Accrington on Rails - The Tramways: A Complete History - Robert Kenyon

328 The Chief Tramway Inspector, George Edwin Birtwistle, of Pansy Street in Accrington, who wt r aa ms cha al l de db et oe nt hset astci oe nn ea rayt a1t1t hoe’ c ltoi mc ke, twhaesr ec rwo os su-ledx ha ma vien ebde ebny nMorpBorwi tecrl i fafvea. iHl aeb cl eo nf of irr mt heede tmh ea rt gi ef nt hc ye bt hrea ksep et oe dwmo ruks, tbhuatvsei nbceee nt hlioswb rf oa kr et hhea db rbaekeens taop pc ol ime de tohne icna trhme uwsat ys tt ihl la ht at hvee ybhe ae dn . i n m o t i o n , b u t t h a t Harry Pilling, the Tramway Manager, said that this particular car, car number 23, had been rt oe bt uh iel tma ob toourtmf oa un r, bt ou tf iivne ay ceoa lrlsi spi or ne vwi oi ut hs l ay.nTohme npilba ut fso rhme wwoaus l cdohnasvt reuecxt pe de citne do rtdheart taot gr ai vme cparrottoe chtai ovne cboums heaodffmwoournstte. dBtuhtethpilsatafomromunotf tohfedcaamr.age could not just be attributed to structural faults, as the Another passenger on the bus, Raymond Clifford Wheeler, testified that having given careful cpount tsiindge rt ahtei osnp eheedpaut tatbhoeustp1e0e dt oo1f 5t hme pbhu.s Haos wi ne veex rc, easlsl wo fe3r e0 ma gprhe,ebdutthoatthseprepe adshs ea nd gneor ts bdei de nn roet daugcreede after they had entered thick fog. ( One thing in which all the passengers were agreed was they were to sue Ribble Motor Services for compensation .) John Condron was driving a lorry belonging to Kearns Allen at about 6 mph when the bus passed him about two hundred yards past the Rising Bridge Hotel, at between 10 to 12 mph he said. Alan Morley of Whalley Road in Clitheroe, the Chief Mechanic at Ribble’s Pimlico Road Go vaer rahg ae u, lceodnef ivremr ye ds i xt hwa te etkhsi so fb suesr vwi caes. “aT hL ee yf laacnt dt hTa itgiet rwwa sh oi cnh awn aesx pornelsys rs oi xu tme odni dt hn’ so toml de aann di t ww aa ss ewxapse fci tt et eddt ow oi tpheDr aetwe aant dt iol pV as cpceoe-dHsy, dbruatuol inc l yb rtahkaet si, t s ruapnp sl eemr vei nn tge nd obt ya al l ht ha ne ds tborpask”e, awd hd iecdh Mwoorrlkeeyd. o“ Int tsht oepr ewairt hwi nh ei tesl so wo fnt hl ei ns gbt uh s, aonndl yi. ”f tWr ahveenl l iansgk ae td hhael f sot af ttehda,t “sWp eheedn wt roauvledl l hi nagl t ai tn 2f i0vme py ahr tdhsi, sbbuut sI cc oo uu ll dd nb roat kseasy wh eorwe af al lr hi ta rwdoounl d, It ar al svoe lf oi nu nt hd etshea ct ot hn ed ibt iuosn ws . aI shiandt he ixradmgienaerd”, thhei sa bd ud se da.f tHeer wt haes carsaksehda, n“ Wd ht haet issp et he ed itno pt hsepteheidr dogfetahri?s” bhuesw? ”a sHaes ka ends w. “eBreetdw ebeyns2a y0i na ng di t3 c0omupl dh”r, ehaecrhe p4l5i emdp. h . “ W h a t w o u l d b e t h e Bus driver Hope, a former Dragoon Guard and chauffeur, was called. He confirmed he had bi neceenp ti ni o tnh oe ne me vpelroyy oonf eRoi bf bhlies fwo ro rf ok ui nrgyde aa yr ss ,. aHnedc ho na df i rdmr ievde nh et hhea Md aonv ce hr teaskt ee rn st ewr ov i lcoer rs ii ensc ea ni tds wr eacse ni nt tahbior ud t gteoa rs, tboupt at hnadt aosnk emn tye rci no ng dt uh cet obra nt ko ogfe ftoog f fh aadn dr ewd ua cl ke di ns pf er oe nd t t oo fbteht we ebeuns ,5wahnedn8tmh ep ht.r “aImwc aa sr ai tps pl iegahrtesdwa es rief forno,mI jna omwmheedr eo. nI jmu dy gberda kt he es tbruatmi t t po rboev eodn ltyo abbeotuotof ol autre yaanrdd sI as awwa yt ha en dd rI i vdei dr tnhortotwh i un pk hr oi sa dh ai nn dt hs ei sne scuornpdr ii st ieo, ”n. sH. e“ I ahdamd i tdtoe nd et ha al l t i nh emhya dp otwh oe ur sg ht ot iat v soai df e sa tn t aoc cpirdoecnete, da ni nd tl ho eo kmi ni gd dbl ae c ok f I t dh oe not think I could have done anything more,” he concluded. In his summing up Mr Britcliffe said, it was not the case that when two bodies collided it was twhaes own eh idc ha mwaagse dt hlee ahsetawv iheiscth, twh ea ss me coovnidn gwthhiec hf a os tf etshte. Tvhe ehri ec l ewse hr ea dt htrheee gf ar ec taot er ss tt os tcr ounc tsui dr ae lr. eTl ahset ifci ri tsyt ao nf dt hteh isrtdr itchkee nv etlroacmi t y, soung gi me spt ae cdt . t hT ahte ifta cwt atsh at rt atvheelrl ien wg ai ns seaxnc de sos notf h6emr opahd. Tf ohre trwe foo ryea, rhdes tcoo nt ht eenrdeeadr that this was purely and simply a tragic accident, and therefore the case should be dismissed. It took the Bench twenty minutes to decide that there was a prima facia case to answer. They cboomd imlyi tht eadr mt h ebdye fwe nadnat onnt t od rt irvi ai nl ga.t MB aainl c hweasst ear lAl osws iezde s wo ni t ht h et hceh aar cgceus soefdmha anvsilna ug g ht ot e re na nt edr c ai nutsoi n ga recognisance of £100, and to find two securities of £50 each. The hearing had lasted for eleven and a half hours. ( A Scot, very popular with his workmates and his regular passengers, David was taken to Accrington Cemetery gates for interment on a single deck car draped in black. From there he was carried by eight colleagues from the Transport Department in their full dress uniforms, along with family members,