About this time of year , 77 years ago in a terrible four week period , Camborne people must have thought the gods or the stars had conspired against them . During August and September 1937 no less than four separate tragedies occurred , involving 7 deaths , many near-misses and numerous injured and hospitalised and this in addition to the attempted murder of a former local Camborne girl living in St.Ives ! Go here for many news clippings and photos of those involved and similar text to below : djwilson22.wordpress/2014/08/27/cambornes-catastrophic-four-weeks-in-1937/ The first tragedy occurred on the sunny weekend of the 12th August 1937 . Gwithian and Hayle beaches were packed with holidaymakers from afar as well as local daytrippers too . Amongst those enjoying the late summer sunshine was a party from Camborne , who had travelled by train to Hayle and then walked to the beach . The group consisted of Arthur Waters aged 26 , a tin miner from Penponds and his brother Percy Waters . Sylvia Williams aged 18 of Maynes Rd , Tuckingmill and her cousin Lambert Williams aged 22 , of Roddas Terrace , Roskear Rd , who was there with his wife and their four-month old baby . Making up the party was James Roskelly of Fore St. Beacon . They played games on the sand before deciding to cool off with a dip in the sea . The three non-swimmers in the party , Sylvia Williams , Lambert Williams and Arthur Waters , waded into the water first , very near to the mouth of the River Hayle . Laughing and joking they were holding hands as they jumped in the surf . Following some way behind them , Percy Waters and James Roskelly who both could swim a little , entered the water but when only knee deep sensed a treacherous current below the surface and called to the others to get out the water . It was too late and the three non swimmers were swept out beyond the reach of any would-be rescuers . Unfortunately they chose the wrong time to enter the water it was about half an hour before low tide . Despite many rescue attempts by various craft the three perished . Camborne must have been in shock at the loss of three of its young folk but things were about to get worse ! On the 25th of August a girl called Maud Mills , whose parents lived in Dolcoath Rd , Camborne was nearly killed by her long term boyfriend with whom she was living in St. Ives . He was called Bartholomew Taylor and worked in a bakery in St.Ives . They had walked up the hill from the town and were singing along to music that was audible from a brass band playing in the town . Next they stopped for an embrace ,they kissed but suddenly he flipped and tried to throttle poor Maud who was described as a petite , attractive young lady. She fell to the ground apparently lifeless and he left her for dead . It was thought her fiancee , Bartholomew Taylor , had some sort of brainstorm and even he thought he had killed her . To his credit he did go to St.Ives police station and confessed but when the police went with him to the scene of the assault , Maud had already regained consciousness and left the scene , though it took her days before she was able to leave her bed afterwards . Doctors proved the seriousness of the attack and Taylor was sent for trial . He was sentenced to 3 years in prison for the serious assault . Just over a week later , yet another tragedy . At the beginning of September , just before the end of the school summer holiday , three young lads were playing on the burrows (mine waste) near the disused Camborne Vean mine just off Stray Park Road . One young lad , 9 year old Aubrey Gilbert from nearby Moor St , decided he wanted to throw an old bicycle-frame down the open shaft of the mine . The shaft , one of many in the area , was surrounded by a wire fence but a determined nine year old could easily squeeze through . His two playmates , one , his younger brother and another lad called Raymond Edwards left him to it and went back to their own endeavors . Shortly they noticed he was nowhere to be seen and went to raise the alarm to an uncle called Seymour Bennetts also of Moor St. He summoned the police and a P.C. Cole was bravely lowered down the shaft in a hastily rigged contraption but was unable to see any sign of young Aubrey in the murky waters . A further attempt to reclaim the body of the 9 year old was made 2 days later and this almost led to another tragedy . Mr. W.J. Taylor of Camborne and Mr . Leslie Gilbert of Redruth both experienced miners , narrowly avoided plunging to the bottom after slipping on some wet planks . Then for whatever reason , (some 9 days after Aubrey had fallen in the shaft ) , a small band of miners came from Redruth by train and decided to mount an unofficial rescue of the boys body from the shaft . They used some of the equipment that had been left there . A married father of four children , called Jack Curtis elected to descend into the shaft but his two companions couldnt control the winding machinery and the kibble (a large bucket normally used for loading ore ) that contained Curtis , plunged towards the bottom of the shaft at lightning speed . A local bystander attempted to halt the descent by jamming an iron bar into the gear and sparks flew everywhere but the descent was only halted when the full length of rope had unwound . Many hands manually pulled up on the rope swiftly but the kibble contained nothing but water , Curtis and the grappling hooks that he was holding , were gone . It was assumed during the rapid unchecked descent that he had probably struck his head on the sides of the shaft , rendering him unconscious and falling out the kibble into the murky waters . Every time a rescue attempt had been mounted , hundreds went up to view the proceedings and non amongst them would have predicted yet another tragedy that was about to happen . Friday the 10th September was like any other working day at South Crofty mine . The shift under Stanley Bawden had started at 7 a.m. that morning . The previous day some blasting had been done in the rise (an underground shaft driven upwards at an angle ).Bawden and young Charles Lionel Salmon Smith had been working in this rise for many weeks with no problems . About 8 a.m the two of them reached the rise and Bawden said he would go back to turn on a water-hose at the valve only after Smith gave him the OK . Smith climbed a ladder and shouted back to turn it on . Bawden walked back towards the rise and when halfway up the ladder , shouted to Smith but got no reply . Getting to the top he smelt gas and saw Smith laying prostate on some rubble and pulled him to a corner . He was unable to pull him any further down and went back for help . A number of miners including Richard Thomas Sedgemore and James Barnard rushed up and attempted a rescue . As Bawden was climbing the ladder , Barnard was also overcome and fell past him , some 60 feet to the floor , sustaining head and back injuries . Sedgemore made it to the top but sadly was also overcome by the gas . A shift boss called Alfred Nettle of Redruth also fell from a ladder after being gassed but luckily fell on the shoulders of yet another shift boss called Mr. S. Nicholls who managed to keep hold of him and probably saved his life . High-pressure air was pumped through the rise to clear the foul air but this only succeeded in blowing it onto another dozen miners who all needed oxygen promptly to clear their lungs . Two others called Donald Downing and Archie Johnson also required hospital treatment . Other brave would-be rescuers named , were Mr. C.H. Butler of Tregajorran (Deanna Butlers ancestor ? ) and a surface worker who was also a first aider called Wilfred Lawrence of Illogan Highway . Thomas Williams , mine Captain from Carn Brea said it was an hour and a half before the gas had dispersed enough for a rescue party to enter the rise in order to recover the bodies . Must have taken a while for local folk to get over all these tragic events . Photo shows some of the Crofty rescue party banksman W. Pryor on the left with Messrs H. May , W.A.Wills , and A.E.Jory . More photos and clippings here : djwilson22.wordpress/2014/08/27/cambornes-catastrophic-four-weeks-in-1937/
Posted on: Thu, 28 Aug 2014 09:31:19 +0000
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