randyrippley
Established Member
- Joined
- 21 Feb 2016
- Messages
- 5,151
Just to clarify, the industrial sites on both sides of Simonstone Lane were part of the Mullard factory
Looking at the Google maps link Taunton posted, that on the left (east) side had a back entrance adjacent to the station bridge. That on the right (west) also had an entrance onto Simonstone Lane, around 200 yards from the station. So not so much of a walk
FWIW Philips sold the eastern site to Time Computers some time in the 1980s, it became their HQ and production site.
When CRT production finally stopped in the western site in the 1990's, it was completely cleared and a new factory built to make TFT screens for a Philips/ LG joint venture. That never went into production and was demolished after 3-4 years, it's now a storage site.
In reality the railway was pretty pointless - there was a pub and a couple of houses near the station, but the "village" was a thin ribbon development along the Blackburn-Burnley road. Potentially more traffic from the village of Read at the top of Simonstone Lane, but the Clitheroe-Burnley bus route would have captured that. As for the factory, there were direct buses from Blackburn, Burnley, Accrington, Clitheroe (if you walked from Read). Far better than the rail options
Looking at the Google maps link Taunton posted, that on the left (east) side had a back entrance adjacent to the station bridge. That on the right (west) also had an entrance onto Simonstone Lane, around 200 yards from the station. So not so much of a walk
FWIW Philips sold the eastern site to Time Computers some time in the 1980s, it became their HQ and production site.
When CRT production finally stopped in the western site in the 1990's, it was completely cleared and a new factory built to make TFT screens for a Philips/ LG joint venture. That never went into production and was demolished after 3-4 years, it's now a storage site.
In reality the railway was pretty pointless - there was a pub and a couple of houses near the station, but the "village" was a thin ribbon development along the Blackburn-Burnley road. Potentially more traffic from the village of Read at the top of Simonstone Lane, but the Clitheroe-Burnley bus route would have captured that. As for the factory, there were direct buses from Blackburn, Burnley, Accrington, Clitheroe (if you walked from Read). Far better than the rail options