accident

[pennine]

hello can anyone tell me the where abouts in Leicestershire of a place called Syston Bridge (could be Cyston or Siseton  or Ciseton sorry don't know only the soundex).
Also if there is such a place where would I be able to access local news paper reports of the accident involving two vans in which one man died and another was seriously injured in 1960.
Thanks
Pennine

[helenw]

There is a village called Syston in Leicestershire it is north of Leicester if you follow the A607 on a map.

Looking at the map there appears to be a railway running through syston which means there is possibly a bridge over the railway line (?) could this be where you are looking for?

Hope thats some help

[pennine]

Hi Helen w this could be what I am looking for. Strange, at the time I thought this was a major place that was universally known but then I was only a child evesdropping on adult conversation! Will consult a map and possibly come back. Still need info on newspaper reports.
Thank you for helping.
Pennine

[lushbrown]

hi there,you should be able to look through old newspaper reports at the record office in wigston,you might need to trawl through quite a few to get what youre after.i managed to get a report of an accident from the leicester mercury and i would imagine that or the loughborough echo will be the papers you need.they are all on film reels so you need to narrow your search dates as much as possible.i know syston well and if i can find out exactly where the bridge is i will let you know,elaine

[pennine]

Hi Lushbrown thank you for that information. I may have difficulty visiting to search through fiche records would they do a search for me if I paid? Incidently I do know the date of the accident but not the date of the inquest which I am sure there must have been.
Thanks again
Pennine

[Mike from Leicester]

Greeting’s Pennine….

There could be another Syston Bridge ?
Which is on the old A.46 on the Western out shirts of Syston.
It’s on a Z bend and narrow so this could be the one…….
The other one which Helen mentioned is Yes on the A 607.
Again is a bit of a Humpback bridge…….

If you can post the date of the Accident then I’ll have a look this week at the Records Office
They have the old Leicester Mercury, Evening Mail Newspapers on
Over head projector film. 
And hopefully report back details here for you.

MIKE.   

[pennine]

Hi Mike that is very kind of you. The accident took place on 13th July 1960. The story goes that two delivery Thames vans, marked with the name Arthur Gee Paint and Wallpaper Decorators, were travelling in the same direction towards Leicester. It was suggested that they were trying to race each other. As one van overtook the other the first was forced off the road, hit the bridge parapit  or wall and the driver flew through the windscreen and was killed instantly.
The name of the driver was Derek Gratwick and he came from Sheffield.
Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you again.
Pennine

[Christopher]

Hiya,

Do local libraries index items which are reported in local newspapers in England? I can go to my local library or the area board headquarters and specify a paper and approximate date of the item in which I am interested. They hand me an index or two covering the years of publication. There is an index giving a one line description of the item reported and another of surnames of people mentioned in reports.

If the libraries do this it might make it easier to search for the accident in which you are interested Pennine.

Chris

[pennine]

Thanks Chris I do not know if all libraries do it certainly in my own area they do not. I know this accident was reported also in the Sheffield area several days later but I have been unable to find the source because that particular paper was not indexed. Its worth a try though.
Thank you again.
Pennine