Local historian Peter Holme of Kendal recalls a horrific accident at Thirlmere in 1908.

If you want to know about anything relating to the area in which we live ask the readers of The Westmorland Gazette!

In December I wrote an article about the building of Thirlmere Dam. At the end of the article I mentioned I had seen some photographs in the Margaret Duff Collection of a serious accident. There was a date of June 2 printed on one photo but no mention of the year.

Almost immediately Mike Ambler, from Ings, Frank Leaver, of Troutbeck and Willie Nelson, of Staveley contacted me and their information pointed me to the year — 1908.

Two traction engines driven by itinerant showmen travelling from Lancaster to Maryport had stayed overnight on New Road, Kendal. They set off early on Tuesday morning, June 2, and had reached the road built by Manchester City Council alongside their new reservoir by 3pm. The front traction engine was pulling a cargo of cinematograph equipment, the second two living vans for the families of both teams of drivers.

William Cartwright, who was walking in front of the machine to warn pedestrians and other vehicles of its approach as it travelled at three miles-an-hour, said at the inquest: “I heard a crack like thunder and the next moment I saw the whole engine and caravans leave the road and rush down the embankment.”

The vehicle, worth £1,000 (about £57,100 in today’s money) fell 150 feet on to the rocks below “the funnel and other parts were smashed off and then it turned topsy-turvey into the lake, alighting, totally immersed, looking as if it had been placed there.”

The first van followed it but the second was torn from its fixings and crashed on to the driver, Francis Wood and steersman Thomas Hector, who had been thrown out of the engine cab, killing them instantly, the Gazette giving graphic details of their injuries.

In the first van, which was not totally immersed, was Mrs Ralph, her five-year-old daughter, her niece and a servant. They managed to scramble out through a door, which was just above the water level.

In the second van was Mrs Pullin, who was knocked unconscious and when she came round discovered she was lying in between the two dead men. Her 17-month-old daughter also had a lucky escape being caught by her clothing on the roof of the cabin.

Apart from bruises and small burns from an overturned stove all the passengers were remarkably uninjured. Rescuers soon arrived on the scene and the survivors were taken by motor car to the Kings Head, Thirlspot.

At the inquest there was much discussion as to the cause of the vehicle’s sudden turn through the wall and down the embankment. Experts discounted the suggestion that the road had collapsed and thought a broken link in the steering chain was the reason. The jury found that the two men met their deaths by the overturning of the engine through an unaccountable cause.

The following week the Gazette reported: “Thirlmere drew hundreds of pilgrims during Saturday, Sunday and Monday, not to see the lake or the Manchester Dam but the sunken traction engine and shattered show vans.”