THERE’S MANY A SLIP AT THE EAST LANCS

A £50,000 project is about to get under way at the East Lancashire Railway to prevent the line’s Rawtenstall terminus being cut off by Mother Nature. Freak weather on Boxing Day 2015 (SR450) caused the River Irwell to begin eroding the embankment between Irwell Vale and Rawtenstall. A four-week programme of work will protect the line with stone boulders and divert the river to its original course. The cost of approximately £46,000-£50,000 is being met partly by East Lancs County Council, and partly from a fund provided by BR when it sold the railway.