September 8, 1866

THE inquest opened into the deaths of two men who had been killed in a railway accident near a North Yorkshire station two days earlier.

Trenholme Bar was a station between Picton and Potto on the line at the foot of the Cleveland Hills which was part of the Esk Valley route. The train that crashed had left Grosmont at 6.48pm – 14 minutes late – and was bound for Stockton.

The inquest jury was sworn in “at a little public house” and then travelled about a mile to examine the bodies which, the D&S Times said, “were lying in a small hut”. Then they went to the nearby scene of the accident.

“Dozens of navvies were engaged in a rather deep cutting at a curve repairing the line,” said the report. “The engine which had been the cause was still standing beside the line (there is only one) and was besmeared with mud. Some broken carriages were also standing near the engine.”

The jury returned to the pub, and heard evidence from the driver, Jonathan Dresser, and guard, John Kendall. They said the engine, going about 30mph, had jumped off the line on the approach to the station. It had run derailed for about 30 yards before toppling against the side of the embankment. The nine carriages had remained upright, but the second and third class coaches were “smashed to pieces”.

“Among the fragments I found Robert Creser and Thomas Scarr lying together,” said Mr Kendall. “Creser was dead and Scarr was dying.” Three others, including Mark Scarr, brother of the dying man, were stuck by the legs in the wreckage, but survived their injuries.

The second day of the inquest was held in Hutton Rudby schoolroom. It heard from the platelayers who swore they had been keeping the newly-laid line in good condition and one of them said he had only inspected it at 6pm.

It also heard from the North Eastern Railway which said that the engine could have safely been going much faster than 30mph.

After 20 minutes deliberation, the jury decided the deaths were accidental, but it recommended that the railway should double the track due to the growth in traffic.

It also added this curious proviso: “We also think that the company should take more care in future when the line is soft and dangerous.”

September 9, 1916

THE D&S of 100 years ago told of the gallantry of Lance Corporal Leslie McIntosh of Gordon Highlanders at Ypres. McIntosh, it said, had been orphaned when he was five, and had been adopted by Jane Robson of East Terrace, Northallerton, and after attending the town’s national school, had been employed as a dairyman by the Wensleydale Pure Milk Supply Company.

“During the terrible fighting in Delville Wood, McIntosh's platoon was subjected to a devastating fusillade from three sides, and they sought the shelter of their trenches across ground swept by shells, machine guns, rifle fire,” said the D&S.

“Upon reaching the trenches, it was found that the corporal of the machine gun section was missing, and McIntosh ventured out once more into the danger zone of the open space, and going back to the part of Delville Wood where they had been, he found his companion seriously wounded and unable to walk.

“He thereupon took him on his shoulders and walked back with him to the British lines, and it appeared to be almost a miracle they escaped death. In fact, the machine gun magazine which was strapped to McIntosh was torn by shrapnel.”

He had been commended and immediately promoted, but during an advance 12 days later, on August 17, “he was wounded in the right shoulder by a piece of shrapnel, the shell killing six of his colleagues”.

The D&S said: “The wound was a nasty one, going through the shoulder and severing the artery.”

The worst was feared, and Mrs Robson had been advised to attend her adopted son in hospital in Oxford, “during which time he seemed to get over a dangerous crisis and it is now hoped that aided by a young and vigorous constitution, he has been able to pull round and is out of danger”.

September 10, 1966

WATH Rural Council reversed its opposition to public toilets being built in lay-bys on the A1 between Ripon and Bedale. It had regarded the toilets, which may have been a magnet for vandals, as unnecessary due to the many roadside petrol stations offering the facilities, but now councillors had learned that the garages “did not want motorists and motor coach parties queuing up at their premises”.

The D&S reported that the council was now happy to accept the Ministry of Transport’s offer to build the toilets. How times change – only 50 years ago, authorities were building public conveniences; now they are shutting the last ones down.

The newspaper of exactly 50 years ago also reported that Crosby Don, the racehorse owned by Mr Don Raper, a director of Barker’s of Northallerton, had won the Great Yorkshire Handicap – and £1,345 – on the first day of Doncaster’s St Leger meeting.

The racehorse has been mentioned several times in this column recently, and this was its 11th career victory.

The D&S said: “Supporters of Crosby Don had anxious moments after the horse won at the rewarding odds of 33-1. There was an objection to it by the runner-up, which was aptly called Vital Issue, but the objection was over ruled.”

CAR identifications from last week’s photograph of Thirsk were just coming in as this week’s page was being compiled, thank-you very much. More on that next week.