It’s been 60 years since the people of Stockport could only watch in horror as a tragedy unfolded before their eyes. But what they did next was extraordinary.
On the morning of May 28, 1964, a train carrying more than 230 children crashed into a bridge in Cheadle Hulme. The trainload of schoolchildren and their teachers traveled from Gnosall in Staffordshire for a day out at York Minster.
At around 9.40am the high speed train reached Cheadle Hulme station when one of the carriages began to rock back and forth. Eyewitness accounts say the erratically moving carriage then rolled onto its side with a deafening crash.
READ MORE: The day a runaway train careened down a Greater Manchester street, crashing through houses as people slept
READ MORE: Clipper cards, Saver Sevens and ‘vomit-coloured’ tiles: the lost bus station beneath Manchester’s Arndale
It was towed by the train and then the carriages behind it fell away, crashing into the bridge over Station Road and destroying the platform. People could only watch in horror at the carnage that lay ahead on the tracks.
The Stockport Advertiser reported at the time how Cheadle Hulme became a ‘village of horror… and heroism’ as people rushed to help injured children. He added: “There was a loud grinding noise and then a terrifying roar.
“It reached a terrifying crescendo of splintering woodwork and tearing metal… then there was silence. The tragedy reached a stunned Station Road.”
The Manchester Evening News reported that “sandwiches, candies and comic books were scattered among the tangled tracks” – the children’s belongings on board. Severely injured children and teachers were trapped in the carriages, or were thrown onto the rails from one of the carriages that had fallen on its side.
Join our WhatsApp Top Stories and Breaking News group at by clicking on this link
The tragedy claimed the lives of three people. Eight-year-old Christine Heffernan and twelve-year-old Lewis Stevens, along with Mr M. Pedley – a railway representative from Burton-on-Trent who was traveling with the party – were all killed, with dozens injured.
But what was astonishing is that more people did not die in the devastating crash. A railway official said: “It is nothing short of a miracle. When you look at the damage to the carriages, it is hard to believe that so many emerged unscathed.”
Inside the station there was a scene of utter devastation, with five wrecked carriages leaning at crazy angles, the bridge partially destroyed and the station platform completely shattered. Many eyewitnesses were said to have “openly wept” as they watched the scenes after the crash. But large numbers of people ran straight into the twisted metal and rubble to help.
Mr Donald Pimlott, a butcher, of Swann Lane, Cheadle Hulme, said he rescued a seriously injured 10-year-old girl. She said to him, “Am I dreaming, I must be dreaming.”
Mr Pimlott added: “She was terribly conscious. I spoke to her to comfort her.”
Dozens of women are said to have climbed the steep embankment to the site of the destruction and tore up clothing to treat the injured. Others brought tea to the struggling rescuers who rushed to the scene.
Among the horror and terror were acts of tremendous courage and decency. A seriously injured nine-year-old child traveling on the train was John ‘Tich’ Gibson.
He was trapped in an overturned carriage for an hour – and was described by an ambulance man as ‘the bravest child I ever saw’. Caught between a rail and a girder, with his head resting on a sleeper, the nine-year-old’s bravery amazed his rescuers.
Join our Facebook group showcasing the history, memories and people of Greater Manchester here.
He spoke to firefighters and doctors as they fought to free him and “never complained.” He was eventually released and taken to hospital with terrible injuries, which resulted in his arm being amputated, but miraculously he survived.
Another incredible story was that of Mary Tiernan. The nine-year-old was left in a coma, seriously injured with head wounds, broken bones and burns at Manchester Royal Infirmary.
Nicknamed ‘Sleeping Beauty’ by reporters, she woke up in hospital three months later. Her first words were: ‘There is my father.’ She made a full recovery.
Those who were not injured were reportedly taken to the nearby Methodist Hall, where they sat in quiet groups while local women and social workers made tea. Many of the children were crying while others were “huddled and shaking with nerves” in the arms of teachers.
Many teachers themselves were injured with “torn clothes and bloodstained faces”, but they sang songs to calm the children, such as ‘Ten Green Bottles’, and handed out soft drinks and pastries.
Speaking with the Manchester Evening News on the 50th anniversary of the accident in 2014, Frank Stringer, then aged 24, was a driver for the Cheshire County Ambulance service and was dropping patients off at Cheadle Royal Hospital when he was called to the station.
He witnessed the aftermath of the horror. He told the MEN: “When I arrived on the scene my job was to take the injured to the Stockport Infirmary on Wellington Road South.
“I fell with two casualties and then returned to the scene where I was instructed to go to a nearby school hall and play the piano to entertain the injured children. Luckily there was a reporter there named Brian Trueman who could play so I was relieved of my duties, I then helped to clear the track and search for more victims.”
Do you love Greater Manchester’s past? Sign up for our new nostalgia newsletter and never miss a thing.
Frank, a grandfather from Heald Green, later became a police officer at Manchester Airport. He continued: “When I got the first phone call, I think my adrenaline was pumping. I was just there to do my job.
“I think the scene affected some of the older ambulance men. It’s a day we shouldn’t forget.’
Adding: “It was a big day for Cheadle Hulme and the whole community working together.”
And it was the emergency services that Frank was part of that were praised for their immediate action. At the Stockport Infirmary, doctors were on standby to carry out emergency operations, while rest centers were set up around the crash site for the children who escaped physically unharmed, while the wreckage was searched for trapped survivors.
British Rail officials also later thanked all people living near the line who had helped with first aid and the organization of rest centers, while providing refreshments to the professional rescue teams. As Frank said, it was in those moments of horror that people came together.
An investigation by the Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management showed that the accident was due to driver error and the fact that the train was traveling at too high a speed.