Today, 27 May, is the 50th anniversary of Britain's worst road traffic accident. In it, 32 coach passengers and their driver lost their lives when a coach lost braking power while descending a steep hill in North Yorkshire and crashed through the parapet of a bridge at the bottom.
The passengers, all women, were on a day trip from the town of Thornaby-on-Tees in North Yorkshire to Grassington in the Dales.
Strangely, I have no memory of hearing about this disaster on the news at the time, nor have I ever heard it referred to since. It's odd how some such events are remembered and others quite forgotten.
There aren't even any photographs of the aftermath of the crash on the Getty Images site, where I look for such things. So instead I have added a video made for Thornaby Town Council in 2019.
As it explains, the design of coaches has changed out of recognition since 1975, partly as a result of this accident.
The crash site is less changed though. It had been the scene of a similar bus crash in 1925, and the video tells of two cyclists who died here in separate incidents more recently after failing to negotiate the bend at the bottom of the hill.
Later. BBC News has an article today marking the anniversary.
Lincoln Seligman, who is interviewed in it and in the video above, was a barrister at the time of the crash and is now a sculptor. He was also a godson of Edward Heath - his father was a Conservative MEP and a strong supporter of Heath's leadership.
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