Tragedies

A Memory of Newburn.

It was around 1952 when these tragic accidents happened to to two Millfield families. I remember the day as plain today as it was then. A little boy had fallen into the Dewley Burn and drowned, his mother was Edna Clues who lived at the end of Millfield Crescent. Everyone was out in the back lane with horrified expressions, some crying, others consoling each other. What this poor woman must have been going through, she was in the street absolutely hysterical. I remember tears rolling down my face, she wasn't a relative but everybody knew everybody, in fact in the nine terrace streets I could name who lived in which house, that's how close-knit the families were. The next accident happened at the Tress Engineering works which was on an industrial estate over the back of the old rope works. The estate is still there now but the Tress is long gone. Lots of the local lads were employed there. Anyway, there were big concrete holding ponds there, about twenty feet long by twelve feet wide, and they were a haven for us young 'uns, they were full of Newts and and Red-bellied Lizards, along with different species of frogs and toads. One day there were the usual kids there, me included (it must have been on a weekend or school holiday), when one of the lads had fallen in and disappeared. (I can't for the love of me remember his first name, but his second name was Tasey from Millfield Crescent and he was the youngest of the family, the name John springs to mind, but forgive me if I'm wrong.) We tried in vain to find him and when we couldn't we ran to the Fire Station and gave the alarm, and then we ran back to the pond which on a short cut by the Stanners was only a couple of minutes away on our short little fresh legs. The Fire Brigade was there in a flash, and along came the Police, Big Sergeant Jardine who stripped to his long johns and went in. He recovered the young lad who had been snarled up in the metal turnings which occupied the pond with the wildlife. He gave him all the things he needed to try and bring him back, but alas he had passed away. I don't know if the sergeant got commended for this but he darn well should have been.

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