When considering the state of the present day transport system and the Government¹s failure in attempting to prise us away from our cars, one cannot help but wonder what benefits there would be if Sabden had a railway connection with the rest of the country.

They say that 'what goes around comes around' and the question of a railway for Sabden was at the top of the agenda for the Sabden Village Council¹s meeting in April 1886. Chaired by the vicar, the Rev. T. Lowe, and supported by all Sabden's industries and farming community, the residents seriously discussed a proposal to construct a railway from the North Lancashire Loop Line, which went through Padiham and Simonstone to Great Harwood and Blackburn, to a terminus in the Watt Street area of the village just behind 'The Fields' farmhouse and nearby Union Mill.

The Sabden branch line was part of a scheme initiated by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, to utilise existing railways at Padiham and Clitheroe, to aid the transportation of coal to the lucrative shipbuilding area of the Clyde in Scotland. So serious was the proposal that an Act of Parliament was passed, initial finance raised to cover the surveying costs and engineers appointed to oversee the construction of the line. A copy of the Act, a prospectus and the surveyor's map may be viewed at the Lancashire Record Office at Preston.

It was proposed the railway should be constructed in two stages: the first consisted of a double track main line linking the North Lancashire Loop Line just west of the village of Read near Martholme viaduct, with the Blackburn and Hellifield Railway, just south of Clitheroe. A number of substantial embankments and cuttings would have been required together with a three arch viaduct over Sabden Brook near the Devil¹s Elbow. The second part of the scheme was for the construction of a two and a half mile single branch line leaving the main line near the Devil's Elbow and then following the course of Sabden Brook to a terminus in Watt Street, that would have had extensive goods facilities for both mill owners and farmers.

All the villagers who attended the meeting were very enthusiastic and fully supported the scheme, many no doubt looking forward to weekend trips to Blackpool and a fast direct link to Burnley. Sadly, it was not to be. The heyday of 'Railway Mania' had lapsed several years before and the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Co. had had its fingers burned on several occasions. Regarding the Sabden Railway they were seeking substantial investment from interested parties, but unfortunately, none was forthcoming. Many felt the risk was too great and like the nearby Longridge railway would never run at a profit for the shareholders.

Over the next 100 years the Valley's industries would have some considerable ups and downs and in retrospect it would have been difficult to envisage the railway, should it have been built, not being a certainty for the cutbacks of Dr Beeching. However, as I walk the hills around the Valley I can't help but wonder just what effect a tourist railway, similar to the Worth Valley Railway at Haworth, would have had on our community, bringing crowds of tourists and walkers to 'Sabden, change for Pendle Hill'!