Accrington railway station today saw a service to dedicate a plaque in the memory of the Accrington Pals. Officially known as the 11th Battalion East Lancashire Regiment, the Accrington Pals were a battalion raised in the first months of the First World War in response to Kitchener’s call for a volunteer army. Groups of friends from all walks of life in Accrington and its neighbouring towns enlisted together to form a battalion with a distinctively local identity. In its first major action, the battalion suffered devastating losses in the attack on Serre on 1st July 1916, the opening day of the Battle of the Somme. The losses were hard to bear in a community where nearly everyone had a relative or friend who had been killed or wounded. Although the battalion was to fight again, its Pals character had been irretrievably lost.

The ceremony to unveil the plaque was held in the Booking Hall at Accrington station and following an opening speech by the Mayor of Hyndburn, and prayers of dedication the plaque was unveiled by a piper, watched by representatives of the regiment and relatives of those lost in the devastating first day of action.

The inscription on the plaque reads as follows:

In honour of those men and women of Accrington who served on the railways, and answered their country’s call in time of need in units like the 11th battalion East Lancashire Regiment – the ‘Accrington Pals’.

An annual memorial service will be held at the station on the first Sunday of  November each year.

On Friday 24^th June 2011 Class 6 from Daisyfield Primary School were at Blackburn station to witness the unveiling of a piece of artwork done by the class as part of the programme of works taking place on platform 4 at the station.

The artwork was requested by AMCO the contractors for the works, as part of their commitment to the Considerate Contractors Scheme. The artwork was originally designed to be displayed at the bottom of the slope to platform 4 but eventually it was agreed that it could become a permanent display feature for the waiting room on platforms 1 & 2.

Brian Haworth, Community Rail Development Officer and Marjorie Birch, Vice Chair of the Clitheroe Line & East Lancashire CRPs (CL/ELCRP) went into Daisyfield to work with Class teacher, Shabnum Talib and teaching assistant Zainab Dudha to help the children design and complete the piece of art.

On the day a host of invited guests including Jack Straw, former justice secretary and MP for Blackburn, James Syson, Transport Planner with Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council and Chair of the joint CRPs, Kathryn O’Brien, Client & Stakeholder Manager West, Northern Rail and Alan Howarth, Project Manager, Network Rail gathered at the station to congratulate the children on their work.

After a welcome and other speeches Jack Straw unveiled the colourful artwork and stayed on to chat to the children and pose for photographs. The artwork made entirely from recycled materials can be seen by anyone visiting the platform 1 & 2 waiting room on Blackburn station.

Thanks must also be given to Simon Godfrey, Customer Communications Manager with Northern Rail for his help in arranging the installation of the artwork in the waiting room.

Full details of the works to Platform 4 at Blackburn can be seen by clicking HERE.

The new Eco Station at Accrington has once again been in the spotlight! The station has picked up two awards at events in London, over the last two days.

On Thursday evening at the MJ Local Government Achievement Awards, held at a very glitzy ceremony in the London Hilton, Park Lane, the station was Highly Commended in the Sustainable Infrastructure Achievement of the Year category.

The following day at the Modern Railways – Railway Industry Innovation Awards, the station fought off strong contenders to win in the Environment category. This category recognises the increasingly important ‘green’ agenda and the efforts by the railway industry to react to concerns about the environment. The judges were looking for innovations and projects that deliver benefits such as reducing carbon emissions, reducing pollution, cutting waste and improving the environment.

Richard Watts, Rail Projects Manager with Lancashire County Council was on stage with Peter Marshall from Strzala Bright Seed the architects for the project along with Brian Haworth and Simon Clarke, Lancashire Community Rail Development Officers to receive the award from Theresa Villiers, Secretary of State for Transport.

Richard commented; ‘We are very pleased to win this award, the station was built with the environment in mind and the design and construction have used modern green technologies to reduce the building’s carbon footprint.’

 

The South Fylde Line CRP has been successful in a bid to the ACoRP Small Grants Fund for a 50% contribution to a £650 project to design and print publicity posters for the St. Annes Town Carnival.

St. Annes Town Carnival takes place over the weekend of 9th & 10th July 2011. The two day event will see a procession, fancy dress competition, crowning of the Carnival Queen, hog roasts, children’s magic shows and a host of craft and other stalls.

The Carnival means that the town is virtually a ‘no go zone’ for motorists for the day and means that the South Fylde Line is often the best way to travel to and from the event. Asked for sponsorship the CRP agreed to help with the publicity and is preparing posters for the stations along the route and also for the organisers to display in and around the town.

ACoRP is the Association of Community Rail Partnerships and is the governing body of a federation of over 60 CRPs throughout England and Wales. The Small Grants Fund is a source of funding for members and CRPs to bid into to be used to support community involvement on the various community rail lines.

  

The Great British Rhythm & Blues Festival, held every year in Colne over the August bank holiday weekend has been nominated for an award in the British Blues Festival category of the 2011 British Blues Awards.

Alison Goode, Festival Organiser, said; ’We are absolutely delighted to have been nominated for an award and what makes it more special is the fact that we have been nominated by someone who enjoys the festival. We had no idea we had been nominated until we were contacted by the organisers, which suggests it is a fan of the festival that put our name forward’

To see the full press release and to see how to vote for the Colne Rhythm & Blues Festival click HERE!

Platform 4 at Blackburn station has been closed to the public to allow improvement works to commence. The platform regularly used for west and south bound services has been criticised for being extremely exposed to the vagaries of the weather.

A £1.7m project will see a lift installed to allow better disabled access and a new overall canopy to offer protection from the weather. The project has been funded by the DfT’s  Access for All and National Station Improvement Programme along with a hefty contribution from Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council.

All train services will use platforms 1,2 & 3 for the duration of the project and it is expected that the work will be completed by autumn 2011.

Click here to see the full details and an architects impression of the new canopy.

Footfall at Accrington station has risen in the twelve months to March 2011 to a figure of 314,000 an increase of round 15% from the figure of 273,000 in the previous twelve months. A recent survey has shown that the rise can in no small way be attributed to the new station and the vast majority of customers surveyed said that they are extremely happy with the new station and better waiting facilities on the platforms.

Staff and customers alike are very pleased with the new eco station and not surprisingly it is already winning awards as reported in an earlier news item!

The winners of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors Awards 2011 were announced at a glittering event held at The Point at Lancashire’s County Cricket Ground. Accrington Station was the winner in the Sustainability category. Richard Watts, Rail Projects Manager for Lancashire County Council said; ‘This is great news, the station is the first of its kind in the country, and was constructed with sustainability in mind’. Gary Seed, Director Strzala Bright Seed, architects for the project commented; ‘The award recognises the advances in sustainable design and Accrington station is hopefully the first step forward for other rail industry buildings’.

Accrington Eco Station has been constructed to the highest of standards using the latest in eco-friendly techniques and using recycled stone, has Photovoltaic cells for providing a percentage of the electricity needs, solar water heating and rain water harvesting for flushing toilets etc. The construction started in January 2010 during the coldest winter for 40 years and finished in August 2010. The project has been part funded by the European Union through the Interreg IVB programme. The building is owned by Lancashire County Council and is being leased by Northern Rail who operate the booking office.

Another Lancashire County Council project, Clitheroe Castle was Highly Commended in the Building Conservation category.



 

The Clitheroe Line Community Rail Paretnership has requested and Northern Rail have kindly agreed to run the late empty stock movement from Clitheroe as a passenger train on the two evenings of the Clitheroe Beer Festival. The train will depart Clitheroe at 23.25 on both Friday 13th and Saturday 14th May 2011. This coincides well with the 23.00 closing time of the Festival and allows plenty of time for festival goers to get back to the station for the train. The service will call at all the Ribble Valley stations with a final calling point of Blackburn.

Class 6 from Daisyfield Primary School in Blackburn were the first class to visit the Education Resource Centre at Accrington Eco Station. The class watched the new Brian the Bull DVD ‘Greening the East Lancashire Line’ and then took part in activities with a recycling and environmental theme. Full story and photographs can be seen by clicking HERE.

 

The Accrington Eco Station Project was supported with funding from the Interreg IVB SusStations Project. The DVD, Greening the East Lancashire Line with Brian the Bull, was part funded by the Designated Community Rail Development Fund and was produced by the East Lancashire Community Rail Partnership in partnership with Apple Video Facilities.