Author: Paul Salveson

The Northern Salvo

Incorporating  Weekly Notices, Sectional Appendices, Lancashire Loominary and The Northern Weekly Salvo

Published at Station House, Kents Bank, Lancashire-North-of-the-Sands, LA11 7BB

email: paul.salveson@myphone.coop

Publications website: www.lancashireloominary.co.uk

No.     325     Christmas Extra 2024   

Salveson’s half-nakedly political digest of railways, tripe and secessionist nonsense from Up North, luxuriating in the tepid bath of managed decline into old age

Seasonal greetings

I’ve managed to fit in an extra ‘Christmas Salvo’ in between endless rounds of socialising, hanging around waiting for trains and circuitous bus journeys. The coming year promises to be eventful, with a full removal to Station House at Kents Bank, though retaining a sub-shed in Bolton which will house the garden railway and the Lancashire book collection. As well as chairing the Rocket 2030 Partnership and

managing the Station Library, the 200^th anniversary of the Bolton and Leigh Railway (2028) is likely to take up more time. On top of that there’s a couple of publications in the pipeline – a new edition of ‘With Walt Whitman in Bolton’, with an extra chapter, and a completely revised edition of ‘Northern Rail Heritage’ to link with the Railway 200 events in 2025.  In the meantime, have an enjoyable Christmas and New Year and thank you for taking the time to read this tepid offering.

Railpolitik

So, goodbye Louise, hello Heidi. The reign of Louise Haigh was all too short, sent packing as a result of a fairly minor error, summat o’nowt as we say up North. Her departure came a day after she launched the Government’s ‘Integrated Transport Strategy’ which says the sort of things that transport professionals have been saying for quite a while. Heidi Alexander ought to be a promising choice for the top transport job, with top-level experience in transport as deputy mayor of London and a Swindon MP. Will we start seeing trains with copper-capped exhausts? Perhaps not, but hopefully she will continue the work that Louise Haigh started and refrain from silly, ill-considered jabs at the railway enthusiast community. I refer to her comments when launching the strategy in which she referred to the dominance in transport policy of ‘men who like trains.’

Well so what? Should we fill the railways with petrol heads? Some of the best people in the railway industry over the last 30 years have been cranks – I refer to the late Adrian Shooter and many who are still around in leadership roles. And I hope the current Rail Minister, Lord Hendy, won’t mind being included. Fair enough, you need a balance but having people who are passionate about their industry ought to be seen as a good thing. Some of us are old enough to remember Kim Howells, when Rail Minister in a previous Labour Government, making daft remarks in a similar vein. Look what happened to him! ‘What happened to him?’ I hear you say. Exactly. Actually he was a decent guy and seems to be having a bit of a new life in Welsh cultural activities. Maybe he’s taken up train spotting as well, in an ironic sort of way. I suspect very often these daft asides are planted by malevolent ‘advisers’.

The process of taking the passenger franchises is going ahead and there seems to be an assumption that this is automatically going to be a good thing, promising reliable and punctual trains, cheaper fares and much more wonderful things (restaurant cars serving rag pudding on all Northern services?).

This is as big a mistake as the Tories ignorantly assuming that private was intrinsically better than public ownership. The reality is that some of the train companies in the first tranche of re-nationalisation have actually performed very well, such as Greater Anglia. Meanwhile, some train operators that have returned to public ownership are struggling. One positive example in the public sector is TransPennine Express which has really turned a corner and has introduced new services (Manchester to York via Wakefield Kirkgate, now hourly) and sorted out most of its performance problems. On top of that it has introduced new catering services which sound quite yummy, though I’ve yet to try them (will they include Rag Pudding on the menu for their TransPennine services? See below).

One of the interesting developments on the rail scene has been the re-emergence of open access operations. First-owned Lumo has got off to a good start with its East Coast Main Line services and is hoping to run direct trains from Rochdale to Euston via Warrington. Grand Central is pushing for more slots and extra station stops on its Sunderland/Bradford routes while Virgin is also hoping to enter the open access market. It will be interesting to see where the paths come from.

The most interesting potential entrant is Go-op – a community co-operative which has recently won rights to operate in the south-west, between Weston-super-Mare, Taunton, Westbury and Swindon. Initially the company plans to use class 153 trains which are not exactly the most attractive or powerful of trains – but going in at the bottom makes sense and hopefully passenger numbers will increase to justify more modern rolling stock. The Go-op project is a really interesting venture – they are not there yet, though at least some of the hurdles have been cleared. See www.go-op.coop, or via this link: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/go-op-som-wilts-rail.

Finally, the English Devolution White Paper offers some real opportunities (see also below), with the city-region mayors likely to get greater powers for local and regional passenger services and also stations. The examples of the Liverpool City Region and Greater London show that this can work – and part of the success of Merseyrail, in particular, is down to the right scale as well as having good leadership teams both within the train company and also within the Liverpool City Region transport team. Greater Manchester is keen to add some of the local rail network to its Bee Network and also take on station responsibility. Again, this should be a good thing and opens up opportunities in community rail, with potentially innovative approaches towards community involvement in bus as well as rail.

A view from the dark side…..

Stewart Arnold gives an intelligent view of the Government’s ‘English Devolution’ white paper from a Yorkshire perspective….

Those of us who were campaigning for devolution in England ten or more years ago (and to be fair it was pretty niche at the time) would never have imagined a Government White Paper on English devolution being published. No one in Government circles seemed remotely interested and there was little public ‘noise’ around the issue at the time. So, the publication of the Government’s English devolution white paper ‘Power and Partnership: Foundations for Growth’ which sets out, in 118 pages of detail, how it intends to deliver on its promised ‘devolution revolution’ over the course of this parliament, is very welcome. The comments of the Deputy Prime Minister in the Foreword to the White Paper are especially pertinent. In it, she says ‘England is one of the most centralised developed countries. Too many decisions affecting too many people are made by too few. The controlling hand of central government is stifling initiative and development throughout the country’. All of this will resonate with devolution campaigners and will be welcomed. Reading through the white paper it is clear the intention is to cement English devolution into the constitution (the phrase used in the paper is that devolution will be ‘embedded as default into our country’s constitution’). Devolution is thus here to stay; there is no going back.

There is a lot of good stuff to back up the Foreword in the White Paper. For example, there’s mention of the powers of Mayors deepening to take on infrastructure projects, rail services and housing policy. Local government, the paper says, will take back control so there will be no need to refer new cycle lanes and cattle grids to the Secretary of State for Transport. Despite this positive content, however, there is much that is wrong with the white paper in my opinion. Not least among this is the need to completely abolish smaller district councils and with that the apparent cancellation of local elections next spring. Increasing power in the hands of a single politician with no real accountability except for an election with an exceptionally low turnout every four years is not something any of us should be comfortable with. Also, there is still no fiscal devolution. The most Mayors can expect is a continuation of the bloc grant settlement and a lot of handholding and box ticking exercises if financing is required for any significant projects. There is a question too of how regional and local identity plays into these proposals – they don’t at all. So, as was expected, there is no room for a One Yorkshire deal.

Although, in many ways, campaigners should be delighted that English devolution is firmly part of the nation’s future governance fabric, we do have very significant concerns and so the campaign goes on. The campaign, though, is no longer about the merits of devolution (that’s a given surely on the back of the publication of the White Paper) but rather what’s good about the Government’s proposals and what needs to happen to improve it. As a devolution campaigner, I would concentrate on the lack of accountability (why not a London model everywhere?); fiscal devolution (why no room for very local taxes such as tourist tax for example?); and the importance of a ‘bottom-up’ approach in terms of identity. The imposition of combined authorities from the centre cuts across the very essence of devolution so far better that communities carve out what is the best configuration for them. Devolution campaigners should be right behind the Cornish, for example, in their bid for their own assembly and support their resistance to inclusion with a proposed Devon-wide combined authority and mayor. And, of course, they should continue to make the case for a One Yorkshire deal which could really unleash the potential here.

Stewart Arnold is a long-standing campaigner for Yorkshire devolution and is a Green Party activist

Note: About time folk in Lancashire took a leaf out of Yorkshire’s book and started a serious campaign for ‘One Lancashire’.

Letter from Hong Kong

Many thanks to a good friend for this reflective seasonal piece

Just a few hotels in the world are known to almost everyone – Raffles in Singapore, Reid’s Palace in Madeira, The Dorchester in London, Waldorf Astoria in New York spring easily to mind. Add to this short list the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong, opened in 1928 to receive intercontinental rail travellers from the Kowloon and Canton Railway station then opposite.

The location remains magnificent, with upper floors overlooking Victoria Harbour to Hong Kong Island’s famous cityscape.

Visitors arrive to the greeting of a grand fountain, carried in some privileged cases by one of the hotel’s thirteen distinctive green Rolls Royces, to a door opened by white and gold braid uniformed bell boys and girls. The hotel lobby sets an immediate tone of calm in the middle of Hong Kong’s pace and noise. Grand, elegant and overtly colonial, it is simply a joy. Lofted ceilings carry gilt decoration and gently turning fans, furnishings are comfortable and spacious. And at Christmas…

….one is struck by the floor to ceiling tree, perhaps 18 feet high, simply decorated but with giftbags and giftbags and giftbags around the bottom. The giftbags represent the very high end retail concessions available in the hotel, of course. Simply, the best real Christmas tree in

Hong Kong. Going up two flights of the grand staircase brings one to the Swiss restaurant. Outside this, the regular Christmas tableau of an Alpine scene: snowy peaks with toy trains running through tunnels underneath, the lights of moving cable cars and the flashing of a big wheel rotating in the fairground. Animals in snowy fields are bordered by snow sprinkled fir trees with the shops and bars and chapel of the village lit and welcoming.

Some of the ‘buildings’ are made of gingerbread, straight from a Christmas story. Real gingerbread with that glorious smell. Children from 3 to 83 stop to look at this for a time. Or even a long time. It reminds me of the Santa’s grotto tableaux which I saw in department stores as a child. Here, though, there is no Father Christmas – but Father Christmas ‘helpers’ will take a letter for him and in return offer a gingerbread biscuit or a couple of home made sweets. There is no charge for this though charity boxes do encourage donations. It is all very understated, particularly for Hong Kong, and all very charming.

Descending the staircase back into the lobby, we take seats for light refreshments. Coffee or tea or chocolate is beautifully served (the hot chocolate almost a do it yourself kit of liquids and bits!) and predictably expensive. But of course, one pays for the ambience, the service, the occasion, the photographs which the tree almost begs you to take. And as midday arrives so does the quintet, to perform as luncheon commences. A curious quintet of violin, bass guitar, flute, drums and keyboard allows a wide range of music, a medley of carols followed by stalwarts such as ‘Chestnuts roasting by an open fire’ and ‘White Christmas’. And then another medley from ‘The Sound of Music’. No, I don’t know either.

I took my daughter to the Peninsula for the first time at the age of three or four. Seeing the toy train go into a tunnel she tried to run round fast enough to catch it coming out of the other end. Many years on, she still does. Descending the staircase on this first visit she asked for ‘a juice in this café’. Referring to the Lobby of one of the best

hotels in Asia as a café made me smile. Letters to Father Christmas finished a good few years ago now but the Peninsula outing – and the ‘juice’ – remain as part of the annual ritual. Good.

Sir John Betjeman’s famous poem ‘Christmas’ refers, as some may remember, to the Dorchester Hotel which was listed in our opening. The poem might now conjure up a vision of a lost time when society as a whole celebrated the nativity. But some things remain constant, despite what we are sometimes told. So, with apologies to Betjeman, allow your correspondent to wish you the blessings of Christmas and offer a Canto-update of part of his poem as follows.

And K-pop girls remember Dad,
And Minecraft boys remember Mum,
And sleepless children’s hearts are glad.
And Midnight service bells say ‘Come!’
Even to shining ones who dwell
Safe in the Peninsula Hotel

Happy Christmas to all: 圣诞快乐

Postscript: Chinese grammar means that the greeting is actually ‘Christmas Happy’. For the same reason, our household refers to ‘Christmas Father’. One of our household, of Chinese origin, was politely challenged on this many years ago. She defended the ‘Christmas Father’ translation. Why? ‘Well, in English it is Christmas tree and Christmas carol and Christmas pudding. Why is it not also Christmas Father?’ Debate over.

The Crossing Keeper’s Cat

A seasonal short story….mostly fictional

“You’ll have travelled through here if you were on your way north. Oxenholme is a little place on the West Coast Main Line between London to Glasgow, in the old Westmorland. These days a lot of the expresses stop here though back in the day most of the important trains, like ‘The Royal Scot’ and ‘Caledonian’ would hurtle through at a fair old whack. It’s a classic railway village though you don’t see much of it from the train. You can change trains here for Kendal and

Windermere, that’s partly why it became an important railway junction from as early as 1846. There was another reason: it was at the start of the long climb northwards over the fells – up to Grayrigg and on to Shap Summit.

Back in steam days, when I was a young fireman, many freights and some passenger trains required assistance up to Grayrigg – and some stayed coupled to the train over Shap Summit and through to Carlisle. That required a locomotive depot to service the ‘bankers’ as well as the branch to Windermere. In the old days, when a train required an extra loco from Oxenholme, the signalman would tell the driver of the train ‘you’re puttin’ a sock on’!

By the 1920s well over a hundred railway workers were employed in this railway village, mostly men but some women looking after the station buffet. The railway company – the London and North Western Railway – built dozens of houses for its workers: all are still there today: Natland Terrace and Helmside Cottages. There was the Railway Mission and a ‘Railway Reading Room’ was also provided. The pub – Station Inn – was some way up the hill, a fair old walk on a winter’s evening, but at least it was downhill when you were coming back after supping a few.

The story I want to tell you is about a railway family – and a cat. I was told the tale by an old driver, Harry Fothergill – long gone now – in the mess room when we were waiting for a job. I’m too young to have known Jack and his wife Madge but the story has been passed down, probably with a bit of embroidery along the way…..”

Now read on…….

http://lancashireloominary.co.uk/index.html/the-crossing-keepers-cat

Wanderings around the North-West

Apart from fairly frequent trips between Kents Bank and Bolton, the last few days have seen some pleasant excursions to such gradely places as Clitheroe and Macclesfield. Clitheroe is an old favourite and it was good to meet up with Colin Speakman for lunch in The Emporium followed by drinks in the splendid and truly old-fashioned New (sic) Inn. The chocolate stout is magnificent. We also paid a visit to Clitheroe Books which is sadly closing in March. Colin picked up a copy of his first-ever book Walks in the Yorkshire Dales, published by Dalesman in 1906. Or was it 1976? Anyroad, all was going

well and trains back showing ‘on time’ (hourly service to Bolton, Manchester and Rochdale) until a last minute check on the phone showed the 15.22 as ‘delayed’. Always a bad sign, and sure enough it then came up as ‘cancelled’. We wandered down to the station, hoping against hope that it would re-appear. We joined a sizeable crowd of schoolchildren and others waiting in hope, as the minutes ticked away after 15.22. The signs on the station indicators still showed it as ‘on time’ but it clearly wasn’t. Cutting a long story short, there’d been a points failure at Darwen so nothing was running, including the 16.22 and also the 17.22 back to the outside world. We were forced to seek solace, and wine, in the excellent Byrne’s, probably one of the best wine shops in the North. Our safe passage out of Clitheroe was via the Stagecoach 280 – Colin heading to Skipton, while I took the opposite direction to Preston. Despite a late arrival in Clitheroe due to heavy traffic, the driver put in a good performance and we picked up a bit of time to Preston, where I scurried across to the station to catch the (late running) 17.34 to Kents Bank.

The following day’s trip to Macclesfield was much more punctual with all trains and buses running spot on time – 09.18 off Kents Bank to Piccadilly then a quick hop to Stockport to call in at the Manchester Locomotive Society on Edgeley station. Many thanks to Paul Shackloth for his donation of a full set of his books to Kents Bank Library (they weighed a ton). Then on to Macclesfeld to meet Karen for a seasonal lunch at Chestergate Bistro. Macc was looking good and calls for a further visit that’s a bit less rushed. Some nice old pubs, shops and the Silk Museum to see. Coming back I had a smart run on a class 331 on the 15.02 off Piccadilly back to Bolton (ESW would have been impressed, see below). It’s always difficult keeping time through the Castlefield Corridor but we made it to Bolton an hour early, with a very fast run from Salford Crescent in just over seven minutes. That got me in Bolton in nice time for the 526 Barrow Bridge service which, as is invariably the case, ran to time. It’s good when we get it right.

The irresistible rise of the Rag Pudding (and downfall of tripe?)

The subject of ‘rag pudding’ came up in conversation with my Bolton ex-patriate lunch companion the other day. “Why,” she enquired, “has it suddenly become popular? We never heard of it when we were kids.” A good point. The first I’d heard of this ‘rag pudding’ was in a café in Mossley about 15 years ago. Very nice it was too, a sort of flattened steak and kidney pudding. Undertaking further research I can reveal that traditionally, it was very much an ‘east South east’ Lancashire dish. Yet now, many cafes across the whole of what I still insist on calling South-East Lancashire, offer ‘rag pudding’ on their menus. The wonderful Olympus in Bolton now has it, along the more traditional steak and kidney pudding. It’s no bad thing and is probably easier to cook than steak and kidney pudding, as it has less structure. That said, I think I prefer the traditional Bolton steak and kidney pud. Why ‘rag’ pudding? It was traditionally cooked in a muslin cloth. It seems to have originated in the Oldham area, many thousands of years ago. At least a few hundred years ago, anyway. Yet compare and contrast with tripe! Despite the best efforts of the Tripe Marketing Board, of whose board I sit on, from time to time, tripe’s long-term decline seems irreversible. Yet I think tripe will make a surprise comeback. Indeed, 2025 could well be The Year of Tripe. Something to look forward to, then.

Footplate Passenger: an introduction to E.S. Waterhouse

What I’ve learned about my grandfather, E.S.Waterhouse, by Bob Waterhouse

I thought I knew my Grandpa Eric. Then, nearly 60 years after his 1964 death, I was leafing through a small family archive kept by my brother David in Shrewsbury when I came across a large envelope of letters and another of steam engine photos.

It turned out that the letters were from readers of his column in Locomotive Journal, ASLEF’s monthly magazine for society members. Letters from engine drivers and firemen, but also from railway companies responding to requests for footplate passes or to his draft articles submitted for clearance before publication.

So I sought out the articles themselves in rare bound volumes of the magazine. Hundreds of articles, monthly contributions, starting in May 1935 and ending in February 1964, commissioned in turn by seven general secretaries of the society, de facto editors of the Journal.

Between the columns, written under the heading “As the Passenger sees it”, the letters, random press cuttings and a lead letter in the Daily Telegraph, I found out:

ESW (as I call him in the book) was offered an apprenticeship at the London & South Western Railway in the 1890s by no less a figure than Dugald Drummond, designer of the famous Drummond tank engine, only to turn it down because his mother, a devout widow, pushed him to become a Methodist minister.

He began timing and annotating train journeys around 1900.

He switched his vote from Liberal to Labour because of the Lib-Tory government’s performance in the First World War, when he served as chaplain at a London hospital for war wounded. We used to brag as kids that he drove engines during the 1926 general strike. Nothing of the sort, he approved of the strike and would never have broken it

He warned, in 1936, that railway transport was “fighting for its life against motor competition and faster passenger and freight traffic is the only way of competing with road vehicles”

He wrote in 1937 “workers, whether they work at clerical or mechanical tasks, are acting against their own interests in supporting Toryism.” In 1963, referring to the Beeching cuts, he quoted John Bright: “The Tories are always a stupid party.” He sympathised with railway workers at the German yards bombed by the RAF in autumn 1940. He supported a closed shop for ASLEF members but opposed the compulsory political levy

Early in 1941 he suggested that railways should be nationalised postwar, with management shared between the State, the passenger/business community, and the unions. He advocated maintaining steam services until railways became fully electric. He hated diesels. His favourite engine class was the general-purpose Stanier Black 5 (good choice – ed.)

He liked speed but not at any price. More important were rail services on schedule, at reasonable cost and with adequate comfort. Toram Beg, Scottish mainline engine driver and author of The Lighted Flame, the history of ASLEF’s first 70 years, said of him “We consider E.S.Waterhouse, if not one of ourselves at least very near to that.”

He distinguished between mere drivers and enginemen who used all

their experience and craft to maintain schedules. He disapproved of the mechanical eyesight test which could disbar drivers and halve their wages without recourse. He introduced his first grandson, David, to the footplate of GWR ‘Beverston Castle’ early in 1941, during the Blitz. David, aged 3½, complained that his knee got dirty.

I instinctively loved trains and became an engine-spotter in 1950 at the age of nine, but ESW never particularly encouraged me. I think he felt I should find things out for myself. He kept as quiet about his politics as his faith, although vocal in hating Dr Beeching, In retirement one of his income sources was reviewing academic books, which he then sold to bookshops by weight. The heavier the better.

I felt I knew my grandpa well. Having digested his columns and associated papers, I know him better.

Some boys of The Old Brigade      

By E.S. Waterhouse, Locomotive Journal (ASLEF) May 1935

“My interest in engines and enginemen began when, as a schoolboy at the end of the last century, I went by the 7.55 each morning from Bangor to school at Colwyn Bay. I was always at the station early, and one of the little Jumbos, Sirius 424 or Centaur 773, driven by Harry Williams or Owen Jones, would back on, and I would get on the footplate, warm my toes, and hear the wisdom of these men who were my heroes, until time for starting.

Later I came to London and lived on the old North London line. A driver had his own engine in those days. If it was No 4 you expected to see Brown, No 35 would be driven by Tommy Wingrove, No 48 by Hancock, a particular chum of mine. Many a ride I had on the footplate of these old 4-4-0 tanks, now all scrapped.

The alternate trains were worked by LNW ‘eight-wheel choppers’, a class of engine none too good for their work, but drivers like Clarke,

who had 786, performed wonders with them. My longer trips were mostly to Sheffield. I was a great admirer of the Midland singles, and though in those days loads were small compared with modern loading, for the power the singles did remarkable work.

One amusing incident is worth mentioning as an example. The 2pm from St Pancras to Leicester stopped at Kettering, 72 miles away, from 3.22pm to 3.26pm. The 2.10pm to Nottingham passed through without stopping at 3.24pm, using the other line, by the points cross-over south of the station. On the former train was one of Johnson’s new 4-4-0 engines of the 2607 type, standing on Platform 3 at St Pancras, whilst the 2.10pm, by which I was travelling, was on the opposite platform, and headed by a single, 1860, driven by Richardson of Kentish Town. The two drivers engaged in argument upon the merits of the couples versus the single wheel engine, Richardson stoutly maintaining against his colleague the case for the latter.

When we pulled out it was evident that Richardson was up to something. On the rising grade to Luton we made fair progress with a biggish load, but once Luton was passed 1860 began to fly. Bedford was reached five minutes early, and with a long shriek of the whistle we passed Kettering eight minutes before schedule, whilst the coupled engine was standing at the platform!

On another occasion the up Scotch express was eight minutes late at Leicester. I was particularly anxious to be in London on time as I had a connection to catch, and asked the driver, Barlow of Kentish Town, if he could recover a bit. ‘Wait and see’ was the reply. The engine was also a single, No 130, and my hopes fell when at Wigston, a few miles from the start, signals brought us almost to a stop. This made us 11 minutes late past Market Harborough with 82¾ miles to go. Through the darkness and a snowstorm we raced and reached St Pancras dead on time, in 105 minutes net for the 99 miles. There are several trains today timed at that speed, but none even now are quicker, and for a single, with a load of nearly 250 tons, it represented great work.

Other trips were made on the old LNW. Many Crewe men recollect the name and fame of Peter Clow who drove Adriatic 1309 during the race

of 1895. His usual engine was a compound of the same class, Coptic 1307, and Peter was of the opinion that he could take any load, disdaining the help of a ‘hooker’. Sometimes the trip was too much even for his skill, for the compounds were bad starters and slipped a lot. On such occasions Peter would have furious arguments with the guard, demanding for signal checks and pwr delays more allowance than they deemed fit to cover time otherwise lost. One of the firemen, now a driver, told me that Clow would point to the firebox door and say ‘fire’, and after a few shovels had been put on would cry ‘stop’, and woe betide him if he dared to fire except under such instructions. But Clow was a tip-top driver and a great personality, and his little eccentricities were accepted as the accompaniment of genius.

Another ‘character’ was an Irishman, also of Crewe, who once came to the shed and found himself down for the compound Stork 1397, notoriously a bad starter. ‘Stork, is it?’ he snorted, ‘then it’s meself that’s stalking’ and away he went. On another occasion he was hauled up for losing time, and blamed the coal. ‘Nonsense’ was the reply, ‘the Company won’t buy bad coal.’ ‘Sure, thin,’ came the ready retort, ‘they must get the divvle of a lot given them.’ They were great days, and great boys too.

The modern pooling of engines has economical advantages, but no others. What these old drivers who had their own engines and loved them would have said beats my imagination. Why, on the old Brighton line the driver’s name was actually painted inside the cab. You may still see the name of William Love inside the cab of Gladstone in York museum. But what would they have said? Perhaps I had better not try to guess, or the Editor, who is careful about the language used by his correspondents, would censor me! ‘

Kents Bank Station Library and Gallery News

The gallery had a good December with sales quite buoyant. There’s some great work by local artists, much of which within the average person’s pocket. The joint Christmas Fair with the Library attracted over fifty visitors who enjoyed the mulled wine, mince pies and cake (thank you Jill and Debbie). The monthly ‘MIC’ talk in the library was on ‘Railway Poetry’ with an emphasis on poetry by working railwaymen. Examples included poems by Fred Skerrett, Patricroft driver, Joe Smythe, Victoria guard, Walter Sinkinson, signalman from Mirfield, as well as selections from Polmadie Depot published as ‘Steam Lines’. Several members of the audience read their favourites,

with special thanks to Pete Skellon and Rex Harrison for their own work. The next talk is on Wednesday January 8^th; Philip Tuer of the Cumbrian Railways Association will talk about the CRA’s work and the resources it can offer. Starts at 14.00, please book in advance.

The gallery and library will be closed between December 22^nd and January 3^rd. Meanwhile we’re gearing up for a special ‘Gallery Roof Appeal’ in the new year. The gallery needs to find just under £3000 for roof repairs; we’ve had offers of over half the amount but still need to find £1400. Please get in touch if you could help with a donation.

We’ve been working with 3rd year design students from the University of Bolton on some ideas for artwork in the library. Results so far are very encouraging! Watch this space…

The library is hoping to celebrate Railway 200 with a new edition of ‘Northern Rail Heritage’ first published in 2008. It will be completely revised and updated and we hope to sell it at an attractive price. The booklet gives an overview of the social history of railways in the North of England.

Another new initiative is a short run of prints of Roy Wilson’s fine study of streamlined LMS pacific ‘Duchess of Hamilton’ (see left). We

have been working with Roy’s brother Brian to promote Roy’s superb work and this is the first stage of the process. Hopefully we will have a display of his paintings in the Earlestown area, where he was brought up. Roy served his time as an apprentice at Vulcan Foundry and many of his paintings reflect that.

The print is available from the gallery and library for £20 unframed or £60 framed.

His American Railroad Dreams

My good friend John Davies continues to produce fascinating books based on his lifetime experience with railways. His latest is My American Railroad Dream sub-titled ‘My impressions of 22 years, 2 countries, 54

states and 9 unique visits to the USA and Canada 1978 – 2000’. As he says on the cover, it’s ‘an odyssey in pictures and a little text’ but the text is very interesting. John covers a lot of the smaller railroads in the States including famous lines such as the Colorado narrow-gauge. However, the chapter on the ‘Short Line’ railroads is fascinating as well as some of the big commuter networks in Chicago and New Jersey. The Long Island Railroad, which I travelled on back in the 1980s, gets a chapter to itself. Well worth £14.99 of anyone’s brass, from Platform 5 Mail order: www.platform5.com

Lancastrians: Mills, Mines and Minarets

Thanks to historians Alan Fowler and Robert Poole for recent positive comments about the book. In the current North West Labour History Journal, Alan wrote: “The variety of topics is one of the appealing features of the book. It is some time since we had a history of the county, so this account is very welcome, and it reminds the reader of

the significance of the county in the UK, one often forgotten by London or Oxbridge-based historians….I hope many readers of the Journal will read it.”

I’m still getting invited to do talks on my ‘Lancastrians’ book. I’ve done several during the Autumn including Chorley Family History Society and Probus clubs in Preston and Leyland (actually on Walt Whitman’s Lancashire links, which feature in the book).

The book is hardback, price £25. Salvo readers can get it post free directly from me: http://lancashireloominary.co.uk/index.html/order-form Or from publisher Hurst.

Other books still in print (at gradely prices)

ALLEN CLARKE: Lancashire’s Romantic Radical £5.99 (normally £18.99): the only biography of Allen Clarke/Teddy Ashton (1863 – 1935): Lancashire dialect writer, socialist, cyclist, philosopher, poet, novelist…and more. Born in Bolton, mum and dad were millworkers; spent his later years in Blackpool. A remarkable chap who helped keep memories of the 1896 Winter Hill Trespass alive, friend of Tolstoy, admirer of Walt Whitman, etc. etc.

Moorlands, Memories and Reflections £15.00 (£21.00): based on Allen Clarke’s Lancashire classic Moorlands and Memories, bringing some of the story up to date and exploring the forgotten history of the Lancashire moors.

The Settle-Carlisle Railway A history of the famous route with an emphasis on the human story (including my own, as a guard in the 70s!). £14 including p and p.

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. I’ve a few copies of my own to sell at £10.95 plus p and p.

With Walt Whitman in Bolton: This has been out of print for a few months but I’m doing a new edition, with at least one additional chapter. Likely to be out for next May.

The Winter Hill Mass Trespass of 1896: also out of print but I’m working on a new edition for 2025.

 

 

The Crossing Keeper’s Cat

Paul Salveson

You’ll have travelled through here if you were on your way north. Oxenholme is a little place on the West Coast Main Line between London to Glasgow, in the old Westmorland. These days a lot of the expresses stop here though back in the day most of the important trains, like ‘The Royal Scot’ and ‘Caledonian’ would hurtle through at a fair old whack. It’s a classic railway village though you don’t see much of it from the train. You can change trains here for Kendal and Windermere, that’s partly why it became an important railway junction from as early as 1846. There was another reason: it was at the start of the long climb northwards over the fells – up to Grayrigg and on to Shap Summit.

Back in steam days, when I was a young fireman, many freights and some passenger trains required assistance up to Grayrigg – and some stayed coupled to the train over Shap Summit and through to Carlisle. That required a locomotive depot to service the ‘bankers’ as well as the branch to Windermere. In the old days, when a train required an extra loco from Oxenholme, the signalman would tell the driver of the train ‘you’re puttin’ a sock on’!

By the 1920s well over a hundred railway workers were employed in this railway village, mostly men but some women looking after the station buffet. The railway company – the London and North Western Railway – built dozens of houses for its workers: all are still there today: Natland Terrace and Helmside Cottages. There was the Railway Mission and a ‘Railway Reading Room’ was also provided. The pub – Station Inn – was some way up the hill, a fair old walk on a winter’s evening, but at least it was downhill when you were coming back after supping a few.

The story I want to tell you is about a railway family – and a cat. I was told it by an old driver, Harry Fothergill – he’s long gone now – in the mess room when we were waiting for a job. I’m too young to have known Jack and his wife Madge but the story has been passed down, probably with a bit of embroidery along the way.

…………………………………………………………..

Jack Thornburrow started at Oxenholme shed as an engine cleaner in 1910, at the age of 14. He gradually worked up the ranks to become a passed cleaner, fireman, passed fireman and finally a driver. That took 25 years, but it could take much longer at some sheds.  He lived with his parents on Natland Terrace – dad was a signalman and mum worked in the station buffet, so they were entitled to a railway house. No running water until well into the 1930s, but it was comfortable and cheap.

He was lucky to avoid the carnage of the First World War. He was in a ‘reserved occupation’ – by then a fireman – so wasn’t sent off to fight. He more than did his bit by working long, gruelling hours firing  locomotives on the ‘Jellicoe Specials’ taking coal to the fleet at Scapa Flow. They were named after Admiral Jellicoe, First Sea Lord and Commander of the Fleet, so I’m told.

Jack found time to have a social life and started courting Madge Benson, daughter of Harry and Dora Benson. He was a Special Class Relief Signalman based at Oxenholme, and a near-neighbour in another railway house on Helmside Cottages. They’d known each other since childhood – they could hardly avoid it, going to the same school and chapel. Madge worked at Cropper’s factory in Burneside from when she was 13, getting the branch train every day to and from work.

The Bensons were strong Methodists, as well as socialists. Jack was chairman of the Kendal branch of the Independent Labour Party and branch secretary of the National Union of Railwaymen’s branch. Dora was in the ILP and vice-chairwoman of the Women’s Co-operative Guild in Kendal. Madge could hardly avoid being ‘political’ and used to push socialist literature into Jack’s pocket when they went on romantic strolls on summer evenings.

“Come on love, give us a kiss,” Jack would say, only to be countered with something like “Not until you’ve told me about your impressions of that Philip Snowden speech we heard in Kendal…” or  “only if you help me with those leaflets on Saturday…”

But he got his kiss; and, after a while, more. Soon they were married, in 1918.

Harry had put a word in to the stationmaster that Jack and Madge would be looking for a house of their own, and asked if the company could help. A two-bedroomed terrace came up on Helmside Cottages, with Harry winking to Dora that the young couple might be needing that extra room.

………………………………………………………………………………….

The footplatemen at Oxenholme were all members of ‘the Society’ – the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF). The branch had 75 members by 1920 – not as big as Carnforth or Carlisle, but big enough. The monthly meetings, held in the Station Inn, would attract a good 40 members, with others sending their apologies due to the demands of shift work.

Fred Armistead was branch chairman. He’d started as a cleaner, like Jack, back in 1900 but came from local farming stock. A gentle giant, many called him –  a tough negotiator with management but always considerate towards his firemen. Jack attended the society meetings when he was on earlies or rest days and was elected as a delegate to the union’s annual conference, the AAD, as one of the youngest ever attendees, in 1922.

……………………………………………………….

The early 1920s were relatively prosperous. The war became a distant memory, though many returning soldiers – mostly railwaymen – were badly disabled and never returned to their old jobs. ‘Green card men’ were offered what were regarded as soft jobs, giving them a wage to live on.

Yet there was trouble looming. Strikes flared up in 1921, only to be followed by a much bigger conflict in May 1926 – the General Strike. The nine day strike was in support of the miners who were facing wage reductions. The railwaymen and the miners were almost the same family – they stuck with their brothers in the coalfields. Oxenholme men didn’t have much contact with the miners but had work to Wigan, taking coal empties to the local pits and bringing back loaded coal to Kendal and Burneside for the factories. The strike was solid. There were no little rich boys around who wanted to play trains for a few days like in some of the cities and university towns. Nothing moved.

Some of the unionised ‘white collar’ workers – a minority of stationmasters and clerical workers – were loyal to their union, the RCA, and came out – many ended up getting sacked or ‘reduced in grade’.

…………………………………………………………..

The late 1920s and 30s saw a steady improvement on the railways – the old London and North Western Railway disappeared in 1923 with the formation of the ‘Big Four’ companies. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway came into being, the biggest joint stock company in the world. It was the era of the pre-war ‘Coronation Scot’ with handsome streamlined Pacifics hauling the London – Glasgow expresses. They came streaking through Oxenholme going all out to get momentum for the climb to Grayrigg.

…………………………………………………………..

Jack was booked as a driver in January 1932. It meant he was on a decent wage with a job for life. He’d become a well-respected union man, in no small part thanks to Madge’s encouragement. When Fred Armistead retired, Jack was the obvious successor.

They had two children – Walter and Marie. Walter was encouraged by his parents to further his education and went to Kendal Grammar; he got a junior clerk’s job at Cropper’s.  Marie left school and got a job on in the shoe factory in Kendal. Madge was a full-time housewife alongside her activities in the Co-op Women’s Guild, Labour Party and the local W.I.

………………………………………………………………………

When war was declared in 1939, Walter quickly volunteered. Madge had been a pacifist as a young girl in the First World War but was in no doubt that the Nazis had to be fought; she and Jack were intensely proud when they waved Walter off at Oxenholme station, on his way to Fulwood Barracks to join the Lancashire Fusiliers.

Jack got the most responsible jobs at the shed, including fast freights over Shap to Carlisle and occasional passenger jobs to Preston, Crewe and Carlisle.

That year, 1940, the usual lull around Christmas didn’t apply. The main line was operating at full capacity with troop movements as well as coal, coke, iron ore – and ammunition trains.

………………………………………………………………

Jack and his fireman George Wilson signed on at 2 a.m. on Christmas Eve to pilot a heavy goods train through to Carlisle where they’d be relieved by ‘Caley men’ to take it on to Scotland. It was booked to take water at Oxenholme at 2.30 and ‘put the sock on’ – one of the shed’s new LMS Stanier-designed tank engines, 2464.  They weren’t given details of the load but the guard told both footplate crews that it was highly explosive and hush-hush –  so asked them to keep the sparks down to the minimum going over Shap so they wouldn’t be spotted by enemy aircraft.

The train pulled in to the Down Loop at about 2.15. The Carnforth fireman, Dick Grainger, jumped out to ‘put the bag in’ and fill the LMS 8F’s tender, ready for the climb over Grayrigg and Shap. Carnforth and Oxenholme men knew each other well and got on, despite plenty of banter between the sheds.

“I hope you’re going to do your share tonight Jack, just for a change,” the Carnforth driver, Joe Fothergill shouted as they hooked on to the train engine.

“Aye, we’ll be pullin’ thee over Shap and tha can mek the brew when we get to Carlisle,” Jack responded.

The signalman at Oxenholme No. 2 box cleared his signals for the train to set off and re-join the main line. The two engines barked powerfully as they got their train moving through the station. It was an exceptionally heavy load, about 700 tons and it needed both locos to get the train moving. Two good crews, two well-maintained locos – they cleared Grayrigg summit at just over 35 mph and Jack eased off for the level stretch over Dillicar water troughs. No need to put down the scoop on either engine – both had been filled up at Oxenholme – but old habits die hard.

“Won’t do any harm just to get a bit more in, to see us through to Carlisle,” Jack told his fireman.

The train accelerated to 45 as they went through Tebay, with both drivers opening up the locos’ regulators for the long slog to Shap Summit.

Taking several hundred tons over Shap was always a big challenge for a footplate crew, however experienced. An additional hazard in 1940 was the danger of being spotted by the Luftwaffe on the bleak moorland between Tebay and Shap, particularly with the fireman opening and closing the firehole door as he shovelled coal into the hungry firebox. The gleam from the fire would have been like a magnet to any marauding fighter jet.

What actually happened wasn’t as dramatic – but equally disastrous. They reached Shap Summit with speed down to 15 mph. Then, the train accelerated as they dropped down towards Penrith, with the heavy load pushing the train to a higher speed; they soon reached 45 – the limit for the train.

Footplate crews were trained to regularly look back down their train to check for a ‘hot box’ – an over-heated axlebox on one of the wagons. It was a common thing on those old four-wheeled wagons, made worse by the wear and tear of wartime use. Jack felt a pull on the engine which was a good indication of the guard at the back of the train putting his handbrake on and off to tell the men in front that ‘something was up’.

Jack, and his mate Joe on the rear engine, both looked out at the same time and saw a wagon towards the front of the train with the tell-tale flames coming up from the wheels.

“Fuckin’ hell. Hot box. We need to get that fire out, or we’ll all be goin’ to heaven for Christmas,” Jack shouted across to his mate.

They slowed to a stop at Thrimby Grange box and looked at the affected wagon. Jack shouted across to the signalman: “Hot box mate, we’ll stop at Clifton to detach…..and stop anything comin’ t’other road…” The signalman nodded back and immediately got onto his mate at Clifton, the next box.

“Harry, stop anything on the Up and get a few fire buckets ready for this goods on the Down – and get your tin hat on just in case.”

They approached Clifton’s outer home signal at a snail’s pace and the signalman, Harry Langton, pulled off his signals to move the train forward.

The plan was to get some water from the box and try and extinguish the fire, or uncouple the wagon and shunt it into a siding out of harm’s way. Not easy as the box didn’t have any running water and there was only a  couple of fire buckets.

They stopped beyond the signalbox and both drivers jumped down onto the ballast and ran back to assess the situation. By now, the wagon, the third one behind the locos, was well ablaze and the flames revealed the warning on the wagon sides: ‘Danger – High Explosive.”

The signalman came across with two buckets of water which might have done the job half an hour ago, but by now the flames had taken hold.

“Right Joe, I’ll get in between and hook off, draw down to the starter and get the signalman to put you in the old siding road,” Jack said.

“Bobby, can you do that for us and we’ll try and get it clear?”

The train moved forward with the road set into the siding, long out of use, but serviceable.

“George, you look after the engine. When we’re inside I’m going to get that burning wagon uncoupled and then move as far down as you can get so it’s isolated.”

“Jack, it’s my job to hook off as fireman – tha’s the driver!”

“I know that lad but you’ve got kids and that lovely young wife o’thine,” he responded. “I’ll tek the risk.”

………………………………………………………………………………………..

It was when Jack hooked the wagon off in the siding that the explosion happened.

He’d just waved the two locos to move forward when it went up. It was reckoned that the blast was heard in Carlisle and the flames could be seen from Penrith.

The men on the two locos – the Carnforth men and Jack’s fireman, George, were thrown out of their cabs by the force of the explosion but suffered nothing worse than a few bruises. Every window in the signalbox was shattered but Harry Langton managed to duck behind the frame and escape with nothing worse than a few cuts.

There was one casualty. When the wagon blew up Jack took the full force of the explosion. He didn’t didn’t stand a chance –  men from the Penrith P. Way depot had the heart-breaking job of picking up his remains, scattered across the tracks and surrounding fields, when it got light the following day.

I say there was one casualty, in fact there were two. The signalbox cat was killed by shards of glass from the shattered windows.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

The following morning a policeman, accompanied by Fred Pattison, the stationmaster at Oxenholme, went to see Madge.

“I’m terribly sorry Mrs Benson…Madge…it’s about your Jack…..”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………..

News quickly got round the village. The Westmorland Gazette ran a story, guarded in its details but announcing “Christmas Eve Tragedy: Loco Driver killed in serious accident near Penrith.”

The press was strictly controlled back then, during the wartime emergency, but as the full story of what had happened emerged Jack was feted as a hero whose bravery equalled anything that had been shown on the Front Line. He’d saved the lives of his three mates – but if the whole train had gone up, it would have taken a lot more with it. He was awarded the George Cross, posthumously.

His funeral was attended by everyone from the village, with representatives from the union from head office, as well as men from the surrounding loco sheds – not least Carnforth. Joe Fothergill broke down in tears at the graveside – not a man to normally display emotion. His tears were shared by many of his mates. The whole village was in mourning.

…………………………………………………………………………………….

Madge kept herself busy the following days. Walter and Marie stayed with her but after a few days she asked them to give her some time alone.

………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Jack’s  death presented a headache for the local management. The normal arrangement, going back to the early days when a ‘railway servant’ transferred, retired – or died – was for the railway house to be given up. There was a long waiting list for railway houses at the time and Madge knew that she’d have to move.

Sparing the stationmaster the embarrassment of asking her to leave, she walked down to the station on a Monday morning and knocked on his door.

“Madge, love, come in – I’ve been meaning to call in and see you since the funeral…”

“Aye, I know, I’m being evicted – don’t worry, I can go and stay at my sister’s in Kendal, I’ve already asked her…”

“Well, in fact I was going to offer you something else, if you’re interested…we’ve a vacancy for a class A signalman and crossing keeper at Hayrigg Fell. It’s a single shift and a nice little cottage goes with it. What do you think? You’d have to join the union, mind…”

“Oh, that’s a bit unexpected….can I have a think? And you know me, of course I’d join the bloody union!”

“Only joking…and of course. Don’t take too long though I want to get that box covered. You’ll get four week’s training and then you take over. It’ll free up a relief man for other vacant boxes that are busier. You’ll be doing an important job, though you’ll not be pushed for work!”

“Well I’m used to hard work Mr Pattison. I’ll take it. When do I start?”

Madge did her four weeks training at Carnforth, with the local inspector, Joe McGrath, explaining the basics of the railway signalling system, Rule Book, and a crossing keeper’s duties. The box wasn’t busy and only opened a single shift. If it hadn’t been for the war, the LMS would have closed it. It was just a block post to provide extra capacity on the climb up to Grayrigg, with an occupation crossing used when one of the local farmers needed to get across to his fields.

She passed with flying colours and received a letter from the District Superintendent at Carnforth telling her to present herself for duty on March 15^th, 1940. She’d be given two days ‘on the job’ training with Alan Protheroe, the relief signalman who’d been covering the vacancy, and then take charge on the Wednesday.

She was told to vacate her house on Helmside Terrace by March 12^th and the keys for the crossing keeper’s cottage would be available when she surrendered her keys for Helmside. There was a hand-written note from the station master added to the type-written letter to say that he would arrange for one of the company’s vans to collect her belongings and move them to her new home.

………………………………………………………………………………………

She arranged her move for the previous Friday; she’ no shortage of help from her neighbours in getting loaded up. Several cakes had been baked as a farewell. Marie took a day off from work to help her unload.

The cottage was in good condition.  It dated back to the 1840s, when the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway was built, but had been kept well by its previous tenant Bill Lonsdale, who had died a year or so ago. Running water, and even gas. There was a small vegetable garden at the back which had become overgrown.

“Well, it’s clean enough,” Madge said to Marie, but it lacks a woman’s touch. Let’s get cracking. Old Bill hadn’t cleaned that cooker for years!”

Furniture was brought in and set down; pictures, including a wedding portrait of her and Jack, were displayed, and other homely touches added. Marie set to work getting the fire going; it drew well and was soon roaring away.

They sat down for a cup of tea, with a fine choice of neighbour’s cakes, when they heard a noise from behind the front door.

“What’s that?” said Marie. “Sounds like a cat in distress. I’ll go and look.”

She opened the door and – without so much as a by your leave – a large black cat bounded in and placed himself in front of the fire, which was going nicely by now.

“So where have you come from then?” Madge asked her visitor. “You look like you belong here…”

There was no collar to give any indication of its name or home.

“Well, you’ll be needing a bit of company mum, I’ll go and get it some milk…I think you’ve got a lodger! What are you going to call it?”

“Well I had a friend in our Labour Party branch who had two cats, called ‘em Lenin and Trotsky, daft sod. But I’m going to call him ‘George’, after George Lansbury – a great socialist and champion of the workers. And of course our Jack got his George Cross.”

Madge and George settled down to a comfortable life at Hayrigg Fell. Her main job was to open the gates two or three times a day to let the farmers through, seldom delaying any traffic on the line. She wasn’t short of visitors and she was able to cycle down to the village, or even Kendal, for union and Labour Party meetings, and the odd bit of shopping.

With her new found friend ‘George’ some of her friends joked that she was turning into a witch – ‘Madge, the Mad Witch of Hayrigg Fell’ – a name she quite liked.

“I might start making lotions and potions and sell them on Kendal Market on my day off,” she mused.

……………………………………………………………………………………

It was about six months after she had started when Harry, one of the local farmers, had a big load of hay to get across to the farm. He turned up at the crossing and Madge said she’d get him across in a minute, just had to check with the signalmen on each side that there was nothing important coming through.

Oxenholme No. 3 box told her there was only a light engine on its way from Carnforth to Tebay, it wouldn’t be a problem to stop him at the crossing while the farmer got across.

It turned out the driver, who called in the box to say hello and ‘sign the book’, was Joe Fothergill, the driver who’d been with Jack on ‘that night’.

“I heard you were here so I told my fireman I’d come up and sign the book for him while we were stopped here – and see you Madge. Well, you look very comfortable…”

“Aye, it’s nice. I like it. Have you seen my new friend?”

At which point George came slinking up the steps into the box, purring loudly.

“Well by the heck Madge, that’s the strangest thing. That cat is the spitting image of the mog at Clifton and Lowther box that was killed in the explosion.”

“Give over Joe, there are plenty of black cats around. Are you telling me he’s a ghost cat?”

“No, I don’t believe in any o’that sort o’ thing….. you’re probably right Madge, just sayin’….we often used to go inside at Clifton and have a brew with the bobby. A black cat was always there and the story is that he made a whining sound when summat was worrying him – like on that night….he’d been wailing and whining a few hours before our train arrived with that wagon afire and…well, you know what happened….”

“Get back on that engine you daft bugger, I’ll get you away to Tebay.”

Joe got back on his engine, Madge shut the gates and pulled off her signals for the engine and away he went, with a friendly toot on the whistle.

………………………………………………………………..

Madge looked at George a bit differently after that story. She’d always thought he was a bit odd and was occasionally given to making weird wailing sounds for no apparent reason. But he was a loving cat and kept the mouse population down.

Next time he starts his wailing, she thought, I’ll see if there’s been anything going on…

A pattern did begin to emerge. George would start wailing when a railway accident had happened, or was about to happen. News was still tightly controlled during the war but her regular paper, the Daily Herald, would report on some railway accidents, up and down the country.

He seemed to go completely crazy one day in June, 1944. Madge couldn’t find anything in the papers but it later emerged that an ammunition train blew up at Soham, in East Anglia, in circumstances very similar to what happened that Christmas Eve near Penrith. The driver and fireman were both killed as they tried to move a burning train out of the station and surrounding village. Like Jack, they died as heroes whose bravery had saved many lives.

George continued to act strangely around the time of major railway accidents. Madge didn’t mention this to anyone else in case they’d think she’d gone mad after the loss of her husband. And anyway, a good socialist like Madge didn’t go in for all this ‘supernatural nonsense.’

George continued to have ‘one of his do’s’ as Madge called them to herself, and she would usually find out there had been some railway accident involving fatalities.

………………………………………………………………………………………..

It was on the evening of October 7^th 1952 when he had his worst attack. From tea-time he spent hours whining and wailing, scratching the furniture and running round the house like a demented beast. This carried on throughout the night.

The following morning, about 8 a.m. she woke up to find George lying dead on the carpet.

Later that day the news started to come through about an horrific crash at Harrow and Wealdstone, in the north London suburbs. Three trains had collided. The morning Glasgow – London express had passed through red signals and ran into a local train stopped at the station. Another express, heading north, ploughed into the wreckage.

A total of 112 passengers lost their lives, including a retired signalman from Penrith, Harry Langton, on his way south to visit his daughter in London.

Madge buried George in a makeshift grave next to the line. The box – and Madge – are long gone but the grave is still there, looked after by the local farmers.

December 16^th 2024

Note:

This story is a work of fiction. Madge, Jack – and George – are fictional characters, as are all the other characters in the story. I’ve tried to use local names as far as possible. The story of the ammunition train blowing up near Penrith did not happen – though the serious accidents at Soham and Harrow and Wealdstone, are facts. There was no Harry Langton involved in the crash. Hay Fell signalbox closed in 1949 and nothing remains, including ‘George’s Grave’!

In March 1945 there was an all-too-real incident when a train conveying naval depth charges caught fire near Bootle, Cumberland. The driver, Harry Goodall, was killed in the explosion whilst trying to detach the burning wagon. I was not aware on the incident when I was writing the story, which is a bit strange in itself given the similarities.

Acknowledgments

A big ‘thank you’ to Bob Waterhouse, Ken Harper and Tony Parker for their very helpful comments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Northern Salvo

A gradely Salvo for gradely folk* 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, Lancashire

email: paul.salveson@myphone.coop

Publications website: www.lancashireloominary.co.uk

No.     324     December 2024   

Salveson’s half-nakedly political digest of railways, tripe and secessionist nonsense from Up North.

Celebrating Lancashire Day

Greetings on Lancashire Day, November 27^th – and by Lancashire I mean  ‘real Lancashire’ stretching from the Mersey to the Lakes, not what the media imagines it as today. This Salvo, slipped in between November’s and the Christmas Salvo, out in mid December, has a predominantly Lancashire flavour but hopefully those unfortunate enough not to live in the County Palatine will still find something of interest. I’ve done a slightly updated version of my Christmas ghost story (‘Who Signed The Book?’) which some of you may have seen before. I’m working on a new ghost story to feature in the Christmas Salvo, provisionally titled ‘The Crossing Keeper’s Cat’.

*What is ‘gradely’? ‘Gradely’ is a Lancashire term for all that is good, proper and right. There is an old joke about a southerner coming to Lancashire and hearing the word used – but being unable to find it in his dictionary. “That’s because,” he was told, “it’s not a gradely dictionary!” It’s time we re-instated this wonderfully expressive word into our daily speech….

John Prescott: one of us

It’s sad news about John Prescott’s passing, rightly described by The Guardian as a ‘titan of the Labour Movement’. He was a great guy and I enjoyed working with him back in the mid-1990s. Contrary to what a lot of snobbish people (left and right) said, he was an intelligent and thoughtful politician who did as much, if not more, than anyone to get a progressive integrated transport system on the agenda. He brought together a group of transport activists, myself included, to contribute to a collection of essays on transport policy, perhaps unfortunately titled Travel Sickness. A lot of the ideas in there are still very relevant today – let’s hope Louise Haigh and her team learn from the good ideas that were around in the 1990s. You don’t have to go to Dijon to see what works.

He was also passionate about working class history. He kindly wrote the foreword to my book Socialism with a Northern Accent, published twelve years ago. Talking of ‘Labour’s traditional, community-

based values’ he said “These values were born out of the industrial struggle in the North, which was long and bitter. It was working class people who created the trades unions, co-operatives and municipal bodies as foundations of our communities that still endure.”  Perhaps the best tribute to him came from a chance conversation I overheard on a train heading to Paddington from Plymouth, years ago during the Blair era. A driver and guard were travelling to London ’on the cushions’ to work something. They were talking about modern Labour politics, not with unbridled enthusiasm I have to say. However, the conversation got on to Prescott and one of them, in a broad West Country accent, said “Well he’s different…he’s one of us.” And he was. Politics is a less interesting place without his brain.

What we’ve achieved – but where are we now?

This is based on the Introduction to my book ‘Lancastrians: mills, mines and minarets’ published by Hurst in 2023. It’s slightly updated: the book itself is still available (see below or from the publisher, Hurst).

Lancashire is a region with a strong identity. Despite attempts to

dismantle much of the historic county, many people in what is now officially Greater Manchester, Merseyside or Cumbria, cling on to their sense of being ‘Lancastrian’.

Before the mid-17^th century it was an agricultural society. The ‘county palatine’ had been created in the 14^th century and the county developed around a small number of wealthy and influential families and powerful religious settlements. The pre-Industrial Revolution centuries saw the creation of some major religious communities, including Cartmel Priory, Furness and Whalley Abbeys. They’re well worth visiting and can be easily reached by train.

The Lancashire Powerhouse

Lancashire went from being a relatively backward place in terms of industry and learning to become the powerhouse of the Industrial Revolution, as well as a cultural centre. It was based on textiles: the creation of a self-confident industrial bourgeoisie drove economic growth. The origins of these entrepreneurs varied. We should beware of the myth that they were all ‘self-made-men’. Yet their achievements in not only industry but also in architecture and culture are enormous.

In these early years, the ‘handloom weavers’ became the intellectual aristocracy of the working class. Many were highly literate, accomplished musicians and botanists. Their contribution to a Lancashire culture cannot be exaggerated; many of their botanical and geological collections survive; their music and literature remains, but is largely unrecognised. The handloom weavers produced many talented musicians. The most well-known were the ‘Larks of Deighn – or ‘The Deighn Layrocks’ from a small weaving community in Rossendale.

Some were skilled instrument makers and performed the works of Haydn in small hillside chapels. Some composed their own hymns and orchestral works. Subsequently, the ‘operative spinners’ in towns such as Oldham, Bolton, Rochdale and Bury were prominent in friendly societies and the co-operative movement.

The Dialect Tradition

Lancashire had a very strong folklore tradition, saturated with references to that characteristically Lancashire creature, ‘the boggart’ – a name that once struck fear into children. Boggarts are not so common nowadays but their reputation lives on in literature and physical features such as Boggart Hole Clough in North Manchester and ‘The Boggart Bridge’ in the grounds of Burnley’s Towneley Hall. Numerous Lancashire houses were reputed to be haunted.

A distinctive Lancashire dialect literature began in the mid-19^th century though its roots are earlier. John Collier (‘Tim Bobbin’), from a handloom-weaving community near Rochdale, was the first major writer to set down dialect speech in literature, with his ‘Tummus un Meary’ in 1746. Others followed but it was Edwin Waugh, again from Rochdale, who made the real breakthrough in the 1850s with is poem ‘Come whoam to thi childer an’ me’ – largely thanks to middle class sponsorship. A tradition of Lancashire dialect literature developed during the second half of the century, with poets and prose writers including Waugh, Samuel Laycock, Ben Brierley and other lesser-known working men, mostly from handloom weaving backgrounds. Towards the end of the century a small number of women were writing in dialect, such as Margaret Lahee.

The fight for the right to roam

Lancashire has long had a love of the countryside; an important aspect of the handloom-weaving culture was an interest in botany and herbalism. This combined with an appreciation of the countryside which developed into the organised rambling movement of the late 19^th century. Initially this was an urban middle class pursuit but a growing number of working class men and women formed field naturalist societies and also cycling organisations such as the Clarion and numerous local bodies. This could be reflected in class conflict between landowners and the working class – the most notable events being the Winter Hill Mass Trespass of Bolton in 1896 and rights of way struggles in Darwen, Bury and Flixton. Many of the participants of the Kinder Scout Trespass of 1932, including its leader Benny Rothman, were from Manchester and Salford. The modern ramblers’ movement was inspired by Lancastrians such as Tom Stephenson and more generally by the writings of Alfred Wainwright and Jessica Lofthouse.

In the late 19^th century a small group of Lancastrians developed close links with the great poet of the countryside, Walt Whitman, which continues to this day. Each year admirers of Lancashire poet and singer of the outdoors, Edwin Waugh, celebrate his memory with a walk to Waugh’s Well, on the moors above Rossendale. The Winter Hill Mass Trespass is still commemorated in Bolton.

The Lancashire musical tradition was partly born of its strong religious culture but also of these informal working class musical groups. By the middle of the 19^th century there were choirs and orchestras of national repute. The Halle Orchestra was formed in 1857 but was preceded by the Manchester Camerata. In Liverpool, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic is one of the oldest orchestras in the world, being formed in 1840. Alongside the classical tradition, Liverpool pubs resounded to sea shanties, often with Liverpool themes.

Food and drink

Lancashire, like most parts of Britain, had a distinct food and drink culture which continues to the present day. Bury is of course famous for its black puddings which have an enduring popularity which perhaps tripe doesn’t enjoy. Lancashire has outstanding cheeses, simnel cake and of course hot pot. What has survived, what hasn’t? A new generation of brewers have revived some old Lancashire favourites such as ‘dark mild’, and ‘whoam-brewed’ ale is celebrated in many dialect poems. Fitzpatrick’s sarsaparilla has experienced a revival and the last surviving ‘temperance bar’ in Lancashire – at Rawtenstall – is flourishing.

A Lancashire Intelligentsia

A central feature of Lancashire’s growth into a powerful Northern region was the formation of a distinct intelligentsia, partly but not entirely based on the emerging universities of Manchester and Liverpool. The industrial bourgeoisie was far from being simply a class of money-making philistines: industrialists like Leverhulme had a strong commitment to the arts and endowed galleries and museums. This reflected their own roots within Lancashire.

There was also a network of ‘learned societies’, mostly but not entirely comprising middle class men, some of whom had achieved wealth through textiles or engineering. The Manchester Literary Club is a good example; by the end of the 19^th century many smaller towns had their own literary and scientific societies, including Burnley, Warrington, Darwen, Leigh, Bolton, Bacup and elsewhere. The many local co-operative societies had their own members’ libraries; Rochdale’s had a stock of several thousand books. For middle-class readers, their needs were catered for by private subscription libraries such as the still-thriving Portico in Manchester (est. 1802). The growth of municipal libraries is an important part of Lancashire’s cultural history. At the same time, Lancashire developed a strong local press in the 19^th century, with larger towns often having daily newspapers which reflected political loyalties (usually, Liberal and Conservative). Most local newspapers promoted local writers, often serialising novels and short stories and publishing local poetry. Warrington had its own literary magazine in the early 1900s called ‘The Dawn’. Locally-based publishers such as Abel Heywood and John Heywood of Manchester, and Clegg of Oldham, were crucial to the development of a Lancashire literature.

Lancashire authors and engineers

Lancashire was a much-written about county in the 19^th century but few novelists were local. A remarkable exception is Elizabeth Gaskell who wrote powerful fiction about life in industrial Lancashire. The Lancashire Authors’ Association was formed in Rochdale in 1909 and was an uneasy alliance of working class writers like Hannah Mitchell and Allen Clarke with middle class literati. It still exists with an extensive library now based at the University of Bolton. Twentieth century Lancashire writers included Walter Greenwood, Harold Brighouse, Bill Naughton and William Holt. Contemporary writers include Jeanette Winterson (exiled in London) and Salford poet John Cooper-Clarke (a modern-day Edwin Waugh?).

Lancashire developed a pioneering role in engineering, initially in relation to textile machinery but broadening out into other fields and building a world-wide market. Engineers from Bolton and Oldham were instrumental in creating Russia’s cotton industry and many stayed, marrying Russian women. The role of the British Empire is crucial in Lancashire’s development and this was reflected in areas such as textile design. The growth of Barrow-in-Furness was based around shipbuilding for the Royal Navy and its associated iron and steel industry.

Railway pioneers

Whilst the railway network initially developed thanks to the genius of the North-east based Stephensons, Lancashire became a centre of railway engineering excellence with major railway factories in the Manchester area (Gorton, Patricroft) and – later – Horwich. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was the world’s first inter-city railway, though the Bolton and Leigh beat it by two years as the first public railway in Lancashire. The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway was an example of a powerful regional business with its headquarters in Manchester. The Furness Railway was another example of regional enterprise which made the most of opportunities in both freight, passenger services and niche operations in tourism.

Municipal pride

The architecture of Lancashire reflected its industrial achievements, with the development of distinctive architectural styles in cotton mills, warehouses and engineering factories. These often had classical references, reflecting the sense that Lancashire was the ‘new Athens’. The Co-operative movement, first established in Lancashire, developed a distinct architectural style for its stores, many of which remain. The growth of municipal power was reflected in opulent town halls, such as Rochdale, Manchester, Liverpool, Bolton, Barrow and Preston. Smaller towns such as Farnworth, Radcliffe, Hindley, Rawtenstall and Heywood had strongly independent administrations with substantial town halls that reflected this.

The arts tradition is extensive and well-documented. Lowry is important, but so too his predecessors such as Adolphe Vallet and Walter Crane – and Lowry’s successors including Theodore Major, Helen Clapcott, Geoffrey Key and many others. There was a distinctive ‘Lancashire Art’ movement which remains vibrant today, supported through outstanding institutions in Manchester, Liverpool, Preston, Warrington, Bolton and other towns.

A Lancashire politics

Lancashire was at the forefront of the rise of the socialist movement in the last decade of the 19^th century. This had a strong cultural element with the formation of socialist clubs with their own choirs, field rambling clubs and a distinct socialist literature, often using dialect, in the work of Allen Clarke, Ethel Carnie, Sam Fitton and others. On the opposite end of the spectrum there was the phenomenon of ‘Clog Toryism’ with some Lancashire towns retaining strong loyalties to the Conservative Party – a phenomenon that has been re-awakened with the ‘red-wall Tories’ elected in 2019. Several present-day Conservative MPs support ‘Lancashire’ cultural bodies including Friends of Real Lancashire and The Lancashire Society, though they also have patrons amongst Labour MPs and peers.

Political club culture grew rapidly from the 1890s and many fine buildings remain (often turned over to other uses) that were once Conservative or Liberal ‘working men’s clubs’. Labour clubs came later and were mostly less opulent. The Bolton Socialist Club, founded in 1895 survives – since 1905 housed at 16 Wood Street, Bolton, birthplace of Lord Leverhulme! Nelson’s Unity Hall, opened in 1907, has recently been refurbished and features displays of the early socialist movement in East Lancashire. Sadly, the grand Conservative Club in Accrington has been demolished.

In between Conservative and Labour, Lancashire had a distinct Liberal politics, embodied in people such as Thomas Newbigging, historian of Rossendale and radical Liberal in the 1880s, Solomon Partington of Bolton who led the Winter Hill Mass Trespass, and Samuel Compston, leader of East Lancashire Liberalism and enthusiast for Lancashire history and culture. It linked in to strong traditions of Nonconformity and was particularly strong in Rossendale and East Lancashire. This ‘Lancashire Liberal’ tradition has all but disappeared though Liberalism made something of a comeback in the 2024 General Election in some parts of the region.

Religious identity was often reflected in political loyalties and through the 19^th century there was a close correlation between church-going Anglicans and the Conservative Party, with various hues of Nonconformity tending strongly towards Liberalism. The growing Irish communities in the second half of the 19^th century were sometimes Liberal but tended to switch to Labour in the 20^th century.

Trades unions developed during the 19^th century; most were local or regional in nature. For much of the 19^th century the main cotton towns had their own independent unions reflecting hierarchies within the industry – spinners, card room workers, weavers and many more. The Lancashire miners’ union remained independent throughout most of the 19^th century and continued as a highly devolved regional body up to and after the Miners’ Strike of 1984/5, when the Lancashire NUM took a different stance to the national (Yorkshire-led) leadership.

Sporting Lancashire

Sport was a major part of Lancashire identity – though there were few specifically ‘Lancashire’ sporting bodies, with the notable exception of country cricket. Towns had professional football and Rugby League clubs from the late 19^th century and they became symbols of local pride. Very often there was a distinction between ‘coal’ and ‘cotton’ towns with Rigby League tending to predominate in mining areas (Leigh, Wigan, St Helens and Salford) while cotton towns tended to be more football-oriented (Bolton, Blackburn, Preston, Burnley). But there were exceptions, with Oldham and Rochdale tending to be rugby towns. The two major cities – Liverpool and Manchester – were and still are primarily football towns, each with rival local teams. Manchester City remains true to its Lancashire roots with the red rose of Lancashire featuring in its crest. Lancashire country cricket is still based at Old Trafford.

Lancashire at war

The county has a strong military tradition, with notable regiments including the Lancashire Fusiliers (commemorated in its own museum in Bury), the East Lancashire and the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiments. The horrendous carnage in the First World War was highlighted by the wiping-out of the ‘Accrington Pals’. There is a moving memorial to ‘the Pals’ in the town and displays in the town hall and heritage centre. Other towns as well as Bury had substantial barracks, including Ashton-under-Lyne and Preston. One of the most outstanding monuments to the horror of war is the statue of the blind soldiers – ‘Victory over Blindness’ – outside Manchester Piccadilly station. The changing way in which war has been commemorated across Lancashire is reflected in its art and historical interpretation in museums, including the Imperial War Museum (North) at Salford Quays.

Alongside the formal military tradition, many Lancashire men joined the International Brigades to fight in the Spanish Civil War and are celebrated with memorials in Manchester, Bolton and Wigan.

Lancashire women

In the 19^th century it was the norm for Lancashire working class women to do paid work – notably in the textile industry, with women predominating in weaving and also ‘unskilled’ parts of the spinning process. They also worked in coal mining, in later decades on the surface as ‘pit brow lassies’. Both middle and working class women were actively involved in the campaign for women’s suffrage – Oldham mill girl Annie Kenney played a major role and the Pankhursts were of course Manchester-based. Mrs Marjory Lees, wife of one of Oldham’s major cotton magnates, was a dedicated supporter. Many female cotton workers were involved in the campaign for the vote, organised by the North of England Women’s Suffrage Society.

Lancashire has long had a flourishing ‘voluntary’ tradition, reflected in thousands of clubs and societies dating back to the 18^th century in many cases. The Co-operative movement, begun in Rochdale, is an example of working people getting together and creating their own institutions, which have endured – despite many changes. Friendly societies, trades unions, burial clubs and building societies are examples of the ‘voluntary’ culture, as well as a plethora of local literary and scientific societies which flourished in most towns and villages, Many still do.

Sing as we go: music in Lancashire

Lancashire became famous for its popular music – George Formby, Gracie Fields and Frank Randall became household names well beyond Lancashire in the 20^th century. It was also home to one of the country’s greatest opera singers, the Leigh miner Tom Burke, who had unfulfilled ambitions to set up a ‘Lancashire Opera Company’. Lancashire produced some important composers including William Walton, Thomas Pitfield, Peter Maxwell-Davies and Harrison Birtwistle. The Manchester-based Royal Northern College of Music and Chetham’s College continue to produce great music and musicians.

The second half of the 20^th century saw Lancashire at the forefront of a revolution in music, led by the Beatles but including Manchester and Salford bands. Later, Tony Wilson almost succeeded in making Manchester the cultural capital of Britain through his various projects including Factory Records and The Hacienda Club. Interestingly, Wilson was a passionate ‘Lancastrian’ and made serious efforts to revive the flagging fortunes of the east Lancashire cotton towns, creating the ‘Pennine Lancashire’ brand. In theatre, talented writers such as Shelagh Delaney pioneered what was derisively called ‘kitchen-sink drama’ but reflected real life in Northern working class communities. The remarkably popular TV series Coronation Street reflects the changing cultural mores of Lancashire over seventy years.

It is more difficult to argue for a specifically ‘Lancashire’ film industry. However, Lancashire was the setting for some outstanding films in the 1960s, such as Spring and Port Wine and The Family Way. There are outstanding Northern film-makers and a growing number of small film studios and companies.

New Lancastrians

Successive waves of migration to Lancashire have created a much more diverse culture – and Lancashire cultural identity. Towns such as Oldham, Rochdale and Bolton have flourishing Asian dance troupes, musicians and singers. To an extent, the ‘new Lancastrians’ in some of Lancashire’s Asian communities have become more ‘Lancashire’ than the rest of us, with strong Lancashire accents heard in the Asian neighbourhoods of many Lancashire towns.

The Irish immigrants of the 1840s, escaping famine, created large and often very poor Irish communities in many Lancashire towns, and there were often outbreaks of anti-Irish hostility in the mid to late 19^th century. Jewish migrants arrived in Lancashire in the late 19^th century and early 20^th century, mostly settling in Manchester. The Manchester Jewish Museum is a superb celebration of Jewish life and the contribution of Jewish people to Manchester life and culture. Later refugees from war and oppression included German Jews in the 1930s through to post-war waves of immigration from eastern Europe, Asia and Africa.

A modern and progressive Lancashire

Can a 21^st century Lancashire can be re-born? Towns like Bolton, Wigan, St Helens and further north in Barrow and Ulverston retain a strong Lancashire identity, despite attempts to destroy it. Is it destined to remain a nostalgic and conservative sub-culture, steadily disappearing, or can it be re-created as a modern and inclusive identity reflecting the demographic changes of the last sixty years?

A Lancashire Manifesto

Lancashire and Yorkshire both have strong identities and despite historic rivalries, we have more in common, as Jo Cox would have said, than what divides us. Yet while our Yorkshire neighbours are building up momentum for a ‘One Yorkshire’ region, Lancashire is lagging behind. On Lancashire Day 2024, I’m arguing for a re-united Lancashire, with its own democratically-elected assembly, based broadly on its historic boundaries but looking to the future for a dynamic and inclusive county-region that could be at the forefront of a green industrial revolution. It isn’t about creating top-down structures but having an enabling body that can help things happen: in business, arts, education and other fields. As well as a new county-region body to replace the mish-mash of unelected regional bodies and mayors with little accountability, a re-united Lancashire also needs strong local government (that is genuinely local) working co-operatively with the communities it serves and a vibrant economy that is locally based where profits go back into the community.

Now read on…..http://lancashireloominary.co.uk/index.html/lancashire-re-united

Who Signed the book? A Christmas railway ghost story

This was first published in ASLEF’s Locomotive Journal in December 1985 and was subsequently republished in my collection of short stories, Last Train from Blackstock Junction, published by Platform 5 in 2023. The story is set in the mid-1980s at a remote signalbox on the Bolton – Blackburn line. The link is here:

A Christmas Ghost Story

Lancastrians: Mills, Mines and Minarets

Thanks to historians Alan Fowler and Robert Poole for recent positive comments about the book. In the current North West Labour History Journal, Alan wrote: “The variety of topics is one of the appealing features of the book. It is some time since we had a history of the county, so this account is very welcome, and it reminds the reader of the significance of the county in the UK, one often forgotten by London or Oxbridge-based historians….I hope many readers of the Journal will read it.”

I’m still getting invited to do talks on my ‘Lancastrians’ book. I’ve done several during the Autumn including Chorley Family History Society and Probus clubs in Preston and Leyland (actually on Walt Whitman’s Lancashire links, which feature in the book).

The book is hardback, price £25. Salvo readers can get it post free directly from me:http://lancashireloominary.co.uk/index.html/order-form

Other Lancashire books still in print (at gradely 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.

WITH WALT WHITMAN IN BOLTON

This has been out of print for a few months but I’m doing a new edition, only very slightly revised an updated. It will be available from late November, price £12 (including postage). Salvo readers can email orders through.

[1] For a recent general history of Lancashire see Stephen Duxbury, The Brief History of Lancashire (The History Press, 2011)

[2] See John Walton A Social History of Lancashire (Manchester University Press, 1980) for a thorough discussion of the origins of the Lancashire industrial bourgeoisie

[3] Roger Elbourne, Music and Tradition in Early Industrial Lancashire 1780 – 1840 (D.S. Brewer for Folklore Society, 1980)

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.     323     November 2024   

Salveson’s half-nakedly political digest of railways, tripe and secessionist nonsense from Up North.

After a gap in service…

Sorry about the long gap since the last ‘Salvo’ but hopefully this will give you something to chew on. I really need to get the thing out of the shed so I’m not going to wait until the outcome of the US presidential

elections. While, like the editor of The Skibereen Eagle who was keeping a close eye on the doings of the Russian Tsar, I don’t think anything The Salvo could say would add to the total knowledge of this very weird election campaign. All I can say is, I just hope Harris wins. But as one chap said, ‘optimism of the will, pessimism of the intellect’…..

The Budget…you can’t be disappointed if you didn’t expect much

Here’s a piece I wrote for that great survivor of left-wing journalism, Chartist, a couple of weeks before Rachel Reeves’ budget. I can’t say it was ‘prescient’ as a lot of things had been trailed anyway. But I think I got it about right. This is very far from being a ‘green’ government. There were lots of things that Labour could have done e.g. around fuel duty, to name just one, but they chose not to – while jacking up bus fares. Clearly, investment in hospitals and schools is welcome. In many ways it was a classic ‘old Labour’ budget of ‘tax and spend’ with a nod to ‘the working man’ by cutting the price of a pint. How very quaint.

Many Salvo readers would have noted the wonderful news that the Bolton to Wigan line is to be electrified. I’m sure the people who have been working on the project for the last two years will be delighted. The completion of HS2 into Euston was widely expected but nothing about what happens north of Birmingham – something has got to be done, preferably ‘The Burnham Plan’ for a scaled-down but more appropriate option which provides for the capacity that’s desperately needed. So here’s what I said three weeks ago, with comments in brackets:

There’s a lot happening on the transport scene, good and bad, but first of all, hats off to transport secretary Louise Haigh for speaking her mind about the odious P and O shipping company, describing them as a ‘rogue operator’ . Let’s hope that Starmer doesn’t sack her for her temerity to say what even some Tory politicians said about the company that sacked 800 of its staff with zero notice.

It’s hard to say too much until Rachel Reeves’ budget measures are announced on October 30^th. However, press leaks suggest that the go-ahead will be given to the completion of HS2 into Euston. Less has been said about what happens further north, with current plans, if you can call them that, involving HS2 finishing in a field north of Birmingham with trains crammed onto already congested tracks heading north. (still no news)

It’s essential that HS2 gets completed to Crewe, though not necessarily the over-specified scheme that was originally planned and contributed to some (not all) of the huge cost over-runs. The plans that are being promoted by the Greater Manchester and West Midland mayors, for a less expensive, but still fast, link from Manchester to Birmingham should also be given the green light.

Investment in infrastructure is key to economic growth and Reeves seems to get that (she seems to). The North of England suffers from particularly poor east-west links and proposals for ‘Northern Powerhouse Rail’ linking Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds also require unambiguous support backed up by cash. (all we got in the Budget were schemes already well advanced, do they think we’re a bit thick up North?)

Whilst the disputes with the rail unions have been settled (for now) there remains a huge number of cancellations particularly at weekends, due to lack of train crew. As argued in the last Chartist, getting Sunday to be part of the working  week, is long overdue. Travelling by train on (state-owned) Northern on a Sunday has become a perilous venture.

It isn’t all about fast intercity connections. A lot of the animosity towards HS2 was fuelled by the appalling state of local train and bus services, particularly in the North. Much of the self-congratulation by Labour after its first 100 days was about structural changes they were introducing to nationalise the railway companies and to give local authorities powers to run, and own, the bus services. Which is fine as far as it goes. I’ve argued in this column over the years that public ownership in itself isn’t a magic wand that will make everything OK. As noted above, Northern is state-owned and has been for quite a while, but performance has got worse rather than better in recent months.

On the buses, Greater Manchester is an example of a successful publicly-controlled bus operation. Mayor Andy Burnham was a pioneer of route franchising (based on the long-established London model).

The first areas to get franchising were Bolton and Wigan and the results have been good, though perhaps not spectacular. Passenger numbers, and revenue, have gone up. Whether that increase will cover the extra costs of the re-organisation isn’t clear. But a bigger issue for bus networks generally is whether local authorities will have the resources to actually run their own services, at least on the level of current provision but really we need improved services and frequencies. Otherwise, what’s the point? The long years of cuts to local government spending have had a dire impact and councils are talking about having to make further cuts in spending. I find it hard to imagine any council thinking it would be a good idea to spend shedloads of money on running their own bus services when they’re having to close community centres, libraries and other vital services.(good that some extra funding was found in the Budget for bus services)

Most worryingly, the last Government’s £2 fare cap appears to be under threat. (It was cut! £3 outside London and Greater Manchester from next year). What sort of message would that send out about Labour’s commitment to helping those least well-off, addressing climate change and reducing car dependence? (draw your own conclusions…)

We keep being told about ‘difficult choices’ having to be made (Winter Fuel Allowance, ‘Pressiegate,’ perhaps the £2 fares cap, etc.) when it might be a good idea to make some not-all-that-difficult decisions such as scrapping some major road schemes that are in the pipeline, and increasing fuel tax. (typical Salveson optimism here…)

As things stand, I’m finding a huge amount of anger and disappointment out there towards Labour, amongst many people who

voted for them in the expectation that things would get better and – amongst transport activists – that we’d start to see a different approach to transport policy and investment decisions. There are things that Labour could do quickly, such as reforming criteria for infrastructure investment so that social, economic and environmental factors (rather than journey time savings) score highly.

I hope I’ll be pleasantly surprised by Rachel Reeves’ budget (I wasn’t), but I’m not holding out too much hope, even if Euston does get its new station. But that’s in London, innit?

Rocketing forward: Three year Heritage Lottery Funding Confirmed

Some great news about Rocket 2030, celebrating the 200^th anniversary of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Here’s the press release which went out last week, from Manchester Histories:

£180,000 in National Lottery Heritage Funding Secured for the Rocket 2030 Partnership: Celebrating 200 Years of the World’s First Inter-City Railway between Liverpool and Manchester

To mark 200 years of the world’s first inter-city railway, Manchester Histories announce that the Rocket 2030 Partnership has secured just over £180,000 from The National Heritage Lottery Fund, alongside contributions from key partners, to celebrate the bicentennial of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.

Helen Featherstone, Director, England, North at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “The 200^th anniversary of the world’s first inter-city passenger railway between Liverpool and Manchester in 2030 is a significant event in railway history. It is fantastic news that, thanks to National Lottery players, we are supporting important research and planning towards a series of heritage and cultural events for the future Rocket 2030 anniversary celebrations.”

This significant investment will lay the foundations for Manchester Histories and the Rocket 2030 Partnership to commission, develop and deliver a dynamic programme of events and community engagement activities from 2024 to 2027. The programme will forge connections between past, present and future and celebrate groundbreaking railway history and its lasting impact on heritage, culture, and communities across the North West. It will provide opportunities to thoughtfully address historical issues, such as labour exploitation during the industrial era and current challenges like climate crises.

This initiative draws inspiration from the original prospectus issued on October 29, 1824, which aimed to raise £300,000 for the railway. Manchester Histories will lead the project over the next three years, working alongside cultural organisations, local authorities, communities along the route, and key rail sector partners, including Network Rail

and Northern Rail. This inventive collaboration emphasises the critical role of skills and innovation in the North West. It aims to enhance the workforce development partnership, ensuring that the project contributes to the broader goals of economic growth and community empowerment.

Karen Shannon, CEO of Manchester Histories, said: “We are incredibly grateful to National Lottery players and The National Lottery Heritage Fund for their support in bringing Rocket 2030 to life. This project offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to celebrate a major milestone in railway history while also addressing important contemporary issues like sustainability and community heritage.”

Laura Pye, Director of National Museums Liverpool, said: “National Museums Liverpool are delighted to be a key partner in the Rocket 2030 project, celebrating the ground-breaking legacy of the Liverpool

and Manchester Railway. This collaboration enables us to bring history to life in new and exciting ways while creating opportunities for people to engage with their heritage. Together, we’re honouring the past and shaping a more innovative and inclusive future.”

 

Key events and activities planned include:

• Preservation of Heritage: Rocket 2030 will explore the heritage of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, addressing its architectural, cultural, and community significance. Key landmarks, including the Grade I listed Sankey Viaduct and Liverpool Road Station at the Science and Industry Museum, will be highlighted, alongside the railway’s impact on the region’s industrial development.
• Cultural Events and Activities: Rocket 2030 will deliver a series of cultural events, exhibitions, and artistic collaborations. This will include innovative projects such as contemporary historical animations and memorable moments in partnership with local artists to draw inspiration from the railway’s legacy and engage with current communities and audiences.
• Community Involvement: The project will actively involve local communities, particularly those along the railway route, in celebrating the railway’s legacy. Hamilton Davies Trust, working with the many partners, present and new, will continue to lead the further development of the existing Liverpool to Manchester CRP to empower local communities to actively preserve and promote their railway heritage, ensuring ongoing engagement beyond the project’s lifespan. Small grants will be available to support community-led heritage initiatives, fostering a sense of ownership and pride in local history.
• Economic Impact and Tourism: By partnering with the visitor economy sector, Rocket 2030 aims to create a significant heritage tourism offer that will attract national and international visitors, bolster local economies, and promote sustainable tourism.
• Educational Initiatives: Collaborations with local schools and universities to incorporate the railway’s history into educational programmes using new technologies, ensuring that younger generations are connected to their heritage.
• Sustainability and Innovation: Rocket 2030 will reflect on the past and address contemporary environmental challenges. The project will explore the railway’s role in shaping climate resilience and sustainable transport, with support from academic institutions and key rail industry partners.

Professor Paul Salveson, Chair of the Rocket 2030 Partnership, said: “The 200th anniversary of the world’s first inter-city railway is a great opportunity to celebrate our past as well as the importance of our railways in meeting the modern-day challenges of climate change and social inclusion. As a lifelong railwayman, I look forward to Rocket 2030 as truly inclusive, bringing together the people working on today’s railways and the communities they serve and support.”

As we look forward to the upcoming years, the Rocket 2030 Partnership is excited to embark on this journey of discovery, celebration, and community engagement. We invite everyone to join us in making this bicentennial celebration a landmark occasion honouring our past and inspiring future generations.

Phil James, North West route Director at Network Rail, said: “Rocket 2030 promises to be an incredible celebration of an iconic inter-city railway that provides a vital economic and cultural link between two much loved North West cities. We are proud to be custodians of this historic railway and continue to build on this incredible heritage in everything we do. From those pioneering days of steam travel, we now help millions of people travel between Manchester and Liverpool annually. We are grateful to the Heritage Lottery Fund for their support, and we look forward to working with communities on this initiative.”

For more information about the project, emerging details and upcoming events, keep in touch:

www.manchesterhistories.co.uk #ManchesterHistories #Rocket2030 #NationalLottery #HeritageFund facebook.com/manchesterhistories | instagram.com/manchesterhistories | x.com/mcrhistfest

About the Rocket 2030 Partnership

Rocket 2030 is an ambitious heritage project celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. The project will highlight the historical significance of the world’s first inter-city railway and its ongoing impact on heritage, culture, and sustainability through a comprehensive programme of events, research, and community engagement.

The Rocket 2023 Partnership is Liverpool City Council/Culture Liverpool, Manchester City Council, Manchester Histories, Metal Culture, Liverpool, National Museums Liverpool, Network Rail, Northern Rail, Salford City Council, Science and Industry Museum, St Helens Council, Transport for Greater Manchester and The University of Liverpool. Hamilton Davies Trust and partners will continue developing the Community Railway Partnership (CRP).

www.manchesterhistories.co.uk facebook.com/manchesterhistories | instagram.com/manchesterhistories | x.com/mcrhistfest

Gorton Tank Rumbles On…

Some readers may be old enough to remember ‘Gorton Tank’ – the Great Central’s extensive loco works at Gorton, in East Manchester. For a trainspotter in Bolton it was quite special – near enough to get to cheaply but offering the sight of strange LNER – and older – locos. It was a bxxxxr to get round but you could spot quite a few locomotive

numbers from the long footbridge which went above the works and adjoining loco shed (‘The Birdcage’). On the other side of the tracks was the large Beyer-Peacock works which, in its time, built locomotives for all round the world – focusing on their highly distinctive Beyer-Garratt locos. I was a bit more lucky with the B-P works, being shown round by a friendly worker on his lunch break. The Western Region ‘Hymek’ diesels were rolling off the production line and I remember seeing D7034 outside, resplendent in two-tone green. That must have been August 1961, I was eight at the time.

Why am I rambling on? Well, I was invited to come along to a community event celebrating the end of a fascinating project  about Gorton Tank and talk about how it all fitted in to the story of Manchester’s Railways. It was a ‘railway’ event like none other I’ve been to, with Chinese dancing, a choir and folk music, as well as recollections of Gorton in the 50s and 60s. It was organized by All FM, a local radio station. All credit to them – to find out more go to www.allfm.org/Gorton-Tank

Harry Pollitt at Gorton – a reluctant Stalinist?

One of my political heroes (I don’t have many) was Harry Pollitt, a working class lad born in Droylsden who went on to become General Secretary of the Communist Party of Great Britain. He had strong Gorton connections – he was apprenticed as a boilermaker at Gorton

Tank and returned as a ‘skilled man’ to work for a while at Beyer Peacock’s before the First World War. His ‘political apprenticeship’ was served at the Openshaw Socialist Hall on Margaret Street. I’ve been re-reading his autobiography, Serving My Time, published in 1940 and came across this:

“Early in 1914 I began to work at Beyer Peacock’s in Gorton as a plater in the Locomotive Shop, and we were very happy there. My father worked in the same shop and, as he was very popular, everyone made me very welcome in spite of the fact I was a foreigner ‘from the Tank.’ One would have imagined that the Tank was in darkest Africa, instead of being separated from Peacock’s only by the main railway line of the Great Central Railway, for there was great rivalry between Tank men and Peacock’s men, each believing they were the salt of the earth amongst boilermakers.”

Harry Pollitt became leader of the Communist Party in 1929, at the height of Stalin’s powers. Re-reading his autobiography he comes over as a warm and decent man, perhaps a reluctant Stalinist – though you

can understand why he made that choice to join the Communist Party when it was formed in 1920. I think the Independent Labour Party’s more woolly ‘ethical socialism’ would have lacked appeal – and the CP was very much the standard bearer for the Russian Revolution of 1917. His relationship with Moscow was difficult. There’s evidence that Pollitt intervened to try and save the lives of communists that had fallen foul of Stalin, including British communist Rose Cohen. She was shot as a spy. Pollitt himself was dismissed as general secretary in 1939 for opposing the Stalin-Hitler pact, but returned as leader when the Soviet Union joined Britain against the Nazis. I remember talking to Eddie Frow, the great bibliophile, historian and communist about Pollitt. Eddie always had great praise for him, which is good enough for me and told me a few tales which one day I’ll write up. Had the socialist movement not split after the First World War Pollitt could well have become the leader of a united socialist party – but it wasn’t to be. We’re still paying the price for that.

REPTA Remembered

A valued new addition to items on display at Kents Bank Station Library is the nameplate ‘REPTA 1893 – 1993′. It was carried by class 47 diesel lcomotive 47.156 until it was withdrawn. REPTA (originally the Railway Employees’ Privilege Ticket Association’) was a great

railway institution for decades, helping railway staff and their families with travel arrangements across the world. It finally closed at the end of 2023. Former trustees of the association travelled to Kents Bank to re-dedicate the nameplate and inspect some of the REPTA arcghive material we possess (more welcome!). Many thanks to former General Secretary Peter Davies for facilitating this (and sorry you had such an awful journey Peter!).

New winter exhibition showcases work of great local artists

The Beach Hut Gallery, on Kents Bank railway station, has launched a new exhibition showcasing the work of several outstanding artists based in the South Lakes.

The gallery is hosting original work by artists including Sally Toms, Christine Baines, Steve Trevillion, and Fionn Jordan Tatlock. They’re all very different but they share the fact they they’re very much of the area and are high quality.

Fran Brown, a director of the co-operative which runs the gallery, said

that there’s something in the exhibition to delight everyone. “There’s the vibrant ceramics of Sally Toms, intriguing collages by Steve Trevillion, superb landscape scenes by Chris Baines and highly intricate drawings by Fionn Jordan.”

A special viewing night attracted a capacity audience and Sally, Steve Trevillion and Fran Brown spoke about their work.  The exhibition continues to the end of the year. As well as the current exhibition the gallery has exciting works of art by Martin Copley, Fran Brown, John Hatton, Steve Fairhurst, Ben McLeod (our previous featured artist) and many others.

The gallery opens every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 11.00 to

16.00. It’s  run on a not for profit basis and is staffed entirely by volunteers. It will be holding a Christmas Fair with its next-door-neighbours in the Station Library on Saturday December 14^th between 11.00 and 16.00 with complimentary mince pies, mulled wine and other treats.

A ‘Friends of The Beach Hut Gallery’ was launched last month to generate support for the gallery and we’ve been delighted by the response. We think we’re offering something really special and we want to build our support in the community. Details are on our website or you can email us at beachhutgallery@googlemail.com for more.”

Railway Library – Network Rail to the rescue

The adjoining Railway Library & Bookshop continues to grow with many valuable donations.  We were recently given some very important books by the Friends of the National Railway Museum – thank you Frank and Mike! 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.

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. We’ve made good progress on that, thanks to Jon from Network Rail, part of the NR Employee Volunteering Scheme.

Our next ‘mutual improvement class’ will be on Wednesday November 13th. Peter Holmes will speak on ’Narrow-Gauge Industrial Railways of Furness’.  Accommodation is limited so please book in advance, by email or ringing 07795 008691.

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. 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 .

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.  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!

LES JOHNSON

Les joined the railway in June 1937, starting on the LMS at Barnsley Court House as a Junior Clerk. He was refused by the LNER! Barnsley Court House was a joint station between the LMS and LNER and at the time of joining it came under the LNER’s jurisdiction. He was promoted into the Control Office and retired as a Deputy Chief Controller on 4^th December 1952.

I can remember the evening trips to Belle Vue for 2/6, which included entrance into the place. These specials were highly popular, and I can

remember booking three or four thousand. We had to ring through to Mexborough for additional stock to cope with the crowds. I once booked two full fares, two halves, a pram and a dog, return to Wigan. A passenger at Normanton once asked me for two returns to ‘IMPSARSE’ I spent a few moments looking through the Station Index, before realising he wanted Ramsbottom.

I moved to Farm Buildings, Sheffield, the local headquarters. Once, after a night out with my girlfriend (later to become my wife), we missed the last train home to Barnsley. We had to get a lift on the Post Office van, arriving back at 3.35 on Sunday morning!

After a period on relief, I moved to Normanton and worked in the booking office, and also in the North Yard, assisting with Control number-taking. The night shift at Normanton was in two parts. The first was preparing tickets for issue on the first two trains to Leeds and

secondly sorting stacks of railway mail during the stay of two trains: the 02.55 Leeds – Bristol, which was in Normanton between 03.11 and 03.30, and the 02.05York – Liverpool, which was there from 02.36 to 03.09. Today, no trains of importance call at Normanton, and the station is just a small shadow of its former self.

At the outbreak of war I joined the railway section of the Local Defence Volunteers – later to become the Home Guard. I patrolled the centre of Barnsley armed with a brake stick! I joined the RAF in 1940, and was soon posted overseas to the Middle East. We were sent to North Luffenham for a medical check-up, and then granted leave. I arrived at Peterborough on Thursday around 10pm, and had a right set-to with the RTO, who said I’d have to wait until the following morning for the first connection to Barnsley from Sheffield. I managed to get to Doncaster, hoping to get a lift towards Barnsley – it was about midnight and I had my full kit with me. I met up with a sailor who was trying to get to Thurnscoe near Barnsley. He only had a side pack, so he carried my kitbag and we set off walking. He set a cracking pace and I had trouble keeping up. There was no traffic at all, because Hull was getting a right pasting from the bombers that night. As we approached Hickleton I asked what the hurry was. He replied “If I get home before t’pit buzzer blows, I’ll catch her!” I often wondered if he did. I was entering Goldthorpe when the first lorry I’d seen, appeared. I offered him two alternatives: either stop, or knock me down. He stopped. I arrived in Barnsley just before 6am and knocked my parents up. On the Sunday evening I left for West Kirby – so I had just 72 hours embarkation leave.

I spent four and a half years overseas. There were many memorable moments, but only one to do with railways. This was when I was in charge of a party on train guard, escorting two Maryland aircraft belonging to the Fleet Air Arm, from Aleppo in Turkey to Riyad in Egypt. It took 14 days.  There was one quite extraordinary occurrence when I was in the Middle east. During 1941 I was on a bus between Tel Aviv and Haifa, in what was then Palestine. A civilian got on at Hadera, and sat just in front of me. He was speaking to his friend in the broadest South Yorkshire accent. I tapped him on the shoulder and asked ‘What part of South Yorkshire do you come from?’ ‘Barnsley’ he replied. ‘So do I – what’s your name?’ It was Jack Kendrick. ‘Do you have a sister called Renee and a father in the police force?’ I asked. Of course it was the same Jack Kendrick I had heard of! I ended up spending two days over Christmas with Jack and his wife. He was working for the Iraq Petroleum Company in Haifa. It was a coincidence meeting him like that, but the real nub of the story is this. I was telling the tale about how I met him on that bus one night when I was in Leeds Control. One of my colleagues, Norman Henfry, turned to me and asked ‘What did you say his sister’s name was?’ I told him it was Renee, and he said ‘She’s the girl my brother married!’ The next time I met Renee was at Norman’s funeral.

I returned to the railway in 1946. I got married and went to work in Cudworth Control. I had to spend quite a lot of time in Carlton Yards and in Carlton North Sidings Box to prepare me for the job. I moved on to Rotherham Control in 1947 when Cudworth, Staveley and Masborough Controls were amalgamated. I was promoted to Deputy Chief Controller in Leeds Control in September 1958. It was a good move, and I had applied for plenty other jobs without success before. I

had an interview for a job in Doncaster, only to be turned down after the District Superintendent asked about my wartime work. When I asked him ‘What the hell has that to do with my railway capabilities?’ I was out on my ear! I didn’t shape any better when I applied for a job in Kings Cross Control, when I was working at Rotherham. They wanted to know what a ‘Midland’ man was doing applying for an Eastern Region job! I told them that Rotherham was part of the Eastern, but my lack of local knowledge told against me; I think they had someone lined up for the job.

For the Leeds job I was interviewed by a Mr Barlow, the District Superintendent. Now another job had also been advertised for the deputy in Wakefield Control, and I put in for that too. Mr Barlow said ‘I see you’ve applied for both Wakefield and Leeds – which do you want?’ I asked him if I had a choice. ‘I’ll re-phrase it then. If you had a choice, which would you want!’ I told him Leeds, because I knew Leeds and Wakefield were to be merged and I wanted to be in on the ground floor. I got Leeds, but it was 15 years before the two offices finally did merge.

The main job in Control was to deal with incidents quickly and efficiently when they occurred. I was involved in several major

incidents, including a derailment at Wath Road Junction of the St Pancras – Bradford express on 18^th May 1948. I was Passenger Controller and was called out to deal with necessary diversions and other arrangements. The line was finally cleared at 07.35 on the 20^th.

Another incident happened at Ardsley on 26^th October 1959. I was a passenger on the 6.12pm from Kings Cross to Leeds Central with my wife and three children, when the train was derailed. My eldest son, Malcolm, was slightly injured. It was atrocious weather and the express hit a light engine. Although not on duty (a proper railwayman is never really off duty!), I checked with signalman Joe Ward that full protection had been carried out, and assisted on the ground until Stan Routledge, the District Inspector, arrived.

I was due to sign on at Leeds Control at 9.30pm on the night of 25^th April 1960, but I arrived early at 9.10pm. My colleague, Harold Johnson was sat very intently on the end of the phone. I asked what was wrong. ‘We’re waiting for a bang’ he replied. He knew an incident

was about to occur and there was nothing we could do about it. Sure enough, a crash happened between Garforth and Micklefield. My experience of the Ardsley accident made me fully aware of the feelings of people involved in such incidents, especially the need for ‘a nice cup of tea.’ I made sure all the passengers were well looked after.

There were plenty other incidents I had to deal with, including the collision at Bradford Exchange on 3^rd June 1964 when a Manchester – Leeds passenger train ran into a stationary parcels train. The St Pancras to Edinburgh sleeper was derailed at Rothwell Haigh on the night of 27^th September 1964. I was called out to take charge of the Control Office.

A very sad incident happened at Kirkstall on 17^th July 1970 when an empty stock working from Keighley to Leeds ran into the rear of the 16.57 Workington to Tinsley freight. The goods guard, T. Telford of Skipton, was killed. I had the unenviable job of ringing up his brother Jack Telford, who worked in our Control, to tell him the bad news, and to arrange for him to attend for identification of the body.

I was involved in sorting out the mess after the 21.50 York – Shrewsbury collided with the 20.40 Liverpool – Hull at Farnley Junction on 5^th September 1977, and also the crash at Dearne Valley Sidings on 19^th June 1978, when a freight became derailed, and was then struck by the 14.36 Paignton to Leeds express. That was real railway work, sorting that lot out.

Lancastrians: Mills, Mines and Minarets

I’m still getting invited to do talks on my ‘Lancastrians’ book. I’ve done several during the Autumn including Chorley Family History Society and Probus clubs in Preston and Leyland (actually on Walt Whitman’s Lancashire links, which feature in the book).

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 14^th century. There are about forty ‘potted biographies’ of men and women who have made important (but often neglected) contributions to Lancashire.

The book is hardback, price £25. Salvo readers can get it post free directly from me

Feedback and blowdowns

Geraint Hughes: Full marks for your comment that we need to preserve elements of local or regional identity in whatever emerges under the GBR banner. There’s a danger that a fully national organisation will just sink to the level of the lowest common denominator, rather than seeking to emulate the best operators of the current crop, from whom there’s a lot to learn. Where I live in East Anglia we have Greater Anglia, who are top of the tree, with customer-focused staff, new trains and a strong community connection, but we also have Govia Thameslink, who are largely anonymous and poor performing. It’s interesting that the latter have been on a cost-based contract with DfT for some years, with little incentive to grow revenue and the customer base. Fingers crossed that GA will persist in some form!

Conrad Nazio: Trams and drink: you should surely have heard this one, a favourite of my mother’s: Man thrown out of pub: “Get oop! say his mates. “I can’t, me nose is stuck in t’tram lines”. So they upped wi’ his heels, and wheeled him to t’depot”.

Farewells

Very sadly, the death has occurred of Nancy Cameron, beloved wife of Dugald and founder of the award-winning Friends of Wemyss Bay Station, just days after it won Best Small Station at this year’s National Rail Awards. Our deepest sympathies to Dugald.

Malcolm Bulpitt, long-time Swiss Railways fan and editor of Swiss Express, has died. He worked in local governmenta nd was a highly regarded transport planner – and a regular reader of The Salvo.

Robin Cole, dearly loved partner of Polly, died at home in Glasgow earlier this year. He was an amazing character and his funeral service had no shortage of wonderful tales of his doings. We shall not see his like again.

and greetings

Birthday greetings to Lucy (grand-daughter) who insisted on showing

me this great artwork at Stockport Edgeley station. Well, I said I’d take her to the Bahamas for her birthday. The artwork at the back of the station is well worth looking at – well done Avanti and community rail aprtners for making the approach to the station something really special.

 

Congratulations to Michael Davies, Ffestiniog pioneer, explorer of the

Irish narrow-gauge and much more, on reaching his 90th. We had a delayed, but very enjoyable, outing to West Yorkshire in October which took in trains and scenic bus journeys. The route was Kents Bank – Preston – Blackburn – Todmorden – bus to Lumbutts – lunch – walk down to Tod – bus to Hebden Bridge – bus ‘over the tops’ to Keighley – train to Gargrave – pub – train to Carnforth and back to Kents Bank. I was tired out, Michael could have kept going….Hwyl fawr!

Still in Print (at special prices)

 

ALLEN CLARKE: Lancashire’s Romantic Radical: a biography of the remarkable Aleln Clarke/Teddy Ashton: dialectw riter, cyclist, socialist, philosopher – and more. £5.99 (normally £18.99)

Moorlands, Memories and Reflections A series of essays on aspects of Allen Clark’e 1920 classic Moorlands and Memories, bringing the story up to date. £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 a general history of the famous line, with an emphasis on the people who built and worked on it. (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)

WITH WALT WHITMAN IN BOLTON

This has been out of print for a few months but I’m doing a new

edition, only very slightly revised an updated. It will be available from late November, price £12 (including postage). Salvo readers can email orders through.

 

 

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 200^th 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 200^th 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 14^th 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 300^th 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 14^th 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)

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.     321     August   2024   

Salveson’s half-nakedly political digest of railways, tripe and secessionist nonsense from Up North.

Post Election Salvo: plenty to be pleased about, but….

It was the Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci who coined the phrase ‘optimism of the will, pessimism of the intellect’ and that applies very well to my thoughts following Labour’s landslide victory earlier this month. Optimism?  Starmer has got off to a good start, with a clear ‘re-set’ from the old regime in terms of relationships with devolved governments and the regional mayors. His appointment of Lord Hendy as Rail Minister was an inspired move though Peter is a loss to Network Rail. At the same time, having a strong Lib Dem presence, and four Green MPs, will help provide a ‘progressive opposition’ to Labour when necessary and hopefully keep them on their toes in terms of green commitments.

Pessimism? Many people have commented on the heroic assumptions that Starmer and his team have made around growth as the way to fund promised investment, rather than increasing general taxation. I hope Starmer and Reeves are right but I have my doubts. A modest increase in taxation, with the main burden falling on the super-rich, would be politically very easy to do. And why not break the longstanding veto on increasing petrol tax?

I’m very wary of Starmer’s strapline that this will be ‘a government of service’. Sounds nice but what does it mean? It sounds very old Labour, top-down politics that ‘we’ll do it for you’. I’d have been happier with the idea of an ‘empowering government’ which gives real power to devolved bodies, right down to the grassroots level.

With that should come a reformed voting system. Just because he odious Farage has made it his ‘thing’ doesn’t mean to say it’s wrong. Labour was very effective in playing the existing system and got a huge majority with a very low share of the vote. If the Tories re-grouped and played a similar game Labour could lose much of its gains from this year. Labour should use its commanding position to start a real debate on voting reform with a view to getting a bill through in this Parliament. But hey, is that a pg that just flew past the window?

As for Reform itself, let’s see if they can consolidate their gains. I doubt it, but who knows? To build an effective political party you need strong grassroots organization, even in this digital age. My guess is that Reform will fall apart quite quickly, with Farage being embraced by a Badenoch-led Tory Party. Bear in mind that Reform isn’t a political party as we know it – it’s essentially a private company owned by Farage with no member accountability.

Great to see the Greens making the long-awaited breakthrough but they need to do a lot more to establish a stronger presence in the North. They’ve been handed a gift with the Gaza issue but that won’t last. For me, I’d like to see them campaigning for stronger devolution with more accountability for the regional mayors through elected assemblies. The same goes for the Lib Dems – who also need to show they are not just the party of the affluent South-east and leafier parts of the North. Who will speak for the workers? Absolutely not Farage, and not Galloway either. Interesting times ahead.

Labour’s rail policies

So far, a mix of good, and not so good. The appointment of Lord Hendy as Rail Minister was an inspired move; let’s hope he has the freedom to make a real difference and address issues such as rail capacity. The dog’s dinner that has been left by the abrupt cancellation of HS2 beyond Birmingham needs sorting. The southern terminus must be Euston, capacity on the West Coast Main Line south of Crewe, and further north, has to be addressed. The proposal being developed by the Greater Manchester and West Midlands mayors for a de-scoped new line from Birmingham to Manchester makes much sense, and is pretty much what The Salvo had been organizing all along (!).

The best thing the new Government could do for the railways in the short term would be to sort out the current industrial relations problems which are making millions of people’s lives a misery. This is an ‘English’ problem – the drivers’ union, ASLEF, has come to agreed settlements in Scotland and Wales as well as Merseyrail, London Overground and with the freight companies. The fault for this damaging dispute dragging on for so long lies firmly at the door of the last Government. As well as settling the pay dispute, it’s about time that Sunday was brought into the working week with a stop put to the huge disruption travellers on Northern in particular are experiencing at weekends.

Many rail supporters have been disappointed by Rachel Reeves’ announcement that the ‘Restoring Your Railway’ fund is being scrapped. I share some of that disappointment but let’s get it in perspective. It was a political ploy from the start, with little cash being available. A lot of time was wasted by promoters developing schemes which were unlikely to see the light of day. The best place for local rail re-openings to sit will be with the regional mayors, who should be given more powers and resources, as well as expansion of the governance model to other area (with more democratic accountability).

Finally, Great British Railways looks like it will emerge in the not too distant future. Let’s hope it has the capacity, skills and powers to make a real difference without stifling either local initiative or for that matter elements of private enterprise, e.g. open access and freight as a whole. It would be good if GBR had a small unit dedicated to innovative ways of supporting local routes, building on the success of Community Rail over the last 30 years but taking it further. More on that in the next Salvo.

Rocket 1830 – 2030

Plans to mark the 200^th 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. The four working group chairs (covering Culture, Community, Visitor Economy, Built Heritage and Railway Ops and infrastructure) have met and there will be a general gathering of all members 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

Lancashire Witch 2028! (A Boltonist view of history)

The Bolton and Leigh Railway came first, at least in Lancashire. It opened two years before the Liverpool and Manchester Railway with celebrations kicked off by a gaily-decorated ‘Lancashire Witch’ (as all Lancashire witches are). The line from Liverpool joined up with it, at Kenyon Junction, in 1830 enabling Boltonians (and folk from Leyth, Bent and Bongs) to travel through to Liverpool. A branch extended across Chat Moss into Salford and Manchester.

Timothy Hackworth’s Sans Pareil was one of the first locomotives to be built for the Liverpool and Manchester and featured in the 1829 Rainhill Trials, losing out to Rocket. It later transferred to the Bolton and Leigh.  A replica of the original was built in 1980 and, like the original, is part of the national collection. Bolton foundries built several locomotives for the growing rail network around the UK and abroad though sadly this side of the town’s engineering industry never grew as it might have done, losing out to Vulcan Foundry.

A group of enthusiasts have got to together to look at ways the 200^th anniversary can be celebrated and some preliminary discussions have been held with the council leadership, which were very positive.

And next year it’s…

2025 is the 200^th anniversary of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, which opened  on September 27^th 1825. It wasn’t the first railway by any means but has a very important claim to world significance. It was a public railway, not a private industrial line. It carried passengers and used steam locomotives. Unlike the Bolton and Leigh (another line

engineered by George Stephenson) there’s a lot left to see, and travel on. This included the historic Skerne Bridge, completed in 1824 and the world’s oldest railway bridge still in use. On behalf of Rocket 200 we paid a visit to Hopetown a week after it had re-opened in mid-July. The site encompasses the North Road Railway Museum, which has had a major re-vamp, as well as newly-restored facilities including the Goods Shed, Carriage Works and ‘Wagon Woods’. Darlington Locomotive Works, managed by the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, is now linked to the site by a new footbridge.

The works is building Prince of Wales, based on an LNER P2 locomotive.

Our visit was all too brief – next time we’ll visit Shildon, a short train ride up the line to Bishop Auckland with its gallery of mining art and direct link to the Weardale Railway.

Station Library joins forces with The Beach Hut Gallery!

The ‘fusion’ of Kents Bank Station library and its next-door neighbor, The Beach Hut Gallery, is complete, though we’re all still finding our way. The gallery was formed in 2008, displaying top quality work by local artists. The Station library is of course more recent, having been formed less than a year ago, to develop a unique collection of railway and wider transport-related books and magazines, on a working station.

From the beginning of July the Gallery and Library has come under a single management, though with a sub-committee to help with the

library, gallery, publicity and PR and other areas. Four of the trustees of the Library have become directors of the Beach Hut Gallery Ltd – the co-operative which runs the gallery and new members of the co-operative have been recruited. There’s now a much bigger team of volunteers to help run the gallery, library and book sales.

The Gallery and Library will continue to run on co-operative principles, on a not-for-profit basis and both will continue to be staffed on a volunteer basis. The Library, in the basement of Station House, will become part of the co-operative which will own the expanding book collection.

The opening days and times of the Gallery will stay the same (Fridays, Saturday, Sunday and bank holiday Mondays) and the library will also be open at the same time. We could open more frequently but  this will be dependent on getting volunteers to staff the library as well as the gallery. Might you be interested? Contact Paul if you’d like to discuss what’s involved.

The gallery will be hosting an exhibition of the work of locally-based artist Ben McLeod. Details to follow but we’re hoping to launch the show with a preview in August. See www.thebeachhutgallery.com

Donations still welcome

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

Dodgin’ th’trams

That’s an old Lancashire saying when you’ve had a bit too much and the walk home was a perilous venture, with all those trams whizzing around. Typical of these ‘gondolas of the people’ is the preserved Boltob Corporation ‘Tramcar 66’. It belongs to the Bolton Tramcar Trust and is in the safe keeping of Blackpool Transport at their Starr Gate depot. It is allowed out a coule of times a year and we were very fortunate to join several other friends, fellow

Boltonians and tram enthusiasts for a trip up to Fleetwood and back. We also managed to do a trip up to the newly-opened North Station.

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 (below). 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!

FRED NORTH

Fred’s was another railway family. His father was a driver at Manningham shed, Bradford. Fred started his footplate career in the late 1930s. He worked at Manningham, Copley Hill, and finally at Holbeck sheds.  Fred’s dad was the driver of the LMS ‘Jubilee’ loco 5660 Rooke when it made record performances over the Settle-Carlisle Line.

Brothers in Unity

“There’s always been rivalry between the different railway companies. It’s still there among older railwaymen! We used to call the LMS “Let Me Sleep”! But there was often a nasty edge to it. I can remember drivers on the GN saying about a transferred driver, “Don’t talk to him, he’s a Midland man”. I used to like the GN gauge lamps, and I’d

often try and swap a few cloths for one of them! The rivalry could get serious when promotion was involved. When someone came in from another shed he’d put you back for promotion. It wasn’t his fault, of course. But often these transferred men were treated with hostility.

I can remember worrying when I transferred to Copley Hill, the GN shed. I was a Midland man, and I’d seen men at Holbeck sent to Coventry by some of the other men. I always challenged this, and I’m glad that I was well received at Copley Hill.

Many tunnels had their own resident ghost – often near running water, for special effects. Bramhope was particularly wet – the ghost must

have worn a mac all the time! Some tunnels were built on rising gradients, and you’d often start slipping on the wet rails. Sometimes you’d lose all sense of whether you were moving forward, standing still, or going backwards! The only way you’d know was by sticking your shovel out of the cab to touch the tunnel walls.”

The Art of Locomotive Management

“In the days of loose-coupled freight, it was easy to end up breaking couplings, or giving violent snatches which could result in the guard at the back of the train being thrown across the van floor and getting badly injured.

There was one place that was notorious, near Bingley. I was a young driver, and my father advised me the best way to tackle the dip. “Keep the bxxxxxxs going!” he said. He insisted that the best plan was to keep steam on hard after slowing down before Bingley.

I tried it out, and we went storming through Bingley tunnel, only to find the distant was not ‘off’ for us, but for the slow line. There was a 20mph slack from fast to slow, and we hit the points at something more like double that. Anyway, we held the rails but I was a bit angry with my dad. He repeated his opinion, adding that I must have just been a bit soft to worry about coming off the road. “There wasn’t any snatch was there?” he asked.

A Passed Fireman once took the quickest way into the Holbeck Mess Room – he ran a locomotive into it! He was on the turntable with a loco and the road off the table was on a rising gradient. He had trouble moving the loco, so he wrenched the regulator fully open. The loco moved all right – straight into the mess room wall! The main casualty was the mess room cat: it ran off in terror and obviously found a less dangerous abode.

I was lodging in London, and Kentish Town lodge had closed. I was sent to Ilford, but it was miles away. So I went to a place called the Hampton Castle, near Kings Cross. That was a right doss-house. The staff were ignorant. I got a meal but no spoon – so I asked for one. They refused, and said I should have asked for it when I ordered my meal! I kicked up a right fuss.

Perks of the job

There were some perks in working on the footplate. We had jobs to Heysham where you could sample the nettle beer. It was delicious! And at Kentish Town there was a place that sold lemonade – not ordinary lemonade, but real lemonade. You could taste the lemons!

We used to have a regular express passenger job to Carlisle. We’d always get sandwiches from the dining car lads when we got to Carlisle. One day we arrived and there was no sign of our ‘treats’. I got up on the tender and ‘put the bag in’ to take water, and then one of the attendants appeared. “I’m sorry we’ve no sandwiches today”, he said, “the chef has been busy. But would you accept this?” And he pulled out an enormous pork pie, together with a silver tea service. We split the pie in half and took most of it home.”

Lancastrians: Mills, Mines and Minarets

I’m still getting invited to do talks on my ‘Lancastrians’ book. The next is in Darwen for the University of the 3^rd Age (U3A). Always a good lot. 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 14^th 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 at it. 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.

New book: The Reporter

The Reporter is Rachel Francis’ second novel. She’s getting into her groove very well, with some marvelous evocations of Devon life – no sentimentality here, though a mourning for perhaps a more rewarding way of life, and a warning against growing commercialization: ‘the struggle between those people who invest their lives in a place and those who chase big money.’ The characters are well drawn. The chief male character, Ben, comes from a half-Aboriginal background and gets a job with the Mid-Devon Post. Rachel weaves his back story, growing up in a sheep station in the outback, into the novel. The novel is set in a fictional town on the edge of Dartmoor and its surroundings. Is Rachel set to become a 21^st century Thomas Hardy?

Now available price £10 ISBN 9781 399981774. Can be obtained direct from the author rachelzzzyx.com

Recommendations

Bob Waterhouse’s collection of his grandfather’s railway writings, Footplate Passenger, continues to receive praise from readers. We have

copies available at £14.99 in the Station Library. Peter Skellon’s ‘locomotive biography’ of LMS Jubilee ‘Bahamas’ is also available from the Library, either to borrow or buy. It is a substantial, very well produced book which easily justifies the price of £35.

Salvesons Still in Print (at special prices)

ALLEN CLARKE: Lancashire’s Romantic Radical £5.99 (normally £18.99). A full-length biography of the dialect writer, philosopher, cyclist, socialist and poet

Moorlands, Memories and Reflections £15.00 (£21.00). A modern-day reflection on Allen Clarke’s Lancashire classic Moorlands and Memories (1920)

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. A full-length history of the Settle-Carlisle Raiwlay which puts social history at the forefront of the story.

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)

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.     320     June 14^th 2024   

Salveson’s half-nakedly political digest of railways, tripe and secessionist nonsense from Up North.

Election Time! How does transport fare in Labour’s Manifesto?

Transport hasn’t featured very high in the election so far. A couple of weeks back a very sleepy Salveson was interviewed by Nick Robinson on the Today programme at about 6 in the morning regarding the appalling service being offered to users of Kearsley and Farnworth stations. And just to make the statistics convincing, the key train into Manchester was cancelled that morning (and the poor people of Farnworth and Kearsley have just one train an hour, even in the morning peak). I hope Sir Keir will do something to sort this out! (see below).

Labour published its transport policy document a couple of months ago; its manifesto has a much-shortened summary of the longer document which mainly focused on rail. The manifesto itself covers transport as a whole and, I have to say, is quite poor. Despite a few other commitments in the document around climate change, there’s hardly a passing glance given to the importance of transport in reducing carbon emissions and contributing to a sustainable future. Instead, Labour is effectively saying it will make it cheaper to drive, e.g. reducing the cost of car insurance and fuel. The document says that “Cars remain by far the most popular form of transport.”  It might have added “and we’ll make sure that remains so.” It continues in similar vein saying that “Labour will maintain and renew our road network, to ensure it serves drivers, cyclists and other road users, remains safe, and tackles congestion.” It makes a passing reference to supporting bus services, giving local authorities more power to franchise networks, as well as allowing councils to run their own bus services. That’s welcome and will be interesting to see if any take up the offer.

Aviation is also given the ‘thumbs up’. There is very little specifically on rail, other than ‘taking the railways back into public ownership’. In fact, most of it is already, though a commitment to establishing ‘Great British Railways’ to bring direction to the railways is welcome, a commitment from the previous Government. It also says that Labour will develop “a ten-year infrastructure strategy, aligned with our industrial strategy and regional development priorities, including improving rail connectivity across the north of England.” Let’s hope the money is there to do it.

Probably the most helpful point in this dull offering is the commitment that “Labour will give mayors the power to create unified and integrated transport systems, allowing for more seamless journeys, and to promote active travel networks.”

This is part of a wider commitment to giving combined and mayoral authorities greater power. It says that “In England, Labour will deepen devolution settlements for existing Combined Authorities. We will also widen devolution to more areas, encouraging local authorities to come together and take on new powers. Towns and cities will be able to take hold of the tools they need to pursue growth, create jobs, and improve living standards. Local areas will be able to gain new powers over transport, adult education and skills, housing and planning, and employment support.” It looks like there’s been some strong lobbying by the Labour mayors in the North of England to get this commitment from Starmer. In reality, the most radical things likely to come out of Labour in England  over the next few years won’t come from Westminster, but from the combined authorities across the North and Midlands. As argued in previous ‘Points and Crossings’ this is a good thing but the combined authorities need to be more democratically accountable, with elected assemblies overseeing the mayors.

Are the other non-Tory parties (in England) any better on transport? As you’d expect the Greens make strong pledges to investing in public transport, as well as walking and cycling. The Liberal Democrats are also strong on public transport but try to be all things to everyone by supporting cheaper motoring in rural areas. Yes, it’s difficult getting about in rural areas without a car but investing in a core rural bus network, connecting into rail hubs, would be a better idea.

Where the Greens fall down is on their lack of any apparent commitment to local or regional devolution. They make no reference to the growing importance of the combined authorities which now cover much of the North and Midlands. This re-inforces the impression that the Greens are becoming a party of the progressive, prosperous South with their main focus being on winning seats in places like Bristol, Norwich and East Anglia. They will probably pick up some of the pro-Palestinian vote in some Northern constituencies but I suspect that will be a transient thing unless they can build on recent local election successes and widen their appeal. There is still a gap for a progressive centre-left regionalist party in the North, or particularly in the North-West. I say that in fairness to the Yorkshire Party, which struggles to get the wider exposure which it deserves, in this skewed electoral system which Labour shows no inclination to change.

The Liberal Democrats seem to have built a wider base of support across England, with pockets of support in some urban areas as well as rural constituencies such as the sprawling constituency of Westmorland and Lonsdale which Tim Farron hopes to win. Overall, its transport policies are sensible and, unlike Labour, they recognise the huge damage done to the environment by aviation, saying they will ban “short domestic flights where a direct rail option taking less than 2.5 hours is available for the same journey, unless planes are alternative-fuelled.”

Returning to Labour, it makes the point that train cancellations “are at a record high”. Indeed they are, as the people of Farnworth and Kearsley will testify. Labour could resolve that on Day One by allowing train operators to reach agreement with drivers’ union Aslef to end the crippling dispute that is the main cause of the cancellations.

Reform or Revolution? The Nigel and George Show

That was the issue we used to earnestly debate at university, back in the early 1970s. Today, all the talk is of Reform UK and the appalling Farage becoming ‘the man of the moment’, or so the media would have us believe. I don’t always agree with Daniel Finkelstein, of The Times, but he was spot on with his critique of Farage on June 5^th (‘Nigel Farage is the continuity chaos candidate’):

“Nigel Farage is the continuity candidate in a change election. The revolt he offers is no revolt at all. It is merely a pose, his words just slogans. This is a country that needs calm leadership and policies that last and promises that can be, and are, delivered. Farage offers to repeat every mistake we have already made, to amplify every row we have already had, to revisit every dead end…”

Which is well said. And the same could be said for his mirror image on the left, George Galloway. It will be interesting to see if he holds on to Rochdale, a town which has been home to many genuine radicals over the years – above all Tom Livsey the Chartist leader who morphed into being a radical Liberal. His biography, by the remarkable Miss Margaret Lahee, concluded that “it is desirable that the high principle of liberalism may be extended, and that Rochdale will be foremost in the battle for reform, if that reform will extend itself to the working classes, and above all things, to the half-famished paupers, in granting thembetter and more decisive laws, which will protect them from the tyrannical and merciless system now in force against them.” (Life and Times of the Late Alderman T. Livsey by Mss M.R. Lahee, 1865)

The Rivington Bus is running

The Rivington Bus, serving the popular (but unserved by public transport) Rivington country park has re-started.  It is operated by

Stagecoach with funding from South-East Lancashire CRP, CrossCountry, Community Rail Network, Transport for Greater Manchester and Lancashire County Council. It is also supported by Horwich Town Council and Northern. This year the service operates from Horwich Parkway via Rivington and continues to Chorley Interchange, offering links to the rail network at both Horwich and Chorley, and wider bus connections from Chorley Interchange and at The Crown in Horwich (for buses to Bolton). The service has been promoted by the community rail partnership which got a funding package together. A special run for stakeholders took place shortly after the service commenced (see picture) and the first day of operation went well, with over seventy customers. The service has a special fare of £1 and concessionary passes are valid. The bus will run until November 3^rd.

It is Sundays only, departing Horwich Parkway at 10.50 and then at .50 each hour to 16.50. It departs from Chorley Interchange at 10.00 then on the hour until 17.00.

Harvey’s last farewell

I reported in a previous Salvo n the sad (and sudden) death of my good friend Harvey Scowcroft. A fitting farewell tribute to Harvey was organized on Sunday June 9^th when close friends and family travelled

on a special train hauled by Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway saddletank 11456 (dressed up as Horwich shunter 11305). We enjoyed the plush surroundings of the Director’s Saloon and stopped at The Burrs were Harvey’s ashes were shovelled in to the loco’s firebox. We continued to Ramsbottom and then returned to Bury. Meanwhile, Nigel Valentine has been doing a sterling job scanning Harvey’s photographic collection, with some real gems appearing, many of which have never been printed.

Rocket 200

Plans to mark the 200^th anniversary of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway are moving forward, with a series of community consultation events being held over the last few weeks and another planned in Liverpool on July 10^th (booked up!). 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

Colourful Bolton

Richard Alan-Hall (aka Rcky) has just published a lovely collection of his paintings, under the title Bolton in Colour. There are quite a few railway scenes, including what I think is one of his best (based on a

photo I took in 1965) of Horwich station. Ricky has spent all his life in Bolton and the collection shows a range of images of Bolton, from the old industry to countryside scenes. Its very well produced on good quality paper and, as he says, “a perfect gift for art lovers and Boltonians alike.”

The Lancashire Textile Design tradition

Bolton was once a centre of the world cotton industry. That didn’t just include spinning, and some weaving, but also textile design. One firm that was outstanding was Joseph Johnson Ltd, based at Deane Shed on Kirkbrook Road. The firm closed in 1971 and the collection of 54 pattern books were transferred to Bolton Museum. I suspect that many

others, from different firms around Lancashire, just went into a skip. The pattern books contain around 5,000 woven samples, made between 1944 and 1970. University of Bolton lecturer Donna Claypool has been working on the collection for several years, for her doctorate. The fruit of that labour has been on display in Bolton Museum for several weeks – but if you want to see it, tha’ll have to be sharp, as it finishes on June 15^th. However, an excellent booklet has been produced by Bolton Museum, with a foreword by the museum’s Curator of Art and Social History, Matthew Watson. The Archive as pattern: people and place, by Donna is available at the Museum and gives a fascinating account of the company, the textile design process and its significance. This is an excellent example of collaboration between Bolton’s Library and Museum Service and the University of Bolton. Let’s hope there can be more.

Station Library joins forces with The Beach Hut Gallery!

The Station library has joined forces with its next-door neighbor, The Beach Hut Gallery. The gallery was formed in 2008, displaying top quality work by local artists. The Station library is of course more recent, having been formed less than a year ago, to develop a unique

collection of railway and wider transport-related books and magazines, on a working station. Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill, chairman of Network Rail and a patron of the Library, visited the station to unveil an historic station sign, earlier this year.

Over the last few months the directors of The Beach Hut Gallery and trustees of Kents Bank Station Library have been in discussion about how they can work more collaboratively and develop these two important assets together. This has been spurred on by changes at the Gallery, including the sad loss of one of its members and the impending move to Wales of Beverley White, who in many ways has been the driving force behind the development of the Gallery.

From July 1^st 2024, the Gallery and Library will function under a single management, though with a sub-committee to help with the library.

Four of the trustees of the Library have become directors of the Beach Hut Gallery Ltd – the co-operative which runs the gallery.

The Gallery and Library will continue to run on co-operative principles, on a not-for-profit basis and both will continue to be staffed on a volunteer basis. The Library, in the basement of Station House, will become part of the co-operative which will own the expanding book collection.

“We want to develop the Gallery as a combined art gallery and bookshop, with a local and railway theme but also selling local books as it does now,” said Paul Salveson. “All the artists and writers who currently exhibit in the Gallery have been told of the changes and invited to continue to exhibit their work, on the same basis. The majority have said they wish to continue their relationship with the Gallery. The very popular picture framing service, provided by Brian Edgar, will continue.”

Paul added “We are keen to encourage new artists to display in the Gallery and develop a niche in railway art. We will continue to encourage artists from the area and develop more events and facilities which attract people to the Gallery.”

The opening days and times of the Gallery will stay the same (Fridays, Saturday, Sunday and bank holiday Mondays). However, this will be dependent on getting volunteers to staff the library as well as the gallery. Might you be interested? Contact Paul if you’d like to discuss what’s involved.

Station Librarian (and former Community Rail Cumbria officer) John Kitchen said: “This is a really exciting development for the Gallery and Library. Whilst the Beach Hut Gallery is well-established, the Library, specialising in railways and transport, is much more recent but has made rapid progress since opening late last year. This fusion of forces will be a good thing for both the gallery and library and ensure that these two important assets for Kents Bank – and the wider community – are not only safeguarded but expand their offers. A key job now is to develop a pool of volunteers to help staff the two facilities.”

Martin Copley, a longstanding director of The Beach Hut Gallery said “The former directors of the Beach Hut Gallery wish Paul and the new directors all the very best with the next chapter in the gallery’s life.”

Donations still welcome

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 (below). 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!

LES JOHNSON

Les joined the railway in June 1937, starting on the LMS at Barnsley Court

House as a Junior Clerk. He was rejected by the LNER! Barnsley Court House was a joint station between the LMS and LNER and at the time of joining it came under the LNER’s jurisdiction. He was promoted into the Control Office and retired as a Deputy Chief Controller on 4^th December 1952.

“I can remember the evening trips to Belle Vue for 2/6, which included entrance into the place. These specials were highly popular, and I can remember booking three or four thousand. We had to ring through to Mexborough for additional stock to cope with the crowds. I once booked two full fares, two halves, a pram and a dog, return to Wigan. A passenger at Normanton once asked me for two returns to ‘IMPSARSE’ I spent a few moments looking through the Station Index, before realising he wanted ‘Ramsbottom’.

After a period on relief, I moved to Normanton and worked in the booking office, and also in the North Yard, assisting with Control

number-taking. The night shift at Normanton was in two parts. The first was preparing tickets for issue on the first two trains to Leeds and secondly sorting stacks of railway mail during the stay of two trains: the 02.55 Leeds – Bristol, which was in Normanton between 03.11 and 03.30, and the 02.05York – Liverpool, which was there from 02.36 to 03.09. Today, no trains of importance call at Normanton, and the station is just a small shadow of its former self.

At the outbreak of war I joined the railway section of the Local Defence Volunteers – later to become the Home Guard. I patrolled the centre of Barnsley armed with a brake stick!I joined the RAF in 1940, and was soon posted overseas to the Middle East. We were sent to North Luffenham for a medical check-up, and then granted leave. I arrived at Peterborough on Thursday around 10pm, and had a right set-to with the RTO, who said I’d have to wait until the following morning for the first connection to Barnsley from Sheffield. I managed to get to Doncaster, hoping to get a lift towards Barnsley – it was about midnight and I had my full kit with me. I met up with a sailor who was trying to get to Thurnscoe near Barnsley. He only had a side pack, so he carried my kitbag and we set off walking. He set a cracking pace and I had trouble keeping up. There was no traffic at all, because Hull was getting a right pasting from the bombers that night. As we approached Hickleton I asked what the hurry was. He replied “If I get home before t’pit buzzer blows, I’ll catch her!” I often wondered if he did. I was entering Goldthorpe when the first lorry I’d seen, appeared. I offered him two alternatives: either stop, or knock me down. He stopped. I arrived in Barnsley just before 6am and knocked my parents up. On the Sunday evening I left for West Kirby – so I had just 72 hours embarkation leave.

I spent four and a half years overseas. There were many memorable moments, but only one to do with railways. This was when I was in charge of a party on train guard, escorting two Maryland aircraft belonging to the Fleet Air Arm, from Aleppo in Turkey to Riyad in Egypt. It took 14 days.  There was one quite extraordinary occurrence when I was in the Middle east. During 1941 I was on a bus between Tel Aviv and Haifa, in what was then Palestine. A civilian got on at Hadera, and sat just in front of me. He was speaking to his friend in the broadest South Yorkshire accent. I tapped him on the shoulder and asked ‘What part of South Yorkshire do you come from?’ ‘Barnsley’ he replied. ‘So do I – what’s your name?’ It was Jack Kendrick. ‘Do you have a sister called Renee and a father in the police force?’ I asked. Of course it was the same Jack Kendrick I had heard of! I ended up spending two days over Christmas with Jack and his wife. He was working for the Iraq Petroleum Company in Haifa. It was a coincidence meeting him like that, but the real nub of the story is this. I was telling the tale about how I met him on that bus one night when I was in Leeds Control. One of my colleagues, Norman Henfry, turned to me and asked ‘What did you say his sister’s name was?’ I told him it was Renee, and he said ‘She’s the girl my brother married!’ The next time I met Renee was at Norman’s funeral.

I returned to the railway in 1946. I got married and went to work in Cudworth Control. I had to spend quite a lot of time in Carlton Yards and in Carlton North Sidings Box to prepare me for the job. I moved on to Rotherham Control in 1947 when Cudworth, Staveley and Masborough Controls were amalgamated. I was promoted to Deputy Chief Controller in Leeds Control in September 1958. It was a good move, and I had applied for plenty other jobs without success before. I had an interview for a job in Doncaster, only to be turned down after the District Superintendent asked about my wartime work. When I asked him ‘What the hell has that to do with my railway capabilities?’ I was out on my ear! I didn’t shape any better when I applied for a job in Kings Cross Control, when I was working at Rotherham. They wanted to know what a ‘Midland’ man was doing applying for an Eastern Region job! I told them that Rotherham was part of the Eastern, but my lack of local knowledge told against me; I think they had someone lined up for the job.

For the Leeds job I was interviewed by a Mr. Barlow, the District Superintendent. Now another job had also been advertised for the deputy in Wakefield Control, and I put in for that too. Mr. Barlow said ‘I see you’ve applied for both Wakefield and Leeds – which do you want?’ I asked him if I had a choice. ‘I’ll re-phrase it then. If you had a choice, which would you want!’ I told him Leeds, because I knew Leeds and Wakefield were to be merged and I wanted to be in on the ground floor. I got Leeds, but it was 15 years before the two offices finally did merge.

The main job in Control was to deal with incidents quickly and efficiently when they occurred. I was involved in several major incidents, including a derailment at Wath Road Junction of the St Pancras – Bradford express on 18^th May 1948. I was Passenger Controller and was called out to deal with necessary diversions and other arrangements. The line was finally cleared at 07.35 on the 20^th.

Another incident happened at Ardsley on 26^th October 1959. I was a passenger on the 6.12pm from Kings Cross to Leeds Central with my wife and three children, when the train was derailed. My eldest son, Malcolm, was slightly injured. It was atrocious weather and the express hit a light engine. Although not on duty (a proper railwayman is never really off duty!), I checked with signalman Joe Ward that full protection had been carried out, and assisted on the ground until Stan Routledge, the District Inspector, arrived.

I was due to sign on at Leeds Control at 9.30pm on the night of 25^th April 1960, but I arrived early at 9.10pm. My colleague, Harold Johnson was sat very intently on the end of the phone. I asked what was wrong. ‘We’re waiting for a bang’ he replied. He knew an incident was about to occur and there was nothing we could do about it. Sure enough, a crash happened between Garforth and Micklefield. My experience of the Ardsley accident made me fully aware of the feelings of people involved in such incidents, especially the need for ‘a nice cup of tea.’ I made sure all the passengers were well looked after.

There were plenty other incidents I had to deal with, including the collision at Bradford Exchange on 3^rd June 1964 when a Manchester – Leeds passenger train ran into a stationary parcels train. The St Pancras to Edinburgh sleeper was derailed at Rothwell Haigh on the night of 27^th September 1964. I was called out to take charge of the Control Office.

A very sad incident happened at Kirkstall on 17^th July 1970 when an empty stock working from Keighley to Leeds ran into the rear of the 16.57 Workington to Tinsley freight. The goods guard, T. Telford of Skipton, was killed. I had the unenviable job of ringing up his brother Jack Telford, who worked in our Control, to tell him the bad news, and to arrange for him to attend for identification of the body.

I was involved in sorting out the mess after the 21.50 York – Shrewsbury collided with the 20.40 Liverpool – Hull at Farnley Junction on 5^th September 1977, and also the crash at Dearne Valley Sidings on 19^th June 1978, when a freight became derailed, and was then struck by the 14.36 Paignton to Leeds express. It was railway work.”

On Not Being Observed

Dave Morgan is a well-known figure in Bolton cultural circles (yes, such things do exist). His most recent collection, On Not Being Observed, should be of interest even to unfortunate people outside Bolton. There

are some great poems in this collection, published by Flapjack Press. Some of it speaks to seventy-somethings like me, including ‘A Life of Biblical proportions’. Here’s a few lines:

In my seventieth year

I have abandoned nakedness in favour of winceyette,

Abstain for two days after every binge,

Exercise my smile muscles for sixty seconds before taking my statin,

Have brunch thus saving one meal a day,

Try to maintain Henry Miller’s maxim ‘Always merry and bright’

After a lifetime of whingeing.

My sexual habits have changed.

Let me say no more.

In winter I take five minutes in the hour to observe my bird feeders….

 

Some of it is decidedly Whitmanesque, like:

 

I marvel at the fecundity of runner beans,

Question the paucity of peas.

Wonder where all the frogs have gone.

Planning, planning for enxt eyar. No longer focused on other people’s needs,

I work at not feeling guilty.

 

A sort of Bolton ‘Song of Myself’? Mebbe. It’s good stuff and hope it gets the readership it deserves. It costs £8.99, see www.flapjackpress.co.uk

Lancastrians: Mills, Mines and Minarets

I’m still getting invited to do talks on my ‘Lancastrians’ book. The next is in Darwen for the University of the 3^rd Age (U3A). Always a good lot. 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 14^th 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 at it. 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.

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)

 

 

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

No.     319     May  2024   

Salveson’s half-nakedly political digest of railways, tripe and secessionist nonsense from Up North.

The merry month of May

It’s certainly a merry month for Labour which has made sweeping gains in the local elections. But there’s a small caveat; here in Bolton the results were very mixed, with the ‘hyper-local’ parties continuing their successes and the Greens finally getting their first councilor.

Meanwhile, Labour lost control of Oldham. A key factor in all this is Gaza –see the longer piece below. On the rail front, we have got our trains back along the Furness Line. The month-long loss of train services has highlighted how important rail is to people’s lives in this part of the world. Some lessons to be learned on the bus replacement service,

hopefully the rail industry will listen to the feedback it is getting from passengers and user groups. Have a great bank holiday weekend!

Rocket 200

Plans to mark the 200^th anniversary of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway are moving forward, with a series of community consultation events being held over the last few weeks. Perhaps the most interesting was an event held at Edge Hill station, home of arts group ‘Metal’. A

meeting was held for the local refugee community which brought together a wide cross-section of individuals and groups. Other meetings have been held in Manchester, Patricroft and Lea Green. The next one will be in Liverpool. More specialist meetings have been held in St Helens, hosted by the Council.

For media enquiries or further information, please contact:  Karen Shannon CEO Manchester Histories: karen@manchesterhistories.co.uk

The elections: is Bolton exceptional?

The results are coming in but it’s clear that Labour has done very well. Could it have done better though? As Starmer said, perhaps undiplomatically, the most important result for them was the Blackpool South parliamentary by-election, which Labour won with a large majority. Yet in this part of the world (Bolton) Labour could have done better, and Gaza was clearly a factor in shifting votes away from Labour towards other parties. Where those went was interesting.

The most surprising result was in Halliwell ward, which is literally just across the street from me. It has a large Asian community and has traditionally been a solidly Labour, working class, ward. Yet it was won

by Hanif Alli, the Green Party candidate. This is the first time that the Greens have won a Bolton council seat, despite the perseverance of Alan Johnson in Daubhill (which was won by an Asian independent). If anyone had asked me which seats the Greens had any chance of winning, Halliwell would have been very low down the list of possibilities. The Greens also did well in Great Lever, which has a large Asian population. However, Gaza was not the only factor in people shying away from voting Labour. The ‘hyper-local’ parties for Farnworth and Kearsley, and Horwich, all did very well. The places Labour performed best were in quite middle class wards which have traditionally voted Tory. They came within one vote (yes, one!) of winning Astley Bridge, but most surprisingly won Bradshaw, which is normally Tory. Reform UK, with Bolton for Change, made no gains and performed quite poorly, but undoubtedly took some votes from the Tories, and possibly Labour (more research needed). The Workers Party of George Galloway stood a few candidates but made little headway despite the ‘Gaza’ factor.  Labour lost control of Oldham Council, and again Gaza will have been a factor, together with support in white working class areas for hyper-local parties.

You can’t draw too many overall conclusions from what happened in Bolton and Oldham but what strikes me is that a) Gaza is a big issue among Asian voters and Labour can no longer rely on their loyalty; b) that the white working class vote is vulnerable to ‘hyper-local’ parties and also Reform UK around the margins. In more middle class wards Labour is popular, helped by many Tory voters not bothering to vote.

So, as my mum would have said, put that in your pipe and smoke it!

Railway manufacturing faces an uncertain future

The Government has secured a last minute deal to prevent the closure of Britain’s last-remaining train building facility, in Derby. Whilst the rescue will provide some hope for the plant’s short-term future, there remain big questions over the future of train building in the UK. The 1.300 workers who were facing redundancy probably have forthcoming local and indeed a General Election to thank for saving their jobs, rather than any strategic vision by the Government to invest in British industry.

The history of railway manufacturing in the UK is complex. Even in BR days it was common for rolling stock to be manufactured by UK-based private sector firms, including English Electric and others. However, the mainstay was the BR-owned workshops at places such as Crewe, Doncaster, Eastleigh, Swindon and Derby. These were true ‘railway towns’ with the works employing tens of thousands of men and women, offering long-term, secure employment.

That started to change in the 1980s with closures of major workshops including Swindon, Horwich and others. A BR subsidiary – British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL) – was formed in the run-up to privatisation. When the railways were privatised in 1994 the workshops themselves were sold off, with a much-reduced BREL getting split up into several different ownerships in 1989. In the case of Derby, the main workshops were bought by ABB with a 20% management stake. In 2001 the works was sold to Canadian-owned Bombardier.

The problems began in earnest following privatisation and the loss of any strategic long-term focus by Government. The rail industry was split into hundreds of businesses, with the most obvious division being that between the train operators and the infrastructure body, Railtrack. The train operators were franchises, the creatures of Government with very little room for manoeuvre on their own. Yet they were expected to lead on the procurement of new rolling stock. Buying a new train is not

like buying a new car – it is investment for the long-term and involves massive costs. A railway vehicle will cost millions and – here’s the rub – the pay-back period for the investment is in decades, not a few years. Yet the train companies’ franchises were, typically for seven to ten years.

To complicate matters further, the post-privatisation rolling stock fleet was sold to rolling stock leasing companies, mostly owned by banks, who leased the trains to the train operators through an extremely complex (and for them, lucrative) package which formed part of the franchise agreement. So rolling stock investment was effectively under-written by Government, but without a clear long-term strategy for building trains.

Although Government had many fingers in the rolling stock pie there was never any great commitment to supporting UK-based industry. The Government hid behind EU procurement rules, while France, Germany, Italy and other European countries supported their own industries and jobs. The so-called ‘open market’ was a mirage.

Many of the new trains we see on our railways today are manufactured

abroad and either shipped to the UK or assembled in Britain, but without the all-important components, with huge multiplier effects across the local and regional economy of places like Derby and Doncaster, being made here. By the 2020s, the only plant capable of building a train or locomotive was at Derby, owned by French railway engineering company Alstom since 2021.

In late 2021 Alstom and Hitachi (which has an assembly plant in the North-East) won a £5.1 billion contract to design, build and maintain the new fleet of trains for HS2. Yet with the Government’s decision to cut back on HS2 and instead invest in filling pot holes, there will almost certainly be a requirement for fewer trains when HS2 is completed to Birmingham. Even so, it would be a life-line to Alstom in Derby but the lack of current orders has left the factory facing complete closure.

As far back as May 2023 Alstom raised the looming problem of a 27-month gap between the completion of current orders in early 2024 and the start of the HS2 work in 2026. We’re at that stage. You can’t keep a production line, and the hundreds of staff involved, running with no trains to build.. The Government has raised the prospect of £3.6 billion’s worth of orders for new trains for (state-owned) Northern and TransPennine Express, Chiltern and other UK train operators. Yet there is no guarantee that Alstom would win this work and the winners in recent UK train orders have been CAF (Spain) and Stadtler (Switzerland). All of these contracts are at a very early stage and it will be years before any of these trains reach the production line.

Government is at the heart of the problem. Within England, the Department for Transport specifies contracts for most of the train operators in the minutest of detail. Many of the train companies such as Northern, LNER and TPE, are Government-owned companies. Trying to shift the blame for the current situation to the operators, as Labour’s shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh has said, is “disingenuous at best” and an “abdication of responsibility for protecting high-skilled jobs in a  key manufacturing sector.”

What appears to have been agreed as a stop-gap, to tide the Government over an election year, is a handful of new trains for London. It doesn’t represent a long-term vision for railway manufacturing, but there isn’t a long-term vision for the railways as a whole either. And what railway manufacturing needs, whether it is publicly or privately-owned, is long-term certainty and stability and a presumption to invest in UK industry, with the obvious wider economic and social benefits that would bring. (first published in Chartist, May 2024)

Bolton and Leigh Railway 200

We were first! The Liverpool and Manchester isn’t the only important railway anniversary in the North-west  I’ll have you know.  In 2028 it’s the 200^th anniversary of the Bolton and Leigh Railway, Lancashire’s first public railway and two years ahead of the Liverpool and Manchester. The first locomotive was ‘Lancashire Witch’ – built by

Robert Stephenson &Co. in Newcastle. Interestingly, Bolton became a centre of early locomotive building. The firm of Rothwell, Hick and Rothwell built locomotives for the Bolton and Leigh, Liverpool and Manchester and other British and overseas railways. A small group has been formed to celebrate the Bolton and Leigh’s anniversary. Ideas include a publication, a walking trail and – more ambitiously – the building of a replica of ‘Lancashire Witch’.  Email me if you want to be involved.

Station Library doings

Kents Bank Station Library continues to develop with well-attended monthly open days and talks (see below). For now, the Library is open once a month, normally on the second Saturday of the month – the next open day is Saturday May 11th, from 11.00 to 3.30 pm. This will also be our next book launch – see below (‘Bahamas’). We will be open additionally for the Station Fete being organized by Friends of Kents Bank Station and Foreshore, on the following Saturday, May 18^th. The fete starts at 13.30.

Entrance to the library is via steps next to Beach Hut Gallery (also open). Teas, coffee and biscuits available – as well as sale of surplus books there is also an expanding ‘lending’ section. The library is open for reference/study purposes by appointment – ring 07795 008691 or email info@stationlibrary.org.uk . We continue to receive generous donations of books and railway ephemera, which are very much appreciated.

The Library has started a series of monthly talks. We’ve christened

them our ‘Mutual Improvement Class’ (MIC) reviving a railway tradition that goes back to the beginnings of the Railway Age. The next talk is on Wednesday May 8^th with Malcolm Kimber revealing all in his ‘Confessions of a Train Spotter’. The talk is at 14.00 and must be pre-booked. Ring 07795 008691 or email us as above.

We’re  going to start publishing ‘occasional papers’ on aspects of railway social history. The first will be a three-part paper by John Kolodziejski, ‘London Bridge Freight Guard: Life on BR on the 70s’. John went on to become a journalist with the FT; this memoir offers a fascinating glimpse into life during a period of rapid transition on the railways. It will be posted on the library website shortly.

We continue to get very welcome 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 .We are encouraging friends to become ‘supporters’ – with an annual financial contribution to help cover costs. We suggest £25 a year but more, or less, is welcome. Deatils on the website.

If you want to send anything by post our postal address: Station House, Kentsford Road, Kents Bank, Grange-over-Sands LA11 7BB

Footplate Passenger

Our April book event went very well. Bob Waterhouse launched his book ‘Footplate Passenger: the Locomotive Journal writings of E.S. Waterhouse’ (with a foreword by myself).  This is no ordinary railway book. It is a selection of the writings of E.S. Waterhouse, a Methodist minister between the 1930s and 1960s, and Bob’s grandfather. The

book is illustrated by the great photographer Denis Thorpe, who worked with Bob on The Guardian.  Like many clerics, Waterhouse had a love of railways and steam engines, but he took this to amazing heights. With the permission of the railway companies he had a footplate pass to ride in the cab of express trains across the British railway network. He become good friends with many ‘top link’ engineman and wrote about their exploits.
These were published in the loco drivers’ union paper – Locomotive Journal  under the heading ‘As The Passenger Sees It’. Some of the articles are politically radical; Waterhouse was aware of the looming threat of fascism in the 30s and the importance of strong unions to protect workers’ interests. Copies available at the library for sale price £14.99. Also from bookshops and Amazon.

Bahamas comes to Kents Bank!

Our next book launch is a locomotive biography.  Bahamas – the story of a steam locomotive is by Barrow-based Peter Skellon.  As its title suggests, it tells the story of LMS ‘Jubilee’ loco no. 45596 Bahamas. It does much more than that though, telling stories of people: those employed by, and those with enthusiasm for, the steam- powered railway. Set against a narrative of the times, this fully illustrated book also discusses the burning question of coal and pollution; the desire to find solutions to

prolong the useful life of steam traction and allow its succession by modern diesel and electric types; and the sparring between railway management – whose mantra was to end the story of steam – and the enthusiasts – who wanted to keep the old ways alive. The role of the enthusiast is further demonstrated by the efforts needed to overcome the numerous obstacles to buying, maintaining and operating just one locomotive, Bahamas.

Peter said: “ It’s often said that one never stops learning about a steam locomotive.  Having been involved with No. 45596‘Bahamas since 1968, I thought I knew something of its history, that is until I began to dig a little deeper.  Fortunately, I’ve been privileged to have played a small role in the team involved with its care since that time, and fully

appreciate and understand the rigours and enjoyment which that brings.  I have tried to give recognition to the many people involved with the engine throughout the years – even prior to its inception in 1934 – in the hope of offering, not only a story of one particular steam locomotive, but also of many.”

Kents Bank Station Librarian, and young Stockport ‘Bahamas’ enthusiast John Kitchen, said: “There is a very good chance that if Bahamas had not come to Stockport Edgeley shed in July 1962 my life would have been completely different. Rescued by local ‘ordinary’ people – many still involved – and still sustained by a society rather than a business it has provided a thread throughout my life and an enduring link to my formative years.”

Casebound with dust wrapper, 256 pages, 215 x 274mm, ISBN 978-0-9569292-2-8, Price £35. Published by the Bahamas Locomotive Society.

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 (see Salvo 318). The stories were put together as ‘Messroom Gossip’, but were never published. Hope you enjoy them!

RAY HEMSLEY

Ray’s railway career spanned 45 years and included 16 years as a goods guard at Ardsley, near Wakefield. He was promoted to Supervisor, and retired in November

1986. He started on the LNER on 14^th April 1941, aged 16, at Ardsley Spring Lane box as a telegraph lad.

My grandad was a shunter at Top-Cliffe. My dad was a driver at Ardsley. My brother was a clerk in the Goods Offices at Leeds Wellington until 1953 when he emigrated to Canada. My father in-law was a Loco Foreman Boiler Washer at Ardsley shed, and my brother-in-law was also a boiler washer. My uncle was a driver at Farnley Junction.

My job was booking all train movements in the Train Register Book, answering bell signals, and looking after the phone. The box controlled movements into and out of Ardsley loco shed. I had to meet the engines on their departure to identify their workings and pass the information on to the signalman. The only signal lever I was allowed to pull was no. 75, a miniature signal. Other box lads were allowed to work other levers and do all the jobs of a signalman, thus helping them learn the job thoroughly. We worked the Morse Code telegraph instrument, passing information such as train numbers and important train messages.

I joined the railway’s Home Guard at Ardsley in 1942, when I was 16. We met at the station at the weekend. We had three ancient 303 rifles and a sten gun. We’d go to the local quarry for target practice. The station master at Ardsley was a Mr Pilgrim, and he was in charge of the unit. We’d often have to sleep on the station during fire watch. We went up the cutting to Morley and ‘raided’ the Fire Station which was then behind the Town Hall. The firemen turned their hoses on us and most of us got drenched!

As soon as I was seventeen I volunteered for the navy but they said I was too young. Instead I joined the Royal marines and served for four years. After a few weeks demob leave I returned to the railway and went learning to be a goods guard. I passed the exam, but we had to re-apply for our own positions again soon after : most of the jobs were war-time posts only.

I went shunting in Ardsley Old Coal Yard and Thorpe Lane Sidings. After a spell of shunting at Spring Lane, I became a goods guard. I worked all round Yorkshire and lodged at London (Kings Cross Hampton Club, Kentish Town, and Cricklewood) and at Whitemoor near March.

The Union

I joined the NUR at Ardsley when I was 16. I became a collector for the branch – I’d go round the yard and depots collecting union dues and also sit in at branch meetings if people wished to pay there. I became a minute-taker and then later, assistant secretary. Alan Dance was secretary in those days, and he was also Mayor of Morley. A lot of members used to attend the meetings.

Nearly Off the Road

I had a frightening experience in October 1959. I was waiting for my engine to work to London from Ardsley Coal Yard. The driver, Horace Haigh, was just bringing the engine down to the Old Coal Yard when he realised that the loco was on the same line as an oncoming express. He reversed his engine, and made sure his fireman, Norman North, jumped clear first. Horace was awarded the ‘Daily Herald Order of Industrial Heroism’ – the workers’ VC.

Completely Off the Road

The headlines for the Yorkshire Evening Post on Friday 18^th December 1964 read “Kings Cross – North Lines Blocked  –  Minister Among Those Delayed”. I was in charge of a fully fitted freight from Ardsley to London – 71 wagons. The maximum was 75. The driver was Ernest Porter and the Secondman was Brian Whitwam, with myself as guard. We were all Ardsley men.

The derailment happened at 05.15 at Sandy, on the slow line. We were ‘inside’ to allow a Kings Cross express to pass us on the fast line. About five minutes after it passed, the accident happened. Every single wagon was either derailed or damaged, and created a stack of wagons 30 feet high.

The first time I realised something was wrong was when I felt heavy braking by the driver, and then a sudden stop. I got out of my van and had not gone far when I saw the huge pile-up of wagons. At about the same time I heard my name shouted by Brian, the secondman, who said the diesel loco was on its side. No-one was injured, though the driver was trapped in the cab and couldn’t get out. We agreed that I would go back and protect the train in rear, and he would go forward to Sandy signalbox, which was just south of Sandy station.

I reached a lineside telephone and was able to tell the signalman to put all signals to red : at that moment they were showing green. Although he said he couldn’t ‘put back’ all the signals, every train in the area was stopped. Two expresses, an Edinburgh and an Aberdeen, were stopped and had to reverse to Peterborough to take a diversionary route. I did my protection duties and then went to the signalbox. By this time the driver had managed to get out of the cab with help from his mate.

Naturally many people were delayed, including Mr Charles Parnell, MP for Leeds West, who missed an important appointment. The reason for the accident was soon established. The driver stated that the outlet signal to go from the slow to the fast line was showing ‘half and half’ – that is, it was only partly in the ‘off’ position. He should have erred on the side of caution and treated it as a ‘stop’ signal.

Off the Road, Again

I was working a train from London to Ardsley with driver Steve Calvert and fireman Ken Harper. It was a steam loco and the night was very foggy. We went into the down goods at Sandy for other trains to pass us. The driver stopped dead at the home signal and I was catapulted forward from my seat. My head hit the vacuum brake and I started bleeding. I kept my hand on the brake handle until the fireman came back to see what was wrong. We went to the signalbox for first aid. I refused to go to the hospital and after getting bandaged up I went back to the brake. After a pre-arranged signal owing to the fog, the train set off towards the main line. The movement was controlled by a ‘dolly’ signal which was in the danger ‘on’ position. The engine was derailed and the fireman had to drop the fire after he had gone back to the box to tell the signalman what had happened. We all got the first passenger train home. What a night!

Know Alls

A platelayer at Ardsley decided he’d transfer to the traffic grades, and got a job as a guard. After passing out on his rules and regulations, he was put to road learning. The shed foreman was surprised when he simply signed all the routes in the area. “I should know them by now – I re-laid them all!”

I remember when the first diesels came into service. When the guard opened the doors, they’d open on both sides of the train! They had to have a man standing at each door to make sure no-one fell out!

The Closure Era – and Promotion

Ardsley station closed in 1964, and the loco shed and yards shut in 1965. I went to Healey Mills and was promoted to a class 4 supervisor. I worked in ‘the tower’ as charts supervisor, recording on the chart all vehicles and brake vans which were hump-shunted to their respective sidings. Then I took a summer job as temporary class 3 supervisor at Stourton Up and Hunslet Down. I then went to Leeds City as class 3 shunting supervisor in the tower. This involved ‘pushbutton’ shunting.

In 1968, under the Pay and Efficiency agreement, my job was reclassified and my grade was made class ‘A’. I then had to start looking for an appropriate position in that grade. This was the third time I had been made redundant – at Ardsley, at Stourton, and then again in 1968! My fourth redundancy was in July 1981 when BR finished the collection and delivery service for parcels. I had to look for another class ‘C’ position.

In 1970 I went to Wakefield, as a relief class ‘A’ supervisor, working at Westgate and Kirkgate. Eventually I got a ‘B’ position at Westgate. It was an interesting job covering all aspects of railway work : station duties, carriage cleaning and labelling, shunting – goods and passenger – parcels, NCL staff and vehicles, and lots of other things too! I had to know EEC regulations for drivers’ hours, have good links with local firms for the parcels traffic, and look after the parcels concentration depot itself. In November 1981 I was appointed a class ‘C’ at Doncaster where I stayed for five years, taking early retirement in 1986. I was 61 when I did my last day’s work.

The railways are like the Royal Marines in one respect. They are a big family: once a Royal Marine, always a Royal Marine. I’m still in touch with some of my wartime mates, and I’m a member of the Royal Marines Association. I’m also a member of the BRSA Retired Staffs, and I keep in contact with old mates from there too.

The Wide World of the Webbs

Sidney and Beatrice Webb are well-known figures to Labour historians but have perhaps been in danger of neglect in recent years. Michael Ward has very ably corrected that possibility through his new book Unceasing War on Poverty: Beatrice and Sidney Webb and Their World. The Webbs (and they were often referred to as a couple, even in political terms) had a major influence on British politics. Sidney Webb contributed to Fabian Essays in 1888 which inspired the ‘gradualist’ approach to socialism which Labour has adopted ever since, perhaps with minor glitches during George Lansbury and Jeremy Corbyn’s tenures.

The big question though, is whether Sidney was simply theorizing a tendency that was already there anyway. Despite the fanciful ideas of some historians on the left, there has never been much danger of Labour becoming a revolutionary socialist party, or for that matter the working class turning their backs on Labour and supporting a revolutionary alternative. Michael’s book, which deserves the title ‘magisterial’, explores the detail of Sidney and Beatrice’s contribution to social change and what comes across is a very real difference, particularly in their work on combating poverty (hence the title).

This is quite a dense work but well written; I’m hoping to take a few days off at Station House and read it from cover to cover; there is so much on our history from the 1880s to the late 1940s that is covered in this book. While being a very political, not to say academic, work there is much about the personal lives of Sidney and Beatrice and their own relationship. I would have liked more on Beatrice’s Lancashire connections – her grandmother was a weaver in Bacup and she visited the town on several occasions. These visits helped inspire her own beliefs.

Michael makes good use of the Webb archives and quotes extensively from both figures. Some of these are very perceptive, including Beatrice’s diary entry for August 1931 when she mused “The problem is how to prevent the subtle disease of mental enfeeblement in the next Labour Cabinet? Can we grow a socialist faith, entailing rules of conduct for the faithful without developing a group of self-righteous and self-centred cranks like the ILP, reiterating shibboleths and refusing to face facts?” Yet a very unpalatable fact was the decision by Ramsay Macdonald and Philip Snowden to join the

National Government in 1931, splitting the Labour Party. The book is useful on reactions within Labour to Macdonald’s ‘betrayal’. He also covers the Webbs’ relationship with Soviet Russia. They visited the Soviet Union at the height of Stalin’s reign and wrote a highly favourable account, Soviet Communism: a new civilization. They were certainly not on their own in their admiration of the Stalinist regime and I look forward to reading more about how they justified it.

Unceasing War on Poverty: Beatrice and Sidney Webb and Their World, Michael Ward, The Conrad Press price £25 paperback

Lancastrians: Mills, Mines and Minarets

I’m still getting invited to do talks on my ‘Lancastrians’ book. The next is for the University of the 3^rd Age (U3A) Hyndburn branch, in Great Harwood.

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 14^th 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 at it. 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.

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)

 

 

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.     318     April  2024   

Salveson’s half-nakedly political digest of railways, tripe and secessionist nonsense from Up North.

Easter special

Quite a lot has happened since the last Salvo, with some positive developments with the Station library and some big news about the Rocket 200 celebrations of the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway – 2030 may see a good way away but it will soon come round and there’s lots that can be done in the run-up to the anniversary. I’ve steered clear of politics (apart from an historical piece on English Socialism). What is there to say? It’s so bloody depressing, particularly in Ukraine and the Middle East, but not a lot of room for optimism here at home. But, for all that – have a lovely Easter break.

Rocket 200

I’m delighted to say that I’ve recently been appointed chair of Rocket 200. Here is the press release from Rocket 200  which was sent out earlier this week:

“Manchester Histories, in collaboration with partners National Museums Liverpool, Metal, Manchester Science Museum, Manchester University, Liverpool City Council, Manchester City Council, St Helens Council and Network Rail, is proud to announce the appointment of two distinguished individuals to steer the Rocket 200 project towards its ambitious goals for 2030 after a public recruitment process. Professor Paul Salveson will serve as the Chair, accompanied by Jessica Bowles as the Vice Chair.

The Rocket 200 project was originally developed with Manchester Histories and partners in 2021 to explore how best to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the world’s first inter-city railway between Liverpool & Manchester. This encompassed several key objectives: fostering community regeneration along the railway line, delving into the depths of the UK’s industrial past, shining a global spotlight on the

North West as a hub of innovation and international influence, and providing a distinctive platform for cultural, engineering, and community engagement. During 2023 the Steering Group has been consulting and researching options for these activities with partners. It is now ready to develop the next phase of its programme, supported by Paul and Jessica’s leadership.

Professor Paul Salveson brings a wealth of experience and expertise to his role as Chair. With a career deeply rooted in the railway industry, Professor Salveson has been a trailblazer.  He is credited with originating and developing the concept of ‘community rail’, which has led to establishing over twenty community-rail partnerships across the UK and Eastern Europe. As president of the South-East Lancashire Community Rail Partnership and a member of Bolton at Home’s Operations Committee, his commitment to community engagement and empowerment is unwavering. Rocket 150

Professor Salveson is a visiting Professor at Bolton and the University of Huddersfield in the Department of Transport Logistics where he shares his knowledge and expertise to the next generation of leaders. Additionally, his role as manager of the new Kents Bank Station Library underscores his dedication to preserving and promoting local history. Paul is also the author of the recently published book ‘Lancastrians – Mills Mines and Minarets’ which highlights the role of railways in the North’s industrial transformation.

Jessica Bowles will be joining him as Vice Chair and her public and private sector experience will complement Paul’s.  Jessica brings over 25 years of experience in generating investment and fostering growth in cities through expertise in economic policy, strategy, and commercial development. Her career has seen her emerge as a trusted leader in various capacities, including the senior civil service, local government in Manchester, and at the board level of Bruntwood, one of the UK’s most forward-thinking property companies.  As Director of Strategic Partnerships and Impact at Bruntwood since April 2016, Jessica plays a pivotal role in shaping the company’s strategic direction and driving cross-sector partnerships to enhance both business value and the wider economy.

Together, Paul and Jessica will spearhead Rocket 200 towards achieving its mission of celebrating and preserving the story of Rocket 200 past, present and future. Manchester Histories is acting as the lead organisation for the project for the next three years. “

For media enquiries or further information, please contact:  Karen Shannon CEO Manchester Histories: karen@manchesterhistories.co.uk

Manchester Histories

Manchester Histories is an award-winning charity that works collaboratively to reveal and celebrate the stories of the people and places of Greater Manchester and beyond. It connects people through histories and heritage to explore the past and shape the future, valuing all voices in the telling, preserving, and celebrating stories.

It was established in 2012 and delivers a year-long public and community engagement programme, and the biennial Manchester Histories Festival is now in its 9^th edition. Manchester Histories is proud to be part of GMAST (Greater Manchester Arts Sustainability Team). This network brings together the cultural and creative community across Greater Manchester to address the climate and ecological crisis.

Past projects include Peterloo 2019, a project to mark the 200th anniversary of the Peterloo Massacre; DigiFest 2020, a celebration and recognition of the 50th anniversary of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act (1970); Manchester Histories Festival 2022, History of Climate Change which explored the local and global climate crisis.

“History Matters. It connects people with those who’ve gone before and those who’ll come after. We support people to explore these connections. It’s why our work is vital.”

www.manchesterhistories.co.uk

Facebook            facebook.com/manchesterhistories      

Instagram            instagram.com/manchesterhistories     

Twitter (X)          twitter.com/mcrhistfest

Happy anniversaries

The Liverpool and Manchester isn’t the only important railway anniversary – 2025 is the 200^th anniversary of the Stockton and Darlington Railway. Local authorities in the area have been very active in developing their plans with Railway 200 formed to promote railways

on a national level. More in future Salvoes. In 2028 it’s the 200^th anniversary of the Bolton and Leigh Railway, Lancashire’s first public railway and two years ahead of the Liverpool and Manchester. The first locomotive was ‘Lancashire Witch’ – wouldn’t it be great to have a replica built! A committee is being formed to take forward ideas – email The Salvo if you’re interested in being involved. The Cromford and High Peak and Canterbury and Whitstable are also 200 in 2030.

Station Library doings

Kents Bank Station Library continues to develop with well-attended monthly open days and talks (see below). For now, the Library will be open once a month, normally on the second Saturday of the month – the next open day is Saturday April 13th, from 11.00 to 3.30 pm. Entrance is via steps next to Beach Hut Gallery (also open). Teas, coffee and biscuits available – as well as sale of surplus books there is also an expanding ‘lending’ section.

The library is open for reference/study purposes by appointment – ring 07795 008691 or email info@stationlibrary.org.uk . We continue to receive generous donations of books and railway ephemera, which are very much appreciated.

The Library has started a series of monthly talks. We’ve christened them our ‘Mutual Improvement Class’ (MIC) reviving a railway

tradition that goes back to the beginnings of the Railway Age. The most recent talk was by retired Blackburn locoman Raymond Watto, speaking on his ‘Memoirs of a Lancashire Engineman’. Raymond started his railway career at Lower Darwen shed, moving to Blackburn and then Preston depots. He was fireman on 70013 ‘Oliver Cromwell’ on the famous ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’ marking the end of steam on August 11^th 1968.

The next talk is on Wednesday April 10^th with Tony Parker speaking on how the impressive station buildings at Carnforth were saved from demolition and became what is now the Railway heritage Centre. The talk is at 14.00 and must be pre-booked. Ring 07795 008691 or email info@stationlibrary.org.uk .

We’re also going to start publishing ‘occasional papers’ on aspects of railway social history.

The first will be a three-part paper by John Kolodziejski, ‘London Bridge Freight Guard: Life on BR on the 70s’. John went on to become a journalist with the FT; this memoir offers a fascinating glimpse into life during a period of rapid transition on the railways. It will be posted on the library website shortly.

We continue to get donations of railway and transport-related books. Thanks to Peter in Altrincham for donating 400 Oakwood Press titles – filling in some major gaps in our collection of branch-line histories.

We recently had a trip to York to meet Frank Paterson and Mike Webb from Friends of the National Railway Museum. We did a mutually beneficial ‘book swap’ and we came away with some real gems, including several bound volumes of the Great Western Railway staff magazine, going back to 1907. I’ll give you a few examples of their stories in later Salvoes. Keep an eye out on www.stationlibrary.org.uk

Postal address: Station House, Kentsford Road, Kents Bank, Grange-over-Sands LA11 7BB

Footplate Passenger

I’m delighted to tell you about a very special event we’ve got coming up on Friday April 19th at the Station Library, on Kents Bank Station.
Bob Waterhouse will be launching his book ‘Footplate Passenger: the Locomotive Journal writings of E.S. Waterhouse’ (with a foreword by myself).  This is no ordinary railway book. It is a selection of the writings of E.S. Waterhouse, a Methodist minister between the 1930s and 1960s. The book is illustrated by the great photographer Denis Thorpe, who worked with Bob on The Guardian.
Like many clerics, Waterhouse had a love of railways and steam engines, but he took this to amazing heights. With the permission of the railway companies he had a footplate pass to ride in the cab of express trains across the British railway network. He become good friends with many ‘top link’ engineman and wrote about their exploits.
These were published in the loco drivers’ union paper – ‘Locomotive Journal’ under the heading ‘As The Passenger Sees It’. Some of the articles are politically radical; Waterhouse was aware of the looming threat of fascism in the 30s and the importance of strong unions to protect workers’ interests.
His grandson Bob Waterhouse, a retired Guardian journalist, has put together several of his articles and is publishing the book next month; we are really proud to be hosting the launch at our unique station library at Kents Bank, on the scenic Lancaster – Barrow line, on Friday April 19th at 12.30 for a 12.45 start.
Salvo readers are very welcome to join us – but please let me know if you can come as space is limited.  There will be drinks and light refreshment and review copies of the book will be available.

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 (below). 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!

Eunice Bickerdyke

“I started in January 1949 on the London Midland at Normanton. I had to attend formal classes in Railway Operating and Railway Geography. These were evening classes. I also had to attend HNC typing class on two other evenings, and the Ambulance Class on the fourth evening! I attended some education classes organised by the TUC and the National Council of Labour Colleges.

I started in the clerical grades in the 1940s and was sent bto be trained at Wakefield College. I then went to a post in Manchester. There was a Ms Glydill who ran the typing pool. There weren’t so many opportunities for women then. By the 1960s it became easier to get promotion, including into management positions. Very often your prospects were tied in with your boss’s. If he was promoted, you were promoted with him.

As well as looking after pay and conditions, there was a great social life in the RCA (Railway Clerks’ Association – now TSSA). There were weekend trips to the seaside and all sorts of excursions.

Railway work used to be seen as a job for life, but you were often forced to move. Sometimes, if the company wanted to get rid of you, you’d get instructions on Friday afternoon to “report at 6a.m. at Port Talbot, Monday morning.” If you were forced off like that, you couldn’t sign on, as you had, technically, resigned. Sometimes you were forcibly promoted! My father was station inspector at Normanton during the war. He was ‘invited’ to become station inspector at Bletchley, but he refused. It meant that any future promotion would be virtually impossible. Firemen were often instructed to transfer, if there was a shortage. And you had to go.

You couldn’t move from one company to another, or, after nationalisation, from one region to another. But both the LNER and the LMS covered a vast territory. The LMS went down into South Wales and up to the west of Scotland.

The railway police often had to lodge. My husband left home on Friday afternoon and went up to Newcastle, for a football special going to London. He slept that night in a sleeping car in the sidings. He got home Sunday dinner time! I worked for a time in York. I was sent on a course in Devizes on ‘How to deal with staff problems’ – but I’d never had any staff problems before! Anyway, I had a lovely time. It helped make me more aware of potential staff problems, at least.”

Fred North

Fred came from a West Riding railway family. His father was a driver at Manningham shed, Bradford, later Holbeck. He drove the famous test runs over the Settle-Carisle Line with Jubilee loco 5660 ‘Rooke’ in 1936. Fred started his footplate career just before the outbreak of the Second World War and retired in the 1970s. He was booked as a driver in the 1950s and worked at Manningham, Copley Hill, and finally Holbeck sheds.

Company rivalries

“There’s always been rivalry between the different railway companies. It’s still there among older railwaymen! We used to call the LMS ”Let Me sleep”! But there was often a nasty edge to it. I can remember drivers on the GN saying about a transferred driver, ”Don’t talk to him, he’s a Midland man”. I used to like the GN gauge lamps, and I’d often

try and swap a few cloths for one of them!  The rivalry could get serious when promotion was involved. When someone came in from another shed he’d put you back for promotion. It wasn’t his fault of course. But often these transferred men were treated with hostility.

I remember worrying when I transferred to Copley Hill, the GN shed, I was a Midland man, and I’d seen men at Holbeck sent to Coventry by some of the other men. I always challenged this, and I’m glad to say that I was well received at Copley Hill.

Fun and games – and ghosts

Many Tunnels had their own resident ghost, often near running water, for special effects. Bramhope was particularly wet, the ghost must have worn a mac all the time. Some tunnels were built on rising gradients and you’d often start slipping on the wet rails: Sometimes you’d lose all sense of whether you were moving forward, standing still, or going backwards! The only way you’d know was by sticking your shovel out of the cab, to touch the tunnel wails.

In the days of loose-coupled freight it was easy to end up breaking couplings or giving violent snatches which could result in the guard at the back of the train being thrown across the van floor and getting badly injured. There was one place which was notorious, near Bingley. I was a young driver and my father advised me the best way to tackle the dip. “Keep the buggers going! ” he said. He insisted that the best plan was to keep steam on hard after slowing down before Bingley. I tried it out, and we went storming through Bingley tunnel, only to find the distant was off for us but for the slow line. There was a 20 mph slack from fast to slow. We hit the points at something more like double that. Anyway, we held the rails but I was a bit angry with my dad. He repeated his opinion, adding that I must have just been a bit soft to worry about coming off the road. There wasn’t any snatch, was there?

A Passed Fireman once took the quickest way into the Holbeck Mess Room, he ran a locomotive into it! He was on the turntable with a loco and the road off the table was on a rising gradient. He had trouble

moving the loco so he wrenched the regulator fully open. The loco moved all right, straight into the mess room wall! The main casualty was the mess room cat: it ran off in terror and obviously found a less dangerous abode.

There were some perks in working on the footplate. We had jobs to Heysham where you could sample the nettle beer. It was delicious! And at Kentish there was a place that sold lemonade, not ordinary lemonade. You could taste the lemons!

We used to have a regular express passenger job to Carlisle; We’d always get sandwiches from the dining car lads when we got to Carlisle. One day, we arrived and there was no sign of our ‘treats’. I got up on the tender and ‘put the bag in’ to take water, and then one of the attendants appeared. ”1’m sorry we’ve no sandwiches today” he said, ”the chef has been busy. But would you accept this?” And he pulled out an enormous pork pie, together with a silver tea service! We split the pie in half and took most of it home.

Toilet tricks

If you were caught short on the bookplate, you’d use the shovel! You’d have be careful not to use the shovel for catering purposes after! I remember being on a Morecambe excursion, returning to Leeds. We stopped at Skipton and two men came up to us from out of the train.   They explained that their female companions needed to use a toilet (it was non-corridor stock with no toilet). I gave them a bucket which was duly returned at Keighley!

I was with one driver at Manningham shed for some time. He was always playing tricks. One day he was leaving Bingley, with a young lad firing for him. When they got into the tunnel he grabbed hold of the lad’s neck. The lad was terrified and asked if he had got hold of him. The driver replied he hadn’t, he must have been grabbed by the ghost of a dead platelayer who haunted the tunnel. He was run over by an engine and had a grudge against locomen.

There were different working practices. Eastern men – or GN men, as we called them – never did any hooking on. We Midland men always did! Sometimes a train would wait for hours for someone to hook on because the GN men wouldn’t do it.

When I signed up during the war I was asked what I wanted to do. I said ‘railway work’ – but I ended up bridge building! I had no interest in this at all, and eventually I got my own way.

Lodging Turns

Our link had 18 lodging turns in 12 weeks, We would lodge at Carlisle, Burton, Derby and other places. I had one driver who never lodged all the time I knew him! He’d always find a ruse to avoid it. He’d find a fault on the loco or claim he didn’t know the road.

Some of the lodging houses were very comfortable. The house at Carnforth was run by a nice lady, Mrs Marshall, who kept the place immaculate. The food was good too. It was normal for footplatemen

to take their families there for a holiday in summer! The Lancaster lodge was a cold place and we always took coal to keep warm. Mrs Lockhart was stewardess at Carlisle Kingmoor lodging house (it’s a hotel now). It was rum place. On my first visit she told me to be careful if I went into town there were a lot of bad women in Carlisle. Unfortunately, I didn’t find any!

The Kentish Town lodging house just had a series of cubicles, with no roof over them. You could hear everything and some drivers snored heavily! There was only one chamber pot, and when it was full someone chucked the contents out of the window.

I was lodging in London after Kentish Town Lodge had closed. I was sent to Ilford but it was miles away. So I went to a place called the Hampton Castle, near Kings Cross. That was a right doss-house. The staff were ignorant. I got a meal but no spoon so I asked for one. They refused, and said I should have asked for it when I ordered my meal! I kicked up a right fuss.

Carlisle had several lodging houses – Upperby, Durranhill, and Kingmoor. Kingmoor had a lot of Scotch lodgers. They were big, hefty men. In the middle of the mess room there was a table with a big bowl of fat. They’d ladle some up to make a fry-up, and then sling the fat back in when they’d finish. God only knows how old that fat was! Most of them used to make a big pot of tea, with a bowl of porridge. Their tea was something else. They’d brew up and leave their tea pot behind the back of the heating boiler and leave it there until the following day. There were dozens of these teapots, talk about liking your tea stewed. Ugh!

We’d often cook onions in the cab. We’d stick one behind the injector handle and it would cook a treat. It was quite a common delicacy. It would roast slowly, and be a delicious treat after an hour or so. My mate used to take his false teeth out first, wash them out in a firing bucket, then eat his onion.

War

My first trip to London as a fireman was at the height of the war. The driver was Lionel Bateson. At Bedford we were told it was ”Air Raid Alert Red”. As we headed south towards London the sky was lit up, bright red, by fires and bombings When we arrived at St Pancras the station was quiet, but we could hear bombs exploding all round the city. We headed for the lodging and found some other Leeds men already there. We then heard the anti-aircraft guns at Hampstead Heath start firing and then there was a massive explosion and lots of shattering glass. All the lights went out, but after the dust had settled nobody was injured.

We went out to have a look round and collect some souvenirs. There was a huge crater directly outside the building with lots of tangled metal. It turned out to be a land-mine which had exploded on impact after being dropped by a German plane. It was a lucky escape! One Leeds fireman was killed by a bomb, it ripped his leg off and he bled to death.

During the war there was a regular train for expectant mothers. It left St Pancras at 10 am every day, for Derby. Buses were waiting there to take them to a home in Alfreton.

There were a lot of black American soldiers stationed in Britain, and they were rigidly separated from the white Gls. We worked a special train which was specially for black Gls and two white Americans got in by mistake. They got badly beaten up.”

More to follow in next month’s Salvo.

Walt Whitman and Northern Socialism

This is an outline of my talk for Wakefield Socialist History Group on February 23^rd 2024, at The Red Shed. My book With ‘Walt Whitman in Bolton’ gives a fuller account of the connections but is almost out of print. I’m looking at doing a new edition.

The great poet of American democracy, Walt Whitman, had a huge influence on the early British socialist movement. The man whom many acclaim as the United States’ greatest-ever poet had very close ties with a group of friends, many of whom were active in the Independent Labour Party (ILP), in Lancashire. Each year, on May

31^st, they celebrated Whitman’s birthday on the Lancashire moors with readings from his poetry, wearing sprigs of lilac and passing round a loving cup of spiced claret. Since 1985 the tradition has been revived, and has become a popular event for both socialists and the gay community.

The central figure in the Bolton group was J W Wallace, an architect’s assistant with Bolton firm Bradshaw Gass and Hope. He was a close friend of both the Glasiers and Keir Hardie, and a member of the ILP’s National Administrative Council. Wallace used this position to promote his almost fanatical devotion to the prophet of comradeship and the open air and had some measure of success.

Most socialist publications in the 1890s carried adverts for ‘Leaves of Grass’, Whitman’s ever-changing collection of his writings, and his poetry featured in most collections of socialist verse. Labour’s Garland – Poems for Socialists, published by The Huddersfield Worker and edited by James Leatham included an excerpt from Whitman’s prose on the cover and part of ‘Song of the Redwood Tree’ and ‘To a Foil’d European Revolutionaire’ amongst the poetry.

What made him so popular? Whitman cut a striking figure, with a shock of white hair and beard, wearing a cap perched at a jaunty angle. He was almost sanctified by the early socialist movement in England, particularly in the North. The Bolton socialist Allen Clarke wrote in 1919 that ‘it is fitting that Bolton should be distinguished above all towns in England by having a group of Whitman enthusiasts, for many years in close touch, by letter and visit, with ‘the Master’, for I am sure Walt Whitman, the singer of out-door life, would have loved to ramble our Lancashire moorlands.’ (published in book form in ‘Moorlands and Memories’, Bolton, 1920).

The correspondence with Whitman started with a birthday greeting

sent in 1887, signed by Wallace and his friend Dr John Johnston. Whitman was touched, and there began an exchange of letters which cast a lot of fascinating light on Whitman himself and on life in Lancashire in the late nineteenth century.

Whitman died in 1892, but by then a firm friendship with other American ‘Whitmanites’ had been established with this small group of enthusiasts in the town which was then at the heart of the Lancashire cotton industry. They called themselves ‘The Eagle Street College’ after the modest two-up two-down terraced house where the group’s mentor, J.W. Wallace, lived with his parents in the mid-1880s. They used to meet at Wallace’s home each week to discuss Whitman and other great thinkers and poets of the time. Wallace moved to Adlington, a small village on the edge of the Bolton moors, in the mid-1890s and this encouraged the group to come to visit and explore the magnificent scenery around Rivington and Anglezarke.

The highpoint of the group’s social calendar was the celebration of Whitman’s birthday. The day included a brisk walk up to Rivington where they would be entertained by the Unitarian minister Samuel Thompson. There would be readings from ‘Leaves of Grass’ and the passing round of a ‘loving cup’ containing spiced claret. More of ten than not Wallace would deliver an ‘address’ on the political and spiritual significance of Whitman. But basically they had a good time and were able to work off the claret on the walk back down to the railway station at Adlington.

The group were, at least initially, mainly lower middle-class men who included clerks, a journalist, clergymen and one or two skilled workers. They were not a metropolitan intelligentsia, but neither could they be described as representative of Bolton’s industrial working class. They were probably typical of the sort of person drawn to the young Independent Labour Party with its message of ethical, rather than Marxian, socialism. As Fred Wild, an early member of the group commented ‘these young men were all from the Parish Church and for the most part were engaged as clerks or minor gaffers and were attracted to Wallace by his personality and intellectual powers.’

Wallace had a wider circle of friends who were infected by his love for Whitman, including Keir Hardie, founder of the Labour Party, who frequently visited him in Adlington. Edward Carpenter, Robert Blatchford and the Irish co-operator Horace Plunkett were amongst his friends and correspondents. Whitman and Carpenter were particularly close friends and Carpenter visited the poet in America. Whilst Carpenter was overtly gay, Whitman kept his sexuality something of a mystery, though America’s modern gay community has claimed him as their own. Much of his poetry is a powerful celebration of love between men, with some strongly erotic themes and imagery. Equally, he was the poet of spirituality and comradeship, and love of the open air.

Whitman’s birthday will be celebrated, as usual, on the nearest Saturday to his birthday (May 31^st), which means it should be Saturday June 1^st. Details in a future Salvo.

Lancastrians: Mills, Mines and Minarets

The first three months of the year has been a busy time for talks on my ‘Lancastrians’ book. The most recent was to the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, in the fine surroundings of the Athenaeum in Liverpool. More to come in April and May;  please contact me if you would like more details.

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 14^th 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 at it. 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.

Still in Print (at special prices)

ALLEN CLARKE: Lancashire’s Romantic Radical £4.99 (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)

 

 

The Northern Salvo

Incorporating  Weekly Notices, Sectional Appendices, Lancvashire Loominary 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 (also Lancashire) email: paul.salveson@myphone.coop

Publications website: www.lancashireloominary.co.uk

No.     317     March 2024   

Salveson’s half-nakedly political digest of railways, tripe and secessionist nonsense from Up North.

Anniversaries and Aggravation

Apologies for the long gap since the last Salvo – various things have got in the way but here is the first offering for 2024. Several important anniversaries are coming up, the first being the Stockton and Darlington in 2025. ‘Railways 200’ is really taking off and there are some exciting plans in preparation. Following Railways 200 there’s the Bolton and Leigh 200^th in 2028 (see below) and then the Liverpool and Manchester in 2030 (‘Rocket 200’), which I’m going to be closely involved with. Hopefully by then the railways’ troubles will be a distant memory. While it’s great news that RMT has settled, there is still little sign of a deal with the drivers’ union Aslef (who celebrate their 150^th in 2030). I have to say my sympathy has moved much more towards the drivers, given the refusal of the Westminster Government to engage. It is a telling fact that it’s only this one body that is holding out against a settlement. Wales, Scotland, London and Merseyside have all reached agreement with the drivers: why not Westminster? On a much more localized level, our station barrier staff at Bolton have been taking strike action this week. They are not directly employed by the train companies and have very poor working conditions. If anyone should be striking, they should. Their cause is being championed by RMT and The Salvo offers its full support (that’ll get the bosses quaking in their boots).

HS2: Digging an ever-bigger hole (and I don’t mean the tunnels)

The Government’s decision to scrap the northern (Phase 2) leg of HS2 without any sensible alternative plan is causing massive problems (Salvo 316). As readers will know, I’ve never been a fan of the project but we’ve ended up with a half-built scheme costing billions which will make precious little contribution to solving our transport problems, and could actually make them worse.

A recent report by the Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) confirms this. Chair of the committee, Meg Hillier, was highly critical of current Government intentions, commenting: “The decision to cancel HS2’s Northern leg was a watershed moment that raises urgent and unanswered questions, laid out in our report. What happens now to the Phase 2 land, some of which has been compulsorily purchased? Can we seriously be actively working towards a situation where our high-speed trains are forced to run slower than existing ones when they hit older track?”

Hillier is referring to the current notion that the new HS2 route beyond Birmingham will rejoin the West Coast Main Line at Handsacre, with the super-fast new trains using existing infrastructure to Crewe and beyond, which is not only slow but already congested, particularly in the Stafford area where tracks go down to just one in

each direction. Even more ludicrous the new trains will not go as fast as the current Pendolinos, which can tilt, meaning  they can take curves at a higher speed than conventional non-tilting trains. The new trains planned for HS2 do not have tilt because the assumption was that most of the route they would be running on was largely straight.

A further problem with the current HS2 fiasco is that the logical southern terminus – Euston – is very much in doubt. The only commitment is to build as far as Old Oak Common, despite a huge amount of demolition work having taken place in the Euston area. The Government suggests that Euston will only go ahead if private sector investment can be found. The PAC report was highly sceptical that that investment can be attracted of the scale that would make the project viable.

Can anything be rescued from the mess? There is a desperate need to improve capacity on the West Coast Main Line (London to Glasgow)especially  north of Rugby and have the entire route upgraded to four track, with speeds of at least 140 m/ph. Without that extra capacity there is a real risk that freight trains will have fewer paths than they have now.

Some of the land that was purchased for the abandoned Birmingham – Crewe section (Phase 2a), at a cost of £600 million, would be needed to provide some of that extra capacity but the Government is pushing to sell it off. Sooner or later, much of that land will be needed, when some degree of common sense returns.

Further north, regional mayors Andy Burnham (Labour, Greater Manchester) and Andy Street (Conservative, West Midlands) are working together to try and come up with a plan to connect the two major conurbations. I hope they will come up with a better alternative than the original plans offered, with an over-engineered ultra high-speed railway (225 m/ph) that massively inflated costs and environmental damage. As Street himself admitted “a lot of the cost in HS2 has come from this very uncompromising point about the speed.”

There’s no doubt that much better rail links between Manchester and Birmingham are needed. The current route is slow and rail has, perhaps unsurprisingly, a very small share of the market, at just 4%.

The two mayors have brought together a high-powered team to look at options and there have been suggestions that the private sector could stump up the investment. I have my doubts: it would be a big project and needs public investment on a large scale to get the best overall value. This would be exactly the sort of project that an incoming Labour Government, committed to a green economy, true ‘levelling-up’ of the country  and creating jobs, should grasp with both hands. The recent announcement abandoning Labour’s green investment plans doesn’t augur well. It’s ironic that two regional politicians, Labour and Tory, are showing between them far more vision than any politician at national level.

Let the Public Accounts Committee have the last word:  “HS2 is the biggest ticket item by value on the Government’s books for infrastructure projects. As such, it was crying out for a steady hand at the tiller from the start,” Dame Hillier said. “But, here we are after over a decade of our warnings on HS2’s management and spiralling costs – locked into the costly completion of a curtailed rump of a project and many unanswered questions and risks still attached to the delivery of even this curtailed project.”

Station Library doings:

The MIC Re-born! And occasional papers to be published, occasionally

Kents Bank Station Library continues to develop with well-attended monthly open days and talks (see below). For now, the Library will be open once a month, normally on the second Saturday of the month – the next open day is Saturday March 9th, from 11.00 to 3.30 pm. Entrance is via steps next to Beach Hut Gallery (also open). Teas, coffee and biscuits available – as well as sale of surplus books there is also an expanding ‘lending’ section.

The library is open for reference/study purposes by appointment – ring 07795 008691 or email info@stationlibrary.org.uk . We continue to receive generous donations of books and railway ephemera, which are very much appreciated. The Library has started a series of monthly

talks. We’ve christened them our ‘Mutual Improvement Class’ (MIC) reviving a railway tradition that goes back to the beginnings of the Railway Age. The most recent talk was Martin Bairstow, speaking on ‘Railways of the Lake District’. We managed to cram sixteen of us into the Reading Room but we’re looking at other options to accommodate a few more people, in comfort.

Our next ‘MIC’ is on Wednesday March 13^th. Retired Blackburn locoman Raymond Watton who will speak on his ‘Memoirs of a Lancashire Engineman’. Raymond started his railway career at Lower Darwen shed, moving to Blackburn and then Preston depots. He was fireman on 70013 ‘Oliver Cromwell’ on the famous ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’ marking the end of steam on August 11^th 1968. The talk is at 14.00 and must be pre-booked. Ring 07795 008691 or email info@stationlibrary.org.uk .

We’re also going to start publishing ‘occasional papers’ on aspects of railway social history. The first will be a three-part paper by John Kolodziejski, ‘London Bridge Freight Guard: Life on BR on the 70s’. John went on to become a journalist with the FT; this memoir offers a fascinating glimpse into life during a period of rapid transition on the railways. It will be posted on the library website shortly. Keep an eye out on www.stationlibrary.org.uk Contact details: Paul Salveson on 07795 008691 or info@stationlibrary.org.uk

Postal address: Station House, Kentsford Road, Kents Bank, Grange-over-Sands LA11 7BB The Library’s website is www.stationlibrary.org.uk

Dear friends departed: Valerie Hirst

It’s sad that this is becoming a regular feature of The Salvo. My very close friend Valerie Hirst died in January and her funeral, at Friends’ Meeting House in Huddersfield, took place on February 14^th. I first

got to know Valerie on the Penistone Line Music Train, in 1994. She always made an impact and she certainly did that on the music train, getting passengers off their seats to jive along the train. We became great friends and had some lovely trips to the east coast and Dales. She spent much of her early life in the NHS, becoming a Community Psychiatric Nurse. She trained as an Alexander Technique teacher, a job that she took to with her usual gusto. In more recent years she took up photography and became a brilliant landscape photographer, winning numerous competitions and becoming an active member of the Huddersfield Camera Club. She was a very spiritual person, fascinated by mysticism and alternative lifestyles. She was a great traveller; despite having ME she managed to get to Crete every year and made many good friends from around Europe during her trips. She will leave a very big hole in many people’s lives, mine included.

Railwaymen (and women!) Remembered

The following personal account of one railwayman’s 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! Here’s the first…

Ralph Burnell, Driver, Stourton

Ralph started on the footplate at Stourton (Leeds) at the age of 14 in 1942. He was made a fireman in 1948, and passed out for driving in 1964. He retired in 1987 after nearly 45 years’ service. I don’t know what became of him but if anyone does know anything (I have to assume he has died, but if still going he will be in his mid-90s) please get in touch.

“When I started at Stourton I worked as a caller-up and messenger boy. I had to advise men of altered turns of duty. There were a lot of specials then: troop trains, petrol trains, and other wartime special workings. On the afternoon turn I would advise twenty to thirty men: drivers, firemen, guards. I would then take the letters to Leeds City Station. One night, during the blackout, there was a thick fog and an air-raid warning. I ended up staying the night at the Queens Hotel!

When I was 16 I got passed for firing duties, but was put on nights as a knocker-up, since I new the knocking-up area. I used my bike, but we only had paraffin lamps.

If you held up the lamp to see the street name, the oil would run down your arm. Men were usually given an hour or so to get to the shed, but sometimes a driver and fireman might live a mile or so apart. If the bike had a puncture – a frequent event since inner tubes were in short supply – it was a mad dash from one to the other. You’ve got to remember the black-out was on, and there were no street lights. Everything was pitch black. One night, I had an experience which made my hair stand on end. A dog came up and licked my hand – but I couldn’t see it, it was so dark!

If a man missed being called he could come down to the shed at 9 a.m. and get a day’s pay. One fireman tried this on, but didn’t get paid. It turned out that the knocker-up had been round but couldn’t wake him up. But he’d managed to wake all the rest of the street in the attempt!

I was in the Leeds Home Guard. I had a problem with boots – I couldn’t get any. I was then called up into the regular army in 1943, and it was expected you’d present yourself in your Home Guard uniform, boots included. All I had was a disgusting pair of second-hand ones. When I turned out on parade, the sergeant-major took one look at them and had me arrested! So twenty minutes after joining the army, I was in prison! Fortunately they rang Leeds and they confirmed my story, and I was let out to pursue a distinguished military career!

Footplate Food

I’ve had a few fry-ups on the firing shovel, when we could get some bacon. We’d also roast onions on the engine. I had a driver who would bring his kippers and warm them up, then put them in a bread cake and eat the lot – including head and bones! I once took 2lb of kippers for me and my second-man, when we were on station pilot duty. He was taken for another job, so I was single-manned and had to eat the lot myself.

I was stationed in Palestine during the war, working as a driver. We used to do bacon fry-ups on the firing shovel – but if you had a Moslem fireman you’d be in trouble!

There was a Holbeck driver called Gladstone Simpson – JP – he was very proud of

that, and he used to start off cleaning the shovel with the degging pipe. He’d stick the shovel in the firehole to burn the remaining dirt off, and then add the bacon and eggs. It was a great ritual for him!

We’d often cook onions in the cab. We’d stick one behind the injector handle and it would cook a treat. It was quite a common delicacy. It would roast slowly, and be a delicious treat after an hour or so. My mate used to take his false teeth out first, wash them out in a firing bucket, then eat his onion.

Characters

Ernie Rainford was called “The Vicar”. He lived in Hunslet by the vicarage. On one occasion a knocker-up arrived at what he thought was Ernie’s door, very early in the morning. A bad-tempered man came to the door and was told it was time to get up. He answered “Don’t you know who I am? I’m the Vicar of Hunslet!” To which the knocker-up replied “I don’t care who you are, but you’re on the 2 a.m.!”

Ernie had the distinction of being fond of animals, and on one occasion brought a donkey into the mess room. It left its calling card.

The shed foreman was called ‘Barber’ and everyone knew him as ‘Ali’ – but not to his face. He had a big car, and one day Ernie and his mate ‘stowed away’ in the back seat when he was going home. When they wanted to get out, Ernie tapped him on the shoulder, and said to the surprised foreman – “Let us out here Ali.” They got a bigger surprise when he took them a further five miles out of their way!

There was one driver known to one and all as “Deep Depression”. If you said ‘Good Morning’ to him, he’d say “It’ll rain before dinner time.” Another was called ‘Fish Billy’. He always had a cold fish from the fish shop, which he would warm up on the shovel. One day his mate was driving: he opened the regulator hard and the fish was sucked into the firebox – well and truly cooked!

Lodging

There were some important unwritten rules in lodging. Driver and fireman often had to share the same bed. The youngest man – the fireman – always slept nearest to the wall; you couldn’t get up until the driver did!

There was one very funny character who was a driver at New England, Peterborough, and transferred to Ardsley. His reputation for being mad had gone before him. On his first day he walked into the mess room and announced to the throng “They tell me there’s a lot of lazy buggers around here – well meet the new champ!”

If a driver was learning the road and he got on with him, it was normal for the poor man to be left to himself. He would retire into the train with a casual “I’ll see you gentlemen in Leeds!”

Casey was another character. He’d cause trouble anywhere. If he walked into a quiet room, he’d walk out with a riot going on. He became known as ‘Sailor’. He was on a job to Cleethorpes and it was common to take the ferry over to Hull to get a train home passenger. One night the boat got stuck on a sandbank in the middle of the Humber and it was 24 hours before he booked off.

I started with another lad on the same day, and we were the same age. So we tossed a coin to see who’d be the senior man. I won – and the chap who lost reckoned it cost him about £1500 in wages over the years. Promotion was invariably on seniority grounds for wages grades. In clerical grades seniority was important, but not the sole consideration.

Diesels Arrive

Stourton closed in 1967 and I transferred to Holbeck. In 1978 I moved to Leeds City and joined the railcar link, where there was no night work. When the diesels arrived they were a source of controversy. Some men swore by them, others swore at them. If you spat on the rail they’d slip and slide, some of them. There were always problems with non-compatible couplings, and with brake blocks. BR made a big

mistake in introducing too many different types. They should have gone for a smaller number of standard types, which is what we’ve finally got.

Some blokes loved railways, and would work for nothing. Harry Holroyd came up for retirement and didn’t want to finish, even though he had a 6-track model railway in his cellar to play with!

I met a lot of nice people on the railcars. One train I used to work every other week was called the ‘Bingo Special’. We used to bring people from Castleford, Pontefract and Knottingley into Leeds, arriving at 7pm for the bingo hall near City Station. We’d take them home at 9.45 When I retired in 1987, I received a number of retirement cards from the ladies who used the ‘Bingo Special’. One was headed ‘To the driver of the Orient Express Bingo Train’. I also got a large box of Liquorice Allsorts from the ‘Ladies of Pontefract and the Sweetie Girls of the 6.45 Train’. One of them wrote a poem in my honour, which I’ve still got!”

A Forgotten Railway ‘First’: Bolton and Leigh, 1828

The Bolton and Leigh Railway opened in 1828 and was the first public railway in Lancashire, preceding the Liverpool and Manchester by two years. It connected in to the Liverpool and Manchester at Kenyon Junction (via the Kenyon and Leigh Railway) opening for through passenger traffic in 1831. The main function of the Stephenson-built line was to shift coal, and it connected the major collieries in the Leigh and Atherton area with Bolton. The line featured some severe gradients, at Bolton (Daubhill) and Chequerbent, requiring rope

haulage. Eventually, in 1885, two diversions were built which removed the need for the rope haulage but Chequerbent Incline remained a fearsom clim at 1 in 30 – though this slipped to 1 in 18 as a result of mining subsidence. Regular passenger traffic finished in 1954 though a  young Salvo travelled on a Bolton Holidays excuirsion from Great Moors Street to North Wales in 1958. Freight traffic carried on into the mid-60s. There is growing interest amongst some Bolton folk in celebrating the 200th anniversary. Recently, a small gathering of local councillors and other interested parties had a look at some remaining features of the pre-1885 route

and were surprised at what still remains: including some of the original stone sleepers which have been incorporated into a stone wall. We were shown some historic artefacts and photos by the owner of Majestic Motors, which is on the route of the 1828 line at the site of Sunnyside Mills. Please get in touch via The Salvo if you’d like to be involved in plans to mark the anniversary.

Walt Whitman and Northern Socialism

This is an outline of my talk for Wakefield Socialist History Group on February 23^rd 2024, at The Red Shed. My book With Walt Whitman in Bolton gives a fuller account of the connections but is almost out of print. I’m looking at doing a new edition.

The great poet of American democracy, Walt Whitman, had a huge influence on the early British socialist movement. The man whom many acclaim as the United States’ greatest-ever poet had very close ties with a group of friends, many of whom were active in the Independent Labour Party (ILP), in Lancashire. Each year, on May 31^st, they celebrated Whitman’s birthday on the Lancashire moors with

readings from his poetry, wearing sprigs of lilac and passing round a loving cup of spiced claret. Since 1985 the tradition has been revived, and has become a popular event for both socialists and the gay community.

The central figure in the Bolton group was J W Wallace, an architect’s assistant with Bolton firm Bradshaw Gass and Hope. He was a close friend of both the Glasiers and Keir Hardie, and a member of the ILP’s National Administrative Council. Wallace used this position to promote his almost fanatical devotion to the prophet of comradeship and the open air and had some measure of success.

Most socialist publications in the 1890s carried adverts for ‘Leaves of Grass’, Whitman’s ever-changing collection of his writings, and his poetry featured in most collections of socialist verse. Labour’s Garland – Poems for Socialists, published by The Huddersfield Worker and edited by James Leatham included an excerpt from Whitman’s prose on the cover and part of ‘Song of the Redwood Tree’ and ‘To a Foil’d European Revolutionaire’ amongst the poetry.

What made him so popular? Whitman cut a striking figure, with a shock of white hair and beard, wearing a cap perched at a jaunty angle. He was almost sanctified by the early socialist movement in England, particularly in the North. The Bolton socialist Allen Clarke wrote in 1919 that ‘it is fitting that Bolton should be distinguished above all towns in England by having a group of Whitman enthusiasts, for many years in close touch, by letter and visit, with ‘the Master’, for I am sure Walt Whitman, the singer of out-door life, would have loved to ramble our Lancashire moorlands.’ (published in book form in ‘Moorlands and Memories’, Bolton, 1920).

The correspondence with Whitman started with a birthday greeting sent in 1887, signed by Wallace and his friend Dr John Johnston. Whitman was touched, and there began an exchange of letters which cast a lot of fascinating light on Whitman himself and on life in Lancashire in the late nineteenth century.

Whitman died in 1892, but by then a firm friendship with other American ‘Whitmanites’ had been established with this small group of enthusiasts in the town which was then at the heart of the Lancashire cotton industry. They called themselves ‘The Eagle Street College’ after the modest two-up two-down terraced house where the group’s mentor, J.W. Wallace, lived with his parents in the mid-1880s. They used to meet at Wallace’s home each week to discuss Whitman and other great thinkers and poets of the time. Wallace moved to Adlington, a small village on the edge of the Bolton moors, in the mid-1890s and this encouraged the group to come to visit and explore the magnificent scenery around Rivington and Anglezarke.

The highpoint of the group’s social calendar was the celebration of Whitman’s birthday. The day included a brisk walk up to Rivington where they would be entertained by the Unitarian minister Samuel

Thompson. There would be readings from ‘Leaves of Grass’ and the passing round of a ‘loving cup’ containing spiced claret. More of ten than not Wallace would deliver an ‘address’ on the political and spiritual significance of Whitman. But basically they had a good time and were able to work off the claret on the walk back down to the railway station at Adlington.

The group were, at least initially, mainly lower middle-class men who included clerks, a journalist, clergymen and one or two skilled workers. They were not a metropolitan intelligentsia, but neither could they be described as representative of Bolton’s industrial working class. They were probably typical of the sort of person drawn to the young Independent Labour Party with its message of ethical, rather than Marxian, socialism. As Fred Wild, an early member of the group commented ‘these young men were all from the Parish Church and for the most part were engaged as clerks or minor gaffers and were attracted to Wallace by his personality and intellectual powers.’

Wallace had a wider circle of friends who were infected by his love for Whitman, including Keir Hardie, founder of the Labour Party, who frequently visited him in Adlington. Edward Carpenter, Robert Blatchford and the Irish co-operator Horace Plunkett were amongst his friends and correspondents. Whitman and Carpenter were particularly close friends and Carpenter visited the poet in America. Whilst Carpenter was overtly gay, Whitman kept his sexuality something of a mystery, though America’s modern gay community has claimed him as their own. Much of his poetry is a powerful celebration of love between men, with some strongly erotic themes and imagery. Equally, he was the poet of spirituality and comradeship, and love of the open air.

Whitman’s birthday will be celebrated, as usual, on the nearest Saturday to his birthday (May 31^st), which means it should be Saturday June 1^st. Details in a future Salvo.

Lancastrians: Mills, Mines and Minarets

February has been a busy month for talks on ‘the book’ with well-attended audiences in Blackburn, Rawtenstall and Padiham in particular. More talks are planned on aspects of my new book on Lancashire history and identity. There’s a bit of a lull in March apart from a lecture for the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, at Liverpool’s Athenaeum, on March 20^th.  Please contact me if you would like more details.

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 14^th 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 at it. See https://www.hurstpublishers.com/catalogues/spring-summer-2023/.

The book is hardback, price £25. Salvo readers can get a 25% discount by going to the publisher’s website (www.hurstpublishers.com) and enter the code LANCASTRIANS25 at checkout.

Station Buffet Bulletin

We’re re-starting this column, by popular request. The first item is based on a press release from Merseyrail and is on my ‘must visit’ list for the Spring:

NEW COMMUNITY COFFEE SHOP FOR MAGHULL

Two young entrepreneurs have launched a new coffee shop at Maghull station, providing not only refreshments for commuters and travellers, but a hub that aims to be a focal point for the local community. The Coffee Carriage recently opened in the station’s ticket office and provides a warm, cosy seating area for customers. With artisan pastries and a range of freshly baked produce, the new shop is a must-visit for foodies in the area. Craig Reeves, who runs Coffee Carriage alongside Rory McLellan, said: “Our customers can expect a friendly and welcoming place, almost like a second home.

“We will be providing barista coffee from a traditional espresso bar, as this is what customers have come to expect now when visiting any good coffee lounge. “We will also be offering freshly baked morning pastries, breakfast rolls, cakes and other treats.”

And Craig has revealed ambitious plans for the Maghull coffee shop. He said: “We will be looking into having events in the mornings, together with afternoon teas, Sunday strolls and so on. We want to make this a little hub for the local community and become a part of it. Our opening times will be Monday to Friday from 6am – 4pm, Saturday 8am – 4pm. However, these times will be reviewed and adjusted to meet the demand.

Suzanne Grant, Deputy MD of Merseyrail, said: “We’re delighted to be able to welcome Coffee Carriage to Maghull station, and I’m sure customers and local people will be impressed with this fantastic new facility.  Rory and Craig’s business is a great example of some of the opportunities available on the Merseyrail network, and we’d love to work with any local independent businesses who are interested. We’re open to any ideas, so do please get in touch by emailing propertyenquiries@merseyrail.org.

Reading for the train

Our good friend John Davies has just published another book of his railway memoirs. Commercial: It’s not railway work is the slightly ironic title of what he describes as my remarkable journey from Swansea District Office to Regional Railways Manager, Wales.” Highly recommended – £14.99 from Amazon. (A longer review will follow in the next issue).

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)