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Address given
in St Mary's Church,
Mallerstang
by Gordon
Hutton
on 13 May
2007, the 10th Anniversary of the
dedication of the memorial stone
Introduction:
We are here today to commemorate those lives lost during the construction of the Settle to Carlisle railway line between 1869-1876, as well as others who have died since, as the result of a number of accidents on the line involving passenger trains. In particular, those who were killed in the three major incidents which occurred in this beautiful dale in the immediate area of our Parish.
A ceremony will take place later in the churchyard alongside the memorial stone, when the names of the dead will be read out.
The Concept:
It is important to understand that what we know as the Settle-Carlisle railway was, in its troubled conception and construction, both a linking and an extension of existing networks already in place in the 1860s.
The Midland Company route had already reached from London to Ingleton, but then depended on a sharing agreement with the London and North West Railway for oncarriage to Scotland via Tebay and Penrith – this was neither a comfortable nor a reliable arrangement – it was open to all the consequences of rivalry and much bitchiness. Midland passengers had anyway to walk between stations at Ingleton, only on occasions to see the rear light of the connecting train disappearing down the platform! - or to be transferred from their usual comfort to a carriage attached to a train carrying coal.
Why not end this unsatisfactory state of affairs? In 1865, the Midland blew hot and cold with a plan to build their own line – to construct or not, was debated for some time – were the efforts, risks and difficulties of construction commensurate with the potential commercial viability of the venture? – after all, the railway would cross the most challenging terrain that could be found anywhere in Britain – through local climates, with howling gales, horizontal blizzards, persistent mists and seemingly unending rainfall.
The Company decided to abandon the project but, after pressure from local interests, from other rail companies who would benefit from the link, and from Parliament itself, rather reluctantly started construction in 1869.
It is to its everlasting credit that it built a superlative railway, to the extent that even today we see the crafted viaducts, bridges, tunnels and embankments as part of the natural beauty of this area.
Construction:
Although the whole stretch of the line from Settle to Carlisle was completed in under seven years, by 1875 for freight and 1876 for passenger trains, there were the usual complaints about inefficiencies and delays in construction and about the cost escalating to almost twice the original budget - £3.5 million against £2.5 million. Nothing changes!!
One national newspaper tried to answer the critics.
- “Let them go over it in the drenching rain of October, or let those who complain of its slowness in the making wade through the mire, clay and water and see the slurry slipping away from the metals and, add to those difficulties, the cuttings through boulder clay and rocks of excessive hardness, the roving habits of the workmen and the wild inhospitable district through which it passes – and then the wonder will not be that the works are incomplete but at the possibility of completing them at all.”
So the last main railway line to be constructed almost entirely by hand was completed; but it cost the lives of many of the six thousand men who built it, and of their families. They died from accidents, or from inebriation, wild living, acts of violence or from the smallpox, typhus or cholera that swept through the shanty town construction camps, where they lived in squalor, often in rat infested and overcrowded huts, built on the open fells along the line, including those near here at Birkett and Aisgill.
Over the years, memorials have been created where bodies were buried – most importantly at Chapel le Dale, near Ribblehead and, only ten years ago, and today we mark the anniversary, in our own Churchyard here at St Mary’s, to honour those who previously had lain for far too long in unmarked graves.
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Success?
Was the loss of life, effort and expenditure worthwhile? As a freight line, even to the present day, it has been an unqualified success; indeed in the 1970s and 1980s it seemed likely that freight usage alone would continue.
During construction, the line of least resistance had been taken through the Pennines – this was deliberate policy, because the concept was to create a fast direct passenger rail to and from Scotland – this often to the disadvantage and disappointment of the locals – stations named Dent and Kirkby Stephen are hardly to be found in the middle of the towns!
The long distance passenger service was an immediate commercial success. Passengers preferred to chose the superior comfort of the Midland line, rather than use the existing East or West Coast routes, encouraged by vigorous advertising to – “Choose aye the Middle course – the most interesting route to Scotland.”
Imagine a summer day at Hawes Junction (now Garsdale Station) during the golden years of the line – say in 1904. All day long numerous local services arrive and depart the station, sometimes only five minutes apart – a branch train to or from Hawes – a slow from Carlisle to Hellifield and back – some of which might feed or relieve passengers from any of the expresses which stop at the station.
From midday on, the up expresses come through at regular intervals …
- Edinburgh to London and Bristol.
- Glasgow to Manchester, London and Bristol.
- Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow to Manchester, Liverpool and London.
Sometimes these trains run in separate portions to the different destinations, increasing the flow of the traffic.
Around 3 pm, the first of the down London day expresses passes through to Edinburgh and Aberdeen – another to Glasgow – an hour later, yet another in several portions from London, Bristol, Manchester and Liverpool to Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen and so on, into the late evening.
Finally, in the long and often wild hours of darkness, come the night sleepers conveying through coaches to such evocative destinations as Stranraer, Fort William and Inverness.
Go one sunny afternoon and stand on the platform in Garsdale Station, as I did recently, imagine the speed, smell the smoke and the steam, hear the whistles and the noise of the engines and make your own judgment whether it was all worthwhile!
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Decline and Survival
This rate of operations continued for the next twenty years. But in 1923, the Midland was merged into the London, Midland and Scottish. The disadvantages of the Midland’s route soon became clear; its steeper gradients and longer distance meant it could not compete on speed from London to Scotland and the extra comforts provided for its passengers were soon withdrawn. After nationalisation in 1948, it was merely regarded as a duplicate line. Although the Beeching Report in 1963 recommended the withdrawal of all passenger services from the line, this was shelved, but already most of the stations had been closed, leaving only Settle and Appleby West in operation. A mere handful of expresses continued to operate, along with a very limited stopping passenger service, leaving only freight as regular traffic.
The decline continued throughout the 1970s; even freight was diverted to the newly electrified West Coast Line. In the early 1980s, investment was withdrawn, the cost of renewing viaducts and tunnels was prohibitive – closure was threatened!
Then, the Friends of the Settle-Carlisle Line launched their successful campaign, stressing that British Rail was ignoring the attraction for tourism through the scenic splendours of England, the need for a diversionary route from the West Coast main line, the benefits for local services and the potential for freight.
Finally in 1989, Government refused consent to close the line and British Rail started to repair the deteriorating fabric and gradually to reopen stations to make way for the railway as we know it today.
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The Accidents
In the overall context of such activity, the terrain and those weather conditions, it is not surprising that, from time to time, catastrophes would happen.
During the first thirty four years or so, only a small number of minor accidents, without fatalities, occurred but, between 1910 and 1918, three horrendous events took place, two of them in this area and the third, further north, at Little Salkeld, as a result of which the reputation of the Midland Company was severely dented. The main cause was human error, mingled in various degrees with landslides, snow, frost and driving rain. Throughout the history of the line, there have been thirteen serious accidents involving passenger trains, with forty two deaths and around one hundred and forty serious injuries.
Let us think about the three incidents, whose dead we commemorate today.
The first was the Hawes Junction rail crash. It took place, poignantly, in pitch darkness and when blowing a gale and raining torrentially, at 5.48 am on Christmas Eve, December 24 1910.
The headlines in the Mid Cumberland and North Westmorland Herald – ‘Scotch Express Wrecked – Appalling disaster near Kirkby Stephen – Twelve passengers killed and missing.’
It was caused when a busy signalman forgot about a pair of light pilot engines, waiting at his northbound starting signal to return to Carlisle. They were still there when he cleared the same signal for the Scotch express, double engined and thundering up from the South at 65 mph. The light engines moved off slowly – a collision was inevitable – the express caught them between the Moorcock and Shotlock Hill tunnels – pushed them 150 yards down the track and was itself almost wholly derailed.
Fire broke out, probably fed by a burning gas jet, ignited by coals from the engines’ fireboxes; six of the eight coaches were burnt out, twelve people died, some were trapped in the wreckage and were burned to death.
The next, the first of the two Aisgill rail crashes, took place in darkness in the early hours of 2 September, 1913, half a mile north of Aisgill signal box and within two miles of the 1910 accident. The site can be seen looking south from Cotegill Bridge, sometimes since then called Wreck Bridge.
Again the headlines in the Herald – ‘Terrible Railway Disaster – Collision and Fire near Kirkby Stephen – London Express Wrecked – Heavy Death Toll. Remains charred beyond recognition.’ Two London bound express passenger trains were involved, which had left Carlisle within a quarter of an hour of each other. In fact, both trains were underpowered, the engines barely strong enough to climb the steep gradients; indeed the first engine’s load was over its maximum limit – a requested pilot engine was not available. Furthermore, the coal supplied for both had not been properly screened and did not fire well.
The first train struggled up towards Aisgill Summit, the steam pressure dropped steadily and it stalled half a mile short of the level. Thinking the delay would be short, the crew did not bother to protect the rear. Meanwhile, the second train was toiling along the Mallerstang section. While the crew were so occupied dealing with their power problems, they had passed all the Mallerstang signals and also missed a red lantern being waved by the signalman and another by the guard of the first train. By this time, once again travelling fast, it was far too late to stop.
When the crash came, the engine of the second train smashed its way through the first two coaches of the stationery train into the third, a first class sleeping car. It’s own first coach was also torn open. As had happened in 1910, flammable gas escaped from the cylinders for the gas-oil lighting system, ignited and rapidly spread a fire. The three rear coaches were burnt out. The Herald reported …
‘The scene was heartrending in the extreme. The injured were extricated with the greatest difficulty, but fourteen victims fell to the flames. Those who toiled to rescue the doomed passengers did so by the light of a funeral pyre.’
The fourteen people who died were in the first train. Thirty eight in the second were seriously injured.
In the second Aisgill incident, rescuers had to battle through driving rain, deep mud and running water to reach the site of the collision between two Super-Sprinter trains, each with two coaches, halfway up the fell in Mallerstang, above the entrance to Hanging Lund, at about 7 in the evening of 31 January 1995.
The first train had left Carlisle for Leeds at half past four, fully aware that it would reverse at Ribblehead – the line beyond being closed by flooding. The train then returned northbound and on to Aisgill Summit. A mile or so beyond, it hit a landslide at 60 mph, derailed across both tracks and was plunged into darkness. The injured driver, trapped in his cab, made the required emergency calls. Tragically, the actions taken at Crewe and York Control Rooms were not enough to prevent the impending collision. The conductor concentrated on transferring passengers into the rear coach.
The second train had left Carlisle, somewhat late, at a quarter to six, but the crew had not been advised that the line beyond Ribblehead was blocked, so were not expecting anything unusual. Signalmen assumed the second train would follow the same procedure as the first one, and were unconcerned.
About a quarter of a mile before the derailment, the driver saw the red headlights of the train, but travelling at speed, had no chance of stopping before impact.
If the conductor had carried out his primary duty to protect his train by laying detonators and displaying a red flag a mile from the obstruction, the collision may have been prevented or at least the impact reduced.
Thirty passengers were injured on the two trains, several seriously. The conductor was killed in the collision.
That three such serious accidents should have taken place within such a short stretch of the line and that so many common factors should have existed, albeit eighty five years apart, is remarkable.
David Day, the complier of the excellent ‘Portrait of the Settle to Carlisle’ has written
“Almost as if the Pennine gods have resented the intrusion of their domain, the Settle to Carlisle railway has been blessed with more than its fair share of death and disaster.”
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Commemoration
of all those who died
We remember
the following 25 men, women and children who died during the period of construction of the Railway in this immediate area and who were buried
in this churchyard between July 1870 and May 1875:
Sarah Walker aged 3 days
Baby Mary Ridley and her father William
William John Whittal, John Bradbury and John Shaw
Twin babies, James and Richard Stephenson and their mother, Hannah
Edmund Driver at the age of 3 weeks
Thomas Wyles – at 60 the oldest of those who died
Miriam Taylor, Alice Martin and Sarah Real, all in their first year
Louisa Garlick, Henry Clifford and Ellen Chisholme, who were all under 5
William Morris, John Stephenson, George Stewart,
Thomas Hayley, Caleb Wright and James Bell
James Woodcock who was only 16 when he died
and, finally, John Green whose burial took place near this day in 1875.
We also remember all those who died in the Hawes Junction accident
– the Christmas Tragedy – on
24 December 1910:
Robert Allison, aged 51 – a mechanic from Kilmarnock
William Ferguson, aged 21 – another mechanic from Swanage
John Highet, aged 41 – an insurance man from Muswell Hill
Daniel Kames Lamont, aged 18 – an accountant from Loughton, Essex
Andrew Thomas Mair, aged 29 – in the golf trade, from Buckhurst Hill, Essex
Archibald Basil Henry Maxwell aged 22 – a student from Wokingham
Christopher McJerrow, aged 34 – an architect from Crickewood
Duncan McKay, aged 30 – a clerk from Highgate
and Hugh McKay, aged 29 – a carpenter from Finsbury Park
William Bill Riddell, aged 30 – an accountant from Clapham
John Stitt, aged 76 – a traveller from Ilford, Essex
And finally - Nellie Gray – a baby from Eastleigh, Hampshire whose body was never identified, having been consumed by fire.
We now remember the victims of the accident at Aisgill on 2 September
1913.
Caroline May Carter from Henley
Thomas Cockburn from Glasgow
Wilhelmina Wilson Fargie, aged 32, a nurse
William Gardner
Jessie Lindsay from Forest Hill
Alice Raggett from Eastbourne
Iris Clare Sargent, aged 16, from Croydon
Rebecca Traill, aged 21, from Birmingham
John Paterson, aged 50 – an accountant from Muswell Hill
Muriel Scott Morrison, aged 7 – from Southsea
Her brother Shalo Campbell Morrison, aged 5
And their brother John Lees Morrison, aged 3
Jessie Ann Lees, aged 26, aunt of the children
and Catherine Wood, aged 20, the children’s nanny
They were all buried in Kirkby Stephen cemetery, with the exception of the Morrison children who were taken home to Glasgow, Thomas Cockburn whose body was also returned to Glasgow and Rebecca Traill, whose remains were taken to Birmingham.
From the accident at Aisgill on 31 January 1995, we remember:
Stuart Barry Wilson, the conductor of the first train involved in the collision.
We also remember:
Valerie Newby, aged 16, of Cranberry in this dale, who died tragically on the line,
in 1959.
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References
Gordon Hutton wishes to acknowledge various sources used in the research of this address, in particular:
Portrait of the Settle-Carlisle - compiled by David Joy
Walking through Eden - Neil Hanson
Settle Carlisle Centenary - compiled by David Joy
The Story of the Settle-Carlisle – Frederick W. Houghton and
W. Hubert Foster
He also wishes to thank those who helped and encouraged him:
Annie Gregory, Greta Naysmith, Didier Leblanc, John Hamilton, Graham Carver, Bill Turner, Stephen Alderson, Margaret Gowling, the staff of Kirkby Stephen Library and of Penrith Library. Also, the Moorcock Inn, for lending the poem by J. Thwaite about the Hawes Junction accident in 1910.
© Gordon Hutton 2007
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