For the last seven years I have written articles for the Prattler and each September the focus has been the same, the joy and anticipation of the autumn return to rehearsals for Heyford Singers members, and for the return to clubs and other organisations for lots of other folk. Sadly this year it is not the case, for whilst the enthusiasm is there, the unpredictability of Covid 19, our small indoor spaces and the vulnerability of participants, has led committees to be understandably cautious and to delay their return until 2021. Singing in groups is high on the list of restricted activities, so whilst it is good that children will be going back to school this month, the thought that there will be no rousing choruses of “Big Red Combine Harvester”, throughout the country, is sad.
But music continues in all our lives. It is a means of relaxation, a relief from stress, it provides skills to be practised and shared, and above all it gives us enormous pleasure and enjoyment. We were fortunate in the last few weeks to acquire a Sonos speaker, and “Alexa” has set up permanent residence in our home to the delight of the grandchildren. One asks her for yet another joke, another for yet another rendition of “Wheels on the Bus”, and a third for Radio 1, Radio 1 and even more Radio 1! We laugh and enjoy this shared experience, even when we mistakenly find ourselves listening to Radio Malawi or the Breakfast Show from Nova Scotia! However when the little people have gone we have found even greater pleasure in creating our own playlists, exploring musical memories, our wideranging musical tastes, plus favourite songs. We may not have managed our Desert Island Disc choices (despite several attempts to whittle the number down below fifty!) but we have successfully, and very enjoyably, created themed listening choices – instrumental jazz, political folk songs, UK musicals, Bernstein, film themes, etc and we haven’t even touched on classical music, the Beatles and the 1960s, music to dance to, or opera yet! Great fun and it shows that music is alive and well in this household.
Quiz question. What is your favourite film theme tune? What do you think is likely to be the nation’s favourite choice for this No 1 spot? Film themes was an interesting play list for us to consider, and it unwittingly coincided with the Radio Times vote for the nations all-time favourite film theme. Will it be ET, Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List, The Dambusters, Titanic, Harry Potter , Lord of the Rings?
I shall reveal the Answer in the October issue for those who don’t have the Radio Times.
Take care as these summer days gently ease towards autumn and we look towards a new year and new beginnings. May the days be warm and sunny, may you stay healthy and content, and may music feature somewhere in your every day.
Joseph (Joe) and Joan Garratt received a card from the Queen recently congratulating them on their 74th Wedding Anniversary.
They married on the 8th June 1936 at Nether Heyford Church and they lived in a cottage in Labrams Yard in Church Street when Joe returned from Army service in the Sudan and Joan worked in the war effort making aircraft parts for the Lancaster Bombers in the St James area of Northampton.
They settled in the village then brought up a family and were moved to the new Council Houses after about 5 years and continued to work and enjoy village life. Unfortunately Joe had a recent fall and was hospitalised with a damaged hip – the first time apart in all those years.
Joan says her family, friends and neighbours are a great support and thanks them all.
Jean Spokes
The Prattler team send them warmest congratulations on this special anniversary and wish Joe a speedy recovery. (Update 28/08/2020 Joe is now back at home)
Our second summer on the wildlife area has been interesting. The hedge plants that were put in in the autumn have survived the dry spring and summer and are growing well. The seeding of the meadow area was less successful as the winter was so mild there wasn’t enough cold weather to promote strong germination of the wild flowers. Hopefully another winter may help. The corn flower annuals did much better and made a colourful show as well as being a resource for the bees and butterflies.
The pond initially filled with life; newts, frogs various beetles and other aquatic insects soon moved in. However after the drought in April things seemed to go a bit flat. We had to constantly top up with tap water and maybe this didn’t suit the pond life. However recent heavy showers have brought the water level back up and it seems much livelier again. Interestingly I noticed a large tadpole swimming around in August, long after most have already turned into frogs and left the pond.
Dragonflies
The pond has proved a great draw for dragonflies. At least four different species have been seen. In the early summer there were broad bodied chasers, the males of which are light blue. Then we saw four spot chasers, which are more sober coloured. Later on an emperor dragonfly turned up, and we were excited to see that this was a rare variety where the female is blue like the male instead of green. However she still has a green head and eyes. Now in late summer there are common darters there, a smaller species where the males are red. All these different species have laid eggs in the pond and it was fascinating to see the different methods of egg laying. The emperor perches on a plant stem and carefully places its eggs well below the water surface, whereas the chasers just place them onto weeds on the surface only briefly coming to rest. The darter just flicks its eggs onto the surface as it flies across above the water.
The larvae (nymphs) of the dragonflies will now be in the pond for a year or two before emerging as adults. During this time they will be fierce predators and will eat any of the other pond life, including no doubt each other!
Butterflies
We have clearly now got healthy colonies of several species of butterfly; the tortoiseshells are breeding on the nettles. The grass areas are being used by ringlets, meadow browns, skippers and gatekeepers, there are common blues on the medick and clover, and small coppers on sorrel and dock. This year however there have so far been no painted ladies despite our leaving some thistles for them.
Heyford Bowls Club is up and running again, but in a restricted way. The green is open for roll-ups. You have to book a rink with our Chairman (only rinks 1/3/5 or 2/4/6) and a number of restrictions apply. Sanitise the jack and mat, before and after play, and no use of the scoreboards and bowls pushers. Social distancing at all times, which you soon get used to, and no physical contact, which means an elbow “handshake” at the end of the game. Twenty of our fifty members have availed themselves of the roll-up facility and on some occasions all three rinks have been used at the same time.
We’ve written off the 2020 season as far as matches with other clubs, internal competitions, and external leagues are concerned. We have also decided not to hold our annual presentation night this year (no competitions = no trophy winners), and our popular social events (quiz nights, race nights etc) have also been put on the back burner. Shirley and Mick Collins have never had so much time on their hands.
Daventry Indoor Bowls Club is re-opening on 31st August for roll-ups with similar restrictions as we are imposing. I know they are hoping to run an internal league programme throughout the winter, but no details have yet been published.
Off the green at Heyford, the clubhouse extension is progressing nicely. The walls and roof are in place, and it won’t be long before the windows and internal walls are complete. It’s a pity the clubhouse is out of bounds under the current restrictions. We live in hope that we will be back to normal soon.
It’s life Jim, but not as we know it.
Geoff Allen 01327 349909
For more bowls club information please visit our website:
The summer solstice on the 20th June marked the change from spring to summer with the longest number of daylight hours,namely 16.75. The month ended with average rainfall and three days when the temperature rose above 30 degrees centigrade. A notable event in the early hours of the 26th was a totally red sky often associated with the saying “a red sky in the morning-shepherd’s warning” indicating the replacement of high pressure with more uncertain weather to follow. July returned to more typical temperatures until the last day when a record 36.1 degrees was recorded. Thundery conditions across the UK gave rise to a local tornado on the Saturday 25th which started in Weedon and tracked across Flore, Nobottle, Harlestone Heath and Moulton, lasting 15 minutes in total. The local ITV News recorded the devastation to allotments in Moulton. Again the month ended
recording average rainfall.
The beginning of August was marked by an African heat-wave when temperatures again rose to over 30 degrees for three consecutive days accompanied with night time temperatures over 20 degrees known as “tropical nights”. Inevitably these extreme conditions gave rise to thunderstorms which caused surface water flooding nationally. Locally our first rainfall of the month fell on the 13th with a 15 minute deluge. The longer term weather forecast for the remainder of the month looks to be unsettled with cooler, showery weather. As a result another month will end up with average rainfall resulting in the years total so far being average (brought about by extremely wet February and dry May).
23rd September will mark the autumnal equinox or start of autumn when day and night will be of equal length.
On the 3rd July a willow tree which was causing a complete obstruction to the free flow of river water was finally removed by E/A contractors.
For those interested in cosmic events a comet was forecast to be visible on 23rd July and extended meteor showers from mid July to the end of August. Given a clear sky these are best seen around 5 am just before sunrise.
In spite of all the problems caused by the introduction of Permitted Developments whereby properties could be extended without planning application which resulted in breaches of compliance with planning regulations and the continued building on floodplains, the Government has recently announced its intention to allow conversion of shops and offices to homes without formal planning application. It looks as though this marks the end of enforcement of strict building regulation and standards.
Well, that’s it. I’ve left Bliss Charity School and am preparing for the next stage of my learning at Duston Secondary Modern School. I didn’t pass the 11+ but that’s fine because all my friends are joining me on the daily bus trip to Duston. The few that passed the exam will bike to Upper Heyford, leave their bike in somebody’s garden and catch a bus to the Grammar School in Daventry. I’ve got my new school uniform, navy skirt and white blouse with school tie and a blazer with a badge for winter. For the summer we are to have a green striped dress made from Butterick Pattern No. 7741 available at Adnitts. Duston Secondary Modern School opens its doors this month and I am in Form 1A. A bus will leave Heyford at 8:20 am and bring us home after 4 o’clock. I’m looking forward to the next stage of my education.
I’ve enjoyed the school holidays, mostly outdoors. It was great not having to get up so early. By the time I opened my curtains nearly all the ladies in Furnace Lane had their washing out. They all have a line stretching from top to bottom, and they all seem to wash on a Monday, so it’s lovely to see rows of sheets blowing on a sunny summer’s day.
The other day I had a “butcher’s basket” on Sue’s bike and I jumped off when she started going too fast and ripped my knickers. I told dad I’d fallen down a tree because he knows I climb and he’d be really annoyed if he knew I’d been on somebody’s bike. He thinks they’re dangerous. Mind you that could be because he can’t afford to buy me one. It all started after we’d been scrumping down Ben’s Orchard and had to make a quick getaway because somebody shouted “Ben’s coming”. I have no idea who Ben is and don’t know of anybody who’s ever seen him but he has some lovely apples. I really don’t need to go scrumping because we have apples galore at home but I like to join in the fun.
I’m spending the morning with Nan while mum goes fruit picking up at Beck’s farm by the A5. They say that Mr. Beck was a pilot in WW1. He is a very kind man. Children are allowed in the school holidays but I like to help my Nan pod her peas and pick her gooseberries ready for Pap’s dinner and she lets me help make pastry in the kitchen sometimes. Having said that she’s not quite as bright as she used to be and doesn’t mind if I find a caterpillar in the peas, “adds a bit of meat” she says. I love her 3 cats which she has to keep the mice away. She falls asleep easily but she’s over 60 and she brought up 7 children, so it’s understandable. I might go off and play for a bit if she nods off.
Last Sunday my dad and uncle cut the hedge round pap’s garden & orchard. It’s a very long hedge and takes hours. Backing onto the orchard is Mr. Humphrey’s ladder making yard and you can hear the saws during the week in the woodshed but it’s quiet on Sunday because they all go to chapel.
The morning was spent with the men hedge trimming and mum cooking our meal. After dinner the men were clearing the hedge cuttings and making a bonfire at the top of the orchard, Nan and Pap were asleep in the living room, and me and mum washing up. All of a sudden mum gasped. “Oh blimey, they’ve set the hedge on fire. Go and sit with the oldies, and if Pap wakes up play dominoes with him, but make sure he doesn’t come into the kitchen, he’ll have a fit. What, miss all the fun,
again! Of course, I did as she asked and Pap didn’t wake up until the men came in, all black, saying the work had been done. Mum was grinning.
Polly
Letter published in The Prattler – September edition 2020
At about 11.20 am on the 21st September 1951, the 8.20 am Liverpool Express to London came off the track at the Stowe Hill Tunnel near Heyford and tipped over in the embankment. The crash killed eight people and another seven died later in hospital. There were also thirty-six other casualties.
David Blagrove, in his book, “Waterways of Northampton” describes how “the railway can be seen plunging into Stowe Hill Tunnel” and it was here that the train, “hauled by the Duchess class Pacific engine, Princess Arthur of Connaught, left the rails shortly after leaving the tunnel at a speed of between sixty and sixty-five miles an hour.”
Engine 46207 Princess Arthur of Connaught
Photo taken by James Banner and lent by Ted Garrett
A prompt response Frank Denny, the Heyford signal man that day, was the first to realise what happened. His signal box was located about a quarter of a mile from the railway bridge in Furnace Lane, along the stretch of line between Heyford and Bugbrooke. As the signalman, Frank was aware that the train had entered the tunnel from Weedon but he became anxious when it did not reappear. As he looked out of his box, he saw steam rising from the embankment near Tanborough Farm.
Frank instinctively knew something was wrong and realised that his first priority was to halt the Royal Scot which was travelling from London and due to pass at any moment. He therefore rang through to the Banbury Lane signal box at Bugbrooke to get the signal switched to stop. This duly happened the Royal Scot came to a halt near his own box. The driver got out to demand “what the hell is going on.” It was due to Frank’s swift response that a much more serious accident was averted.
MBE At the same time, Mrs Cecily Hughes, the doctor’s wife at Weedon, took a call from the Weedon Stationmaster to say that the Liverpool Express had failed to clear his section of the line. He asked if she and her husband, Dr Stephen Hughes, would take a look. So far, that was all that anyone knew.
The couple set off in their car, armed with first aid that they always carried. They arrived at the tunnel within seven minutes of the accident. Mrs Hughes describes how they found nothing at the tunnel entrance so they climbed up over the hill – to be greeted by the sight of the crash strewn along the line.
The rescue operation
Photo taken by James Banner and lent by Ted Garrett
The first four coaches were the most damaged and contained the dead and badly injured. The doctor took one side of the train and his wife the other, clearing the debris in order to reach casualties. Mrs Hughes recalls how “Everyone was calm and patient. The last two carriages had not even left the rails and were still upright. They were full of boys returning to boarding school and one of the senior boys took charge, leading the others away from the scene and back to Weedon, to the Globe Inn.”
The doctors found the engine driver, Mr Tomlin, buried up to his shoulders in coal from the tender. It took a while to dig him out but he was quite unhurt, as was the train’s fireman who had clung to the cab as the engine tipped over.
After attending to all the serious casualties, Dr and Mrs Hughes returned to Weedon, only to find that many more people, including some of the rescuers, were waiting for treatment for minor cuts and bruises.
As some of the first medics on the scene, the contribution made by the Hughes’s was invaluable. Mrs Hughes was later awarded the MBE for her part in the rescue operation. She was reluctant to accept at first, as there were also others who had helped at the crash site and she felt that she was only doing her job. However, Mrs Hughes was described as “heroine of the morning” and duly received her medal.
Witnesses Several Witness also came forward including a bus driver on the A5 who saw the immediate aftermath of the accident and reported it at Weedon station. It was also very fortunate that a police car happened to be passing the scene along Watling Street as it was one of only two police cars fitted with a radio in the entire county. They were able to summon medical help promptly.
Mr George Richardson of London Was driving along the A5 at the time and said: “I saw the train come out of the tunnel and begin to wobble.”
This “wobbling” and lurching was felt by passengers too. One survivor, Mr Blankfield of Liverpool, explained, “I was in a carriage half-way along the train . . . there were four or five jolts and then the train stopped completely.” He described how he and other passengers immediately climbed out of the windows to help others further along the train.
The damage
Photo taken by James Banner and lent by Ted Garrett
Local help For local people in Heyford who worked near the railway, the sound of trains was a familiar one and you could tell exactly the time of day by the individual noise of each train that passed. When the crash occurred, Mr Gray of Tanborough Farm apparently thought that his wife had knocked over the dresser. But after that, apart from the hissing of the engine, there was an eerie silence.
Word quickly got around and people went up to help. Amongst the first on the scene were Reg and Joan Collins of Wharf Farm. They provided milk churns so that water could be carried up the hill to the casualties. There was no shortage of volunteers to take the churns but at the end of the day. Reg. had to go round and collect them all back again in his tractor and trailer in time for the evening milking.
Joan had to cycle down to Mrs Blaney at the Post Office with messages to be telegrammed to relatives. At this time, there was only the one phone with one public line out of the village. The officials did their telephoning from Holly Lodge which had one of the few phones in Heyford.
Ted Garrett was booking clerk at Weedon Station that day. When the crash happened, communications between Weedon and Heyford were suddenly lost, so they knew that something was amiss. In fact, as the train was thrown from the track, it had brought down the telegraph poles and cut all contact. A message finally arrived at Weedon via Roade Station that there had indeed been a crash. Ted Garrett was given charge to inform the army located at Weedon Depot and ask them to help at the crash site.
Frank Smith arrived with the Daventry ambulance and took the first casualties to Northampton General. He was actually on his second trip to the hospital by the time other ambulances appeared. Then the army from Weedon arrived to help. As they appeared over the hill, people recalled that it looked as though they were on manoeuvres.
Retired district nurse, Miss Raynor – over 70 years of age – walked two miles from Weedon to the crash site with a case of medical supplies. The Salvation Army and the W.V.S. set up mobile canteens and were there all day. The women from the Heyford railway cottages brought up hot tea for the survivors and people also brought blankets and sheets. The sheets were torn up to make bandages and the blankets kept the survivors warm. These were, of course, not returned but compensation was later given to those who had provided them.
The curse of the tunnel The crash was reported in the national media and was news on the BBC Home Service. Local papers were full of the story; Northampton’s Chronicle and Echo carried the banner headline “8 KILLED IN WEEDON TRAIN CRASH” although this figure was unfortunately to rise. The Daventry paper went further and wondered if there was a more sinister aspect to Stowe Hill Tunnel. The paper reported that at the same spot in 1915 there had been another fatal train crash.
There were similarities between the two railway accidents. Both occurred about the same time of year with trains that had left at the same time in the morning. On 14th August 1915, the Irish Mail left Euston at 8.30 am and it too was disrailed; this time as it left the tunnel at the Weedon end heading north. The crash killed nine and injured 13 and many of those on board were troops in service during World War One.
However, despite the comparisons, the crash of 1915 was caused by a broken coupling left by a passing train. The coupling had ploughed into the track and so dislodged the oncoming mail train.
Board of Trade In both crashes, the stretch of line was not found to be at fault. In 1951, the investigation by the Board of Trade was led by Lieutenant-Colonel G.R.S. Wilson. He concluded that the engine (number 46207 for train buffs) had an axle incorrectly fitted after its servicing at Crewe. The axle was slightly too tight, enough to cause a problem when it reached Stowe Hill Tunnel. There is a small change in rail type leading in and out of the tunnel (from flat bottom to bull head track) and, with the axle too tight, the Express dislodged when it went over these rails. The service engineer responsible at Crewe was named but, this being the 50’s and not the 90’s, there was no huge compensation claim or court case.
The engine itself had embedded in the soft clay around Stowe Hill and actually suffered little damage. However, it took almost a month before it could be lifted because of the steep ditch of the embankment. The engine had to be lifted out by a crane and villagers can remember its massive size as it was hauled into the air. It was then towed back to Crewe and was running again within six weeks. Driver Tomlin actually drove the Liverpool Express one more time to London, but never again after that.
By Sarah Croutear. A number of people have contributed to this story but we must give particular thanks to Joan Collins, Ted Garrett, Cecily Hughes and Doris Lovell, Frank Denny’s daughter.
~~
Added 2020:
British Pathe News
24/09/1951 – Many Killed In Train Wreck – A train crash kills several people and injures many more in Weedon
British Movietone News
24/09/1951 – Tragedy occurred aboard the Liverpool-London express train recently, when it crashed at Weedon, Northants., The locomotive plunging down an embankment, derailing all fifteen coaches. It is feared that, at least, seven people were killed and many more injured.
The Illustrated London News
September 29th 1951
Britain From Above
Wreckage of the 8.20am Express Service from Liverpool to Euston (46207 Princess Arthur of Connaught) on the section of track along from the Stowehill Tunnel (the Weedon Rail Crash), Nether Heyford, 1951
LMS Princess Royal Class No 46207 Princess Arthur of Connaught
LMS Princess Royal 6207 “Princess Arthur of Connaught”
Shot and produced in 1935 this film details the construction of Princess Royal Class no. 6207 ‘Princess Arthur of Connaught’, from raw materials to complete locomotive.
Ministry of Transport Crash Report
Report on the Derailment which occurred on 21st September 1951 near Weedon in the London Midland Region British Railways
“The 8.20 a.m. Up express passenger train from Liverpool to Euston, comprising 15 bogie coaches hauled by a Pacific type engine, was travelling at 60-65 m.p.h. on the leaving transition of a left handed curve of about 50 chains radius, when the leading bogie wheels of the engine were derailed to the right ; the cause was an engine defect. The derailment was not noticed by the enginemen at this stage and the train continued forward at speed for more than £¾ mile on the straight without serious damage to the flat bottom track. No more wheels were derailed until the train reached the bull head rails just beyond the short Stowe Hill tunnel, when the leading bogie wheels began to smash the chairs and break up the track with the result that the whole of the train left the rails except for the last two vehicles.
The engine went down the 12 ft. embankment to the left, and fell on its left hand side: on soft ground. The wreckage of the coaches at the front of the train was severe, and I regret to state that seven passengers and one of the dining car staff were killed outright and seven passengers died subsequently in hospital. In addition, 26 passengers, the engine driver, and nine members of the dining car staff were admitted to hospital, or 36 persons in all, of whom 15 were discharged on the same day, and 25 others sustained minor injuries or shock. The driver, who was on the left hand side of the footplate, had a fortunate escape from serious injury when he was buried in coal from the tender as the engine overturned ; the fireman clung to the right hand side of the cab and was unhurt.
The wreckage of the eight leading coaches was piled behind and alongside the overturned engine across both the tracks. It was seen by the signalman at Heyford box 950 yards ahead when he heard the noise of the final derailment, and he stopped the approaching Down “Royal Scot” express at his outer home signal at 11.19 am., and afterwards drew it forward to the box. The block and telephone wires northward were severed, but the signalman got a message through to the Control via Blisworth, the next junction box to the south. Medical and other assistance was also summoned from all possible sources by some officers of the Metropolitan Police who had seen the wreckage from their car on the neighbouring main road. The Northamptonshire County Police were quickly on the scene and performed outstanding services in co-ordinating the work of rescue.”
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Select the option “MESSAGES” from the top navigation menu and then select “Alerting Areas”. Use the region options next to the map and using the + symbol select England > East Midlands > Northamptonshire > South Northants District > S014 Heyfords and Bugbrooke – then tick the box and finish by clicking the yellow box “Save extra alerting level”
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The Nether Heyford Prattler 