The following contemporary account relating to the construction of the Settle - Carlisle railway appeared on page 3 (column 4) of the July 16th, 1870 edition of the Lancaster Guardian.
Coroner's Inquests.
On the 12th instant T. P. Brown, Esq., deputy coroner, held inquests at the Sportsman's Inn, Dent's Head, on the bodies of Thomas Ball, aged 30 years, and John Squires, aged 7 years. - On the 9th instant Thomas Ball was working, in company with six other men, in the tunnel now in course of construction at Dent’s Head on the new line of railway between Settle; and Carlisle. About four o'clock in the afternoon of the day mentioned, in consequence of a heavy fail of thunder rain, the workings became flooded, and before the deceased could be rescued he was drowned. As it was some time before the accumulated waters subsided, the body was not recovered before 7 p.m. on the same day by a miner named Joseph Watson. Thomas Ball was a native, of Northamptonshire, and had been working at Dent's Head about a week. – Verdict “Accidentally drowned in a railway excavation.". . . . An inquest was held; at the same time and place on the body of John Swires, aged 7 years. The deceased left home on the 9th instant, at 1 p.m., to go to Thomas Parrington's grocer's Shop at Lee Gate, Dent's Head, which was about half-a-mile from, his home. About 7 p.m., on the same day he was seen by Joseph Dennis, of Dent's Head, returning from the shop and going in the direction of home. On his way home he had to pass over Monkey beck, which was much flooded by the heavy rains which had fallen during the thunder storm. The body of Swires was found about eight o'clock the next morning in Monkey beck by Thomas Parrington. The deceased was son of Thomas Swires, labourer, of Lee Gate,. Dent's Head. – Verdict – “Accidentally drowned in Monkey beck."
Acknowledgements
The text quoted above was manually transcribed from a 35mm microfilm copy of the newspaper by Mark R. Harvey during a visit to Lancaster Library on July 10th, 2007.