http://bit.ly/16RfAR2 Link to a rap on the disaster
http://bit.ly/ZkZgCB Link to video
On 1st May 1908 at 6.50pm (18.50) there occurred in Bournemouth an accident which ranks amongst the worst on Britain’s tramways.
Car number 72 was descending the incline from Poole Hill into
The Square via The Triangle when the driver, William Wilton, lost control. The
car attained a dangerously high speed and left the rails at the right-hand
curve in Avenue Road. It crossed the nearside pavement and plunged down a bank
into the garden of Fairlight Glen House, where it came to rest on the steeply
wooded slope lying on its side.
Of the 40 or so passengers on the car, seven were killed and
26 were injured, some very seriously.
So what had gone wrong? A badly worn connection in the
controller caused the brakes to become ineffective. The resulting official
report resulted in a big shake-up, with the Corporation appointing a properly
qualified tramway manager to run the system.
Peter Kazmierczak, Senior Heritage Librarian, Bournemouth Libraries
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