News

The Jellicoe Express which ran between Euston and Thurso is being commemorated with a plaque.  Hawick on the old Waverley Line was a station where the Express called in one direction for coal and water and now is the only location that no longer has trains. The Express was the longest rail journey in Britain which ran during both world wars transporting mail and navy personnel.

Today the site of the station is occupied by the Treviotdale Leisure Centre.

Northern has written to the RMT inviting it to recommence ACAS talks.

Northern spokesperson said: “Northern has invited RMT to talks at ACAS in order to resolve its dispute. We are pleased that RMT has agreed to recommence talks at ACAS with no pre-conditions and we look forward to resolving this long-running dispute. Those talks can build on recent public statements made by Transport for the North and Department for Transport on the customer service and other benefits that will come about with a second person retained on Northern services in the future.

A reminder that the next meeting of the Giggleswick Railway Circle is this Wednesday Evening 28th November at 19.30.

Mr Kevin Finnerty is coming along to present the LMS-Patriot Project, the New National Memorial locomotive. I've not seen this presentation and wished to know more about the project, so I contacted the society. I'm sure this will be an interesting and informative illustrated talk about the trials and tribulations of building a new locomotive from scratch; and also some background history about the 'Patriot' Class.

Following a request for information as part of the SCRCA Project, Network Rail has kindly published a selection of plans and technical drawings showing details of Ribblehead Viaduct. At the time of writing (20^th November, 2018) , these include the following:

Visit our online shop for all things Settle-Carlisle: books, DVDs, clothing and of course Christmas cards and 2019 calendars.  Loads to choose from at https://www.foscl.org.uk/shop/catalog/christmas-sales-list-2018.

A message to FoSCL members in particular: in case you are wondering, the FoSCL magazine aka the S&C Journal will be delivered to your door w/b 19th November.

Not a member?  Then join us to receive your personal copy four times a year.  You can have a look at back copies at https://www.foscl.org.uk/magazines.  If you decide you want to join, you can do it online at https://www.foscl.org.uk/shop/catalog/memberships.   

Regrettably we have had  to cancel this year's Settle Station Open Day on 8th December.  There will be no trains at all, and the replacement buses tend to be slow and infrequent, so it is likely that hardly anyone would turn up and most of the helpers would be unable to come either.  We hope for better things next year.

The Visitor Centre closed for the season on 31^st October. It will re-open at the end of March 2019, following work to damp-proof the west elevation.

A review of the season showed that revenue  was significantly up on the previous year. The Visitor Book was full of complimentary comments from guests from all over the world.

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At 10:36 this morning the clock stopped at Ribblehead Visitor Centre - but this time it wasn't an unexpected failure but a planned event! Work began today on damp proofing the entire West elevation to address chronic problems of water ingress.  The porous stone and exposed site have been a problem ever since the station was built.

Applications are invited for the position of

CHAIRMAN of the FRIENDS of the SETTLE CARLISLE LINE.

The present Chairman, Douglas Hodgins, has intimated that he will not be seeking re-election at the A.G.M. in May 2019.

The RMT have announced further strikes on every Saturday until the end of 2018. There will be reduced services throughout the North including the #Leeds #SettleCarlisle line.

Rather than the additional Thursday evening Christmas service from Carlisle to Kirkby Stephen return, Northern will be modifying the stopping pattern of the Carlisle-Leeds service departing 2018 hours.  There will be additional stops at Armathwaite (2032 hours) and Lazonby (2039 hours).  So, if you live local to these stations, why not do some late-night shopping, go to the cinema of for a meal in Carlisle.  Please take advantage of this and help us to prove there is a need for a permanent timetable change for stops at these stations.

Play the sound of the Dales. Create your own ‘rock’ music!

Photographic Display

The display at the RVC and Horton Station attracted much interest. Many of the subjects could claim a link to the railway, and were familiar to the Trust’s volunteers.

Volunteer Forum

Industrial action by members of the RMT means that the 09.19 train from Leeds will not run as scheduled.  This train will now start from Skipton at 09.59

Anyone planning to join the guided walk from Hellifield to Settle is advised to catch an alternative train from Leeds to Skipton and join the Carlisle bound train there.  The walk will go ahead as planned.

A leaftlet containing details of FoSCL's guided walks programme for November 2018 to April 2019 is now available to download in pdf format via the Guided Walks and Tours: Downloads page.

Full details of the walks can also be accessed via the Guided Walks and Tours database.

Due to the RMT Strike Action on Saturday 27th October 2018 the guided walk from Horton to Ribblehead will be ALTERED.

An alternative 11 mile walk will take place commencing from Horton (1031) and finishing at Settle for the return by train at (1538) or rail replacement bus at (1740).

FoSCL apologises for any inconvenience by this change which is the result of events entirely outside of FoSCL's control.

John Carey
Guided Walks Coordinator

Due to a combination of the following:

• RMT Strike Action Saturdays 6th, 13th and 20th October 2018
  and
• Engineering Work Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th October 2018

the following changes have regrettably been made to the FoSCL Guided Walks Programme:

The Settle Carlisle Trust and FoSCL collaborated with Three Peaks Arts to host a series of workshops and displays at Ribblehead, Horton and Settle Stations on the 8^th  and 9^th  of September. The displays featured the paintings, photography, embroidery, pottery and sculpture of local artists and craftspeople, all of a very high standard.