all sides.
A bit of Railpolitik
After a rather pessimistic view of Labour’s transport offering in the last Salvo, I have to say, a few weeks into the new government, that there’s grounds for cautious optimism. The secretary of state for transport, Louise Haigh, has got off to a good start with a determination to make a difference. The appointment of former Network Rail chair, Lord (Peter) Hendy, was an inspired choice of Starmer’s. Getting someone in the top rail job who is highly respected and knows the industry back to front, is very good news.
In the last issue I said that a quick win for Labour would be to sort out the long-running with Aslef over pay. Fingers crossed, there’s a deal on the table which the union leadership is recommending to its members. It won’t solve all the industry’s HR woes but will make a massive
difference. Rightly, the pay deal is ‘without strings’. There are, however, some big issues around workplace practices that have to change – top of the list should be bringing Sundays into the normal working week. In the post-Covid era, leisure travel has grown significantly and lots of people want to travel at weekends. It’s bizarre that Sunday working for train crew remains voluntary on most networks.
There are other thorny issues which need to be addressed, in a grown-up way. The doomed attempt by the Tories to close hundreds of station booking offices was a great win for effective campaigning, both by the unions and passengers. But what now? Several commentators made good arguments to re-invent smaller station booking offices as local hubs with a mix of ticket sales and travel information with retail services – the local station becomes a village shop. These ideas need to be revisited without the threat of closure hanging over them.
Another issue is the quaintly termed ‘manning’ agreement – every train, on most routes, must have a guard along with a driver. That’s good for passengers and good for revenue. However, on many lines trains that are being ’cancelled’ because of lack of a guard but actually run, without picking up passengers, to get back to depot. This is highly frustrating when you’re stuck, as I was recently, with a two hour wait for a train because the previous two are shown as’ cancelled’ but actually sail through the station empty. There needs to be a way of ensuring that in exceptional circumstances (e.g. staff sickness) trains can run as advertised ‘driver only’ without encouraging train operators to cut staffing levels.
On a more strategic level, Labour is pressing ahead with the creation of ‘Great British Railways’ which is welcome. However, the devil will be in the detail and what isn’t desirable is the re-creation of a highly centralised structure which stifles local or regional initiative. Starmer has shown himself willing to give the existing – and new – combined authorities greater powers over services such as public transport. Greater Manchester, which already has control of the bus network, is looking to take control of some local rail routes. Liverpool City Region has been responsible for the Merseyrail electric network for many years and wants to expand its reach to some of the non-electrified routes operated by Northern. West Midlands has similar aspirations for its own network.
That’s all good – the combined authorities bring local accountability and knowledge but are big enough to benefit from a ‘network effect’.
That doesn’t mean they should be responsible for everything: infrastructure is probably best left to Network Rail/GBR. But the operator (private or public) should be responsible to the combined authority, with local stations coming under their wing. It’s worth trying out a few pilot schemes, learning from the experience of some of the light rail operations such as South Yorkshire Supertram, which now come under combined authority control.
It doesn’t have to be just the urban networks. I’ve long argued for a more subtle approach to rural branch lines, looking at examples such as Switzerland where many lines are local authority owned and operated. If the combined authority model applied to an area such as Cumbria or the south-west, local railways could be integrated with bus networks, finally getting something like an integrated local transport network which feeds into the national rail network. But see separate piece on community rail for more thoughts.
Rocketing forward
Plans to mark the 200th anniversary of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway are moving forward, with a series of community consultation events having been held over the last few weeks. A general get together is being organised later this month to report back on the outcome of the consultation. The four working group chairs (covering Culture,
Community, Visitor Economy, Built Heritage and Railway Ops and infrastructure) have met and there will be a further meeting of the groups in September.
Good links have been made with Great British Railways and the team organizing the Railway 200 event next year. Initial discussions have taken place with the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Trust with some really exciting ideas taking shape around the original 1830 cutting at Edge Hill (site of the famous ‘Moorish Arch’). There’s much more being looked at, with a ‘whole line’ approach being adopted with events at communities all along the original railway. For media enquiries or further information, please contact: Karen Shannon CEO Manchester Histories: karen@manchesterhistories.co.uk
The 200th anniversary of the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway has international significance and it’s good to see that Railways 200 is taking a broad view of its importance. I hope that Peter Hendy’s move to government will not lead to a slackening of enthusiasm within Network Rail.
‘Sea and Sand’ at The Beach Hut Gallery
The Beach Hut Gallery, on Kents Bank railway station, showcases outstanding work by local artists and writers. It has just launched a ‘Friends of The Beach Hut Gallery’ to generate support for its work. Salvo readers are invited to sign up for a minimum donation of £25 a year (see below). Many people describe the gallery as a ‘hidden gem’
but we’d like to make it a bit less hidden! We need to generate more footfall and sales as well as build a core group of supporters who can help either as donors or volunteers. It couldn’t be easier to get to, with regular trains from Manchester, Preston, Lancaster and Barrow.
The ‘friends’ initiative was launched on August 14th at a well-attended viewing of the work of featured artists Ben McLeod, who is based at nearby Halecat. The theme of the exhibition is ‘Sea and Sand’ with landscape paintings from the Kent Estuary to Iona; it runs until late October.
“It’s great to be exhibiting at The Beach Hut Gallery,” said Ben, “overlooking what was the original inspiration for my landscape painting.”
The gallery opens every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 11.00 to 4.00pm as well as August Bank Holiday Monday. It is run on a not for profit basis as an artists’ co-operative and is staffed by volunteers. We’re hoping to expand our selection of books for sale and welcome donations of good quality books on art, local history and landscape.
Railway Library – bursting at the seams
The adjoining Railway Library & Bookshop continues to grow with many valuable donations. A big thanks to the Light Rail Transit Association, Mrs Irene Grundy, Manchester Locomotive Society and Tanfield Railway for recent contributions and/or exchanges. The
library and bookshop is now open the same days as the gallery – Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 11.00 to 16.00. However, we will continue to have ‘special’ days on the second Saturday of every month. On Saturday September 14th we will be featuring our collection of narrow-gauge books and have tea, coffee and cake available.
The only problem we have is space – we’re hoping to make better use of the limited space we have and install some additional shelving.
Our next ‘mutual improvement class’ will be on Wednesday September 11th. Tim Owen, chair of the Furness Railway Trust, will be talking about ‘Furness Railway no. 20’ the oldest working standard gauge steam locomotive in the country. Accommodation is limited so please book in advance, by email or ringing 07795 008691. We continue to receive some much-valued donations, including a large number of books on trams around the world, donated by the Light Rail Transit Association.
We have a large number of books for sale, mostly duplicates that have been donated. Pop round a pick up a bargain, some books from as little as 50p. We have a small ‘overflow’ of good quality second hand railway books in the gallery but we want to focus more on art and local history/landscape. If you have any books you would like to donate to the gallery, please call in.
Finally, we are very dependent on a small team of volunteers to staff the gallery and library. If you’d like to help, maybe just a day a month, please get in touch. Training can be given and you’d be make a real difference.
We continue to get donations of railway and transport-related books. We accept most transport related books that are in good shape, but may sell on some duplicates to raise funds for the library. We also welcome copies of contemporary transport magazines for our Reading Room. We welcome bound magazines but not loose ones, of which we have a large pile which are free to good homes. Keep an eye out on www.stationlibrary.org.uk . If you want to send anything by post our postal address: Station House, Kentsford Road, Kents Bank, Grange-over-Sands LA11 7BB
Railwaymen (and women!) remembered
The following personal accounts of railway life came out of an oral history class I taught, called ‘Railwaymen Remember’, for the University of Leeds in 1994. The class members were mostly retired drivers, a few former guards and signalmen and one remarkable lady, Eunice Bickerdyke, of Normanton. The stories were put together as ‘Messroom Gossip’, but were never published. I’m hoping to feature some of the stories in the next few issues of The Salvo. Hope you enjoy them!
Ron Stead (Retired Guard, Leeds)
“Just after the war it was hard to get things like rabbits and eggs in Leeds. I was working as a guard on the Carlisle run, and most of the signalmen in the Dales would shoot rabbits and hang them on the signalbox veranda, like a market sale. It was 1/6 for a couple. The platelayers had a supply too; we’d often happen to run ‘short of steam’ at places like Selside, Horton, or Kirkby Stephen and buy a few.
We’d often stop to chase rabbits, and more than one driver carried a gun. One actually wore a poacher’s jacket and wouldn’t finish a turn
without bagging a couple of pheasants or rabbits. He’d often carry a ferret with him as well. The favourite line for rabbits was between llkley and Skipton; he’d often hit them with a catapult.
Some of the men had drink problems. One guard in particular had his own ‘radar’ system which would sniff out a pub for miles. If he was pointing towards a Tetley’s house his nose would go ‘beep-beep-beep’! One day he was booked to work a farm train to Carlisle, leaving Leeds at 4 pm. This was in the days when entire farms were moved from one end of the country to the other, by goods train. Our hero staggered out of the pub onto platform 5 at Wellington station, and got into the old Midland brake van. There were dogs, sheep and goats all tied up in the brake van. There was also a box, which he mistakenly opened. It contained two prize rabbits. When the dogs saw the rabbits they went wild and broke loose from their tethering, and chased the rabbits round the van. By the time the train had got to Kirkstall, and the rabbits were back in their box, the guard was as sober as judge.
Another animal story involves a cattle train from Stranraer via Carlisle to the south. A Stourton guard worked the train between Carlisle and Leeds, and was stopped at Kirkby Stephen. One of the cows’ legs was
hanging out of the van! The train reversed into the cattle dock so it would be possible to open the door and ensure the cow was got back in safely. Unfortunately, the guard didn’t check to see whether the cattle dock gates out onto the road were shut. All the other cows in the van made a bid for freedom, and the only one which was rescued was the cow with the sore leg!
Speaking of cattle, there was a cattleman based at Stourton, and at Ordsall Lane, Manchester. Their job was to make sure the cows were fed and watered. In many respects, those cows had better conditions of service than we had!
There was a lot of class distinction, and snobbery, when I joined the railway. The clerks would be called ‘Mr this’ and ‘Mr that’ but others would be addressed as ‘Mr This or Mr That’! Some of the clerks I worked with delighted in picking you up on spelling for example when you handed in a privilege ticket application form.
If you took the form in to the clerk’s office, he’d keep writing at his desk and ignore you, until he was ready.
Some of my most memorable experiences were riding in the brake van over the ‘Long Drag’ on a clear winter’s night when the snow lay thick on the ground. It was like going across the moon. I’d stand on the veranda and see Whernside or Penyghent. Sometimes it was so bright you could almost read a book. But that line is lovely in all weathers…except when it was chucking it down!
We’d often arrive at Blea Moor wanting to take water and the leather bags of the water column would be frozen solid. We’d have to hit them with a coal hammer to get them working.
Ribblehead viaduct was famous for its winds, and one day a car was blown off a train. Then there was the turntable: at Garsdale: an engine was being turned and the wind got hold of it. That engine went round and round for ages, and, they only stopped it by shovelling dirt into the pit. After that they put a wooden stockade round it. The turntable was bought by a preservation group, I thank its at Keighley now.
Saltley (Birmingham) was a big lodging house, and a lot of men actually lived there. Holbeck men never liked it though we should have lodged there when working to Birmingham, we always went up to the LNWR house at Aston. It was a much superior establishment. Saltley was full of cockroaches.
This driver I used to work with when I was a guard, was a funny old character. He’d have these conversations with himself about this and t
hat, and one day I was with him and he was muttering about how much he’d like to stop smoking – just as he was about to light up. I said to him, why not start now?” and grabbed the fags out of his hands, and jumped out of the cab, running back to my brake with the prizes.
We were stopped at a signal and he jumped out after me; as he ran back the signal was cleared, and the fireman whistled for him. He had to go back to the engine, defeated. I knew he’d try and catch me when we arrived at Stourton Yard by jumping off the engine and waiting till I got level with him, in the brake. I was up to his trick, and jumped out of the van, fags and all, and ran to the shed and signed off!
There were occasional bad sides to railway life. A porter at Leeds murdered a prostitute. He cut her up and dumped the remains at the end of no. 8 platform, where there was a rubbish shute down to the dark arches. When the bin was being removed one of the poor woman’s arms fell off the cart. Police were called in and the porter confessed to the crime. He was sentenced to death, but this was commuted to life imprisonment.”
Where next for Community Rail?
I promised in the last Salvo that I would offer a few thoughts on ‘next steps for Community Rail’ in the light of the new political landscape and formation of Great British Railways. Thoughts are very welcome, feed them in by email or by the ‘comments’ section of the website. This is just a starter, flagging up a few areas where Community Rail has real opportunities. Key areas include:
- Where should Great British Railways sit in relation to community rail? As things stand, the Department for Transport inherited the Strategic Rail Authority’s ‘community rail’ brief and continued the great work that had been started by Chris Austin and continued by . It was a supportive approach without being heavy-handed or controlling. That should continue with a small team of officers who have a close link with Community Rail Network and continue to provide core funding for CRN.
- Community Rail Network has developed enormously and needs continuing support via GBR and other sponsors to build on its achievements. Again, my own thoughts – but there needs to be continued devolution of responsibilities which ensure synergy with the combined authorities and devolved governments in Wales and Scotland.
- The importance of the combined authorities (CAs) is growing and some are already actively supporting community rail in their areas. Seems to me, at the regional level, this is where there is great scope for further development with each CA having a dedicated resource and a funding pot for local schemes. Again, it needs a sensitive approach with community rail partnerships working with the combined authority but not managed by them.
- Which brings us on to community rail partnerships themselves – a very diverse bunch, each with their own strengths and distinctiveness. Personally, I prefer the independent, ‘social enterprise’ model with strong local authority involvement, but not part of local government directly. But there is room for great diversity in structure and range of activities.
- Finally, is there scope for doing new things? The original ideas launched in the early 1990s included ‘micofranchising’ which is clearly dead in the water. However, is there a middle road where independent (‘heritage’) lines can offer more community services? Not a new idea and there are some examples around where the approach has been tried. Is there scope for looking at how some more marginal lines, e.g. Heart of Wales, Whitby and others are managed – as part of the GBR portfolio but with devolved management including infrastructure as well as operations? Could an arms-length company, wholly owned by |GBR (or combined authorities) run the line and also have feeder bus operations?
Trip to Tanfield
It’s one of those heritage railways I’ve always wanted to visit but never quite got round to it. The opportunity came following contact with the railway’s general manager, David Watchman, and the donation of some
images of industrial steam in the North-east coalfield. Tanfield is a very special railway with strong claims to being one of the world’s first railways – if not the first, dating back to 1725 with horse-drawn coal wagons taking coal to the Tyne. Next year it celebrates its 300th birthday! We were given a fascinating tour round by one of the friendly volunteers, Barry, who showed us the Marley Hill loco shed (last visited in 1969) followed by a trip on the line hauled by Barclay tank Horden. Trains were busy with a party enjoying the hugely popular afternoon tea. Andrew’s House station has an excellent bookshop and we did mutually beneficial exchange of books with Kents Bank Railway Library. A grand day out – we’ll be back.
Morecambe looking grand
Morecambe is one of those seaside resorts which has gone through hard times. The rot set in when I took up digs on Marine Road back in 1971 as a student at Lancaster University. The town is definitely on the up now, with the renaissance of The Midland Hotel, the Winter Gardens and the coming of the Eden Project. Each year the town hosts the ‘Vintage’ festival and we paid a visit last Saturday. It was a fine sunny day and the place was alive with music, events, stalls and vintage buses taking people up and down the promenade, between Heysham, the town centre and Happy Mount Park. Will go next year, and be more appropriately dressed in vintage style.
Lancastrians: Mills, Mines and Minarets
I’m still getting invited to do talks on my ‘Lancastrians’ book. Several lined up for the Autumn including Chorley Family History Society and Probus clubs in Preston and Leyland. The book itself isn’t a ‘conventional’ history and covers different themes of Lancashire history, including sport, culture, politics, industry and religion. It
explores the Lancastrians who left for new lives in America, Canada, Russia and South Africa, as well as the ‘New Lancastrians’ who have settled in the county since the 14th century. There are about forty ‘potted biographies’ of men and women who have made important (but often neglected) contributions to Lancashire.
It’s available, published by the highly-respected publishers Hurst whose catalogue is well worth a look. See https://www.hurstpublishers.com/catalogues/spring-summer-2023/.
The book is hardback, price £25 (hopefully there will be a paperback out this year). Salvo readers can get a 25% discount by going to the publisher’s website (www.hurstpublishers.com) and enter the code LANCASTRIANS25 at checkout. Here’s one example from the book, profiling Charles Sixsmith: Whitmanite, local councilor, mill manager – and quite a lot more.
Lancastrians: Charles Sixsmith 1870 – 1954
Charles Sixsmith was a man of many parts. He was elected to Chorley Rural District Council in 1917 and served for 37 years, rising to become chairman in the 1940s. In 1915 he played an active part in the defence of local footpaths when Liverpool Corporation attempted to close some of the reservoir paths around Rivington. He was actively
involved in preserving local landmarks and was a member of the North-West committee of the Council for the Preservation of Rural England.
He was a key part of the Bolton Whitman group, becoming involved in their activities from the early 1890s. He built up a large collection of Whitman artefacts and letters which are now available in Manchester’s John Rylands Library. As well as fellow Whitmanite Dr John Johnston, he was a close friend of the socialist and sexual radical Edward Carpenter and was a frequent visitor to his home near Sheffield. He contributed to Edward Carpenter: In Appreciation, after Carpenter’s death.
He rose to a senior position in the Lancashire cotton industry, managing Bentinck Mill in Farnworth, which specialised in the West African trade. He was an authority on textile design and had progressive views on industrial relations in the textile industry. He was a founder member of the Manchester branch of the Design and Industries Association and of the Red Rose Guild, formed in 1921. In the late 1920s he was thanked “for his zeal in organising two expeditions” to Smithills Hall and Rivington Hall, and again for the “visit to Bentinck Mills where Mr Sixsmith received and showed the party the dyeing and weaving of stuffs for the West African market.” He became chair of the Red Rose Guild holding that post for most of the 1930s.
He chaired the panel of councillors and officers that produced the Advisory Plan for Lancashire in 1946 (see below). He died at the age of 83 and is buried in Rivington Unitarian church yard.
Still in Print (at special prices)
ALLEN CLARKE: Lancashire’s Romantic Radical £5.99 (normally £18.99)
Moorlands, Memories and Reflections £15.00 (£21.00)
Last Train from Blackstock Junction (published by Platform 5 Books). A collection of short stories about railway life in the North of England. Salvo readers can get the book at a specially discounted price, courtesy of Platform 5 Publishing. Go to https://www.platform5.com/Catalogue/New-Titles. Enter LAST22 in the promotional code box at the basket and this will reduce the unit price from £12.95 to £10.95.
The Settle-Carlisle Railway (published by Crowood £24) – can do it for Salvo readers at £12
See www.lancashireloominary.co.uk for full details of the books (ignore the prices shown and use the above – add total of £3 per order for post and packing in UK)