SkegnessVideo.com

Source: Skegness News 1933

The most gruesome tragedy which Skegness has ever experienced, overshadowing the worst of this year’s already lengthy series, occurred yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon, when an aeroplane which had just taken off from the Skegness aerodrome crashed and burst into flames, burning to death both occupants.
The victims were:
Mr. HUBERT BENTINCK CHANTREY (29), of 8, Connaught Place, London, and Miss VERA FIELD, of Croydon.
Despite heroic efforts on the part of the Skegness aerodrome staff, and a sensational dash to the scene by the Skegness Fire Brigade, the ‘plane, which crashed only 100 yards beyond the northern boundary of the aerodrome, was completely burnt out before there was the slightest possibility of extricating the ill-fated occupants.
IDENTIFICATION DIFFICULTY.
Throughout yesterday afternoon, the identity of the dead lady remained unestablished, and proceedings were initiated by the Chief-Constable of Lincolnshire (Lieut.Col. G. R. Halland) to secure a broadcast from all stations of the B.B.C. with a view to subsequent identification.
Mr Chantrey arrived at Skegness yesterday morning with a lady passenger having it is understood, flown in from York in the course of a circular tour starting from and finishing at Heston Airport London. Both had a light luncheon at the Skegness Aero Club and prepared to leave for Heston in the afternoon.
The machine was a two seater Avro light biplane—a Sports Avian—(similar to the aeroplane in the picture) and Mr. Chantry had the petrol tank replenished before staring out for the take off.

TURNED DOWN WIND

Mr J H Hill of Maidenhead, a pilot on the staff the Skegness Aerodrome, said that the pilot taxied out to the far side of the aerodrome and took off, into the wind.

It was a perfectly good take-off,” said Mr Hill “and as soon as the ‘plane was flying pulled it up in a zoom. He straightened out at about 100 feet, and without carrying on to gain flying speed seemed to kick the ‘plane round into a left hand turn with hardly any bank. He turned -down wind, apparently to get on his course for Heston; the ‘plane appeared to stall and immediately went into a spin. It made about one-and-a-half half turns and struck the ground with a crash.

“Immediately it was enveloped in a mass of flames. There was not even a preliminary flicker. The flare-up was instantaneous. The impact forced the engine back into the centre section petrol tank, which was quite full, and there seems little doubt that the tank burst, spraying petrol over the hot exhaust system.”

BURST INTO FLAMES

Mr Bertram Kirkland, an aircraftsman employed at the aerodrome, said that the ‘plane was fitted with a metal airscrew and the take-off was remarkably quick.
“The plane seemed to lose speed on the top of the ‘zoom’,” he said, “and the pilot seemed to turn before regaining flying speed. It burst into flames the moment it crashed, The aerodrome staff dashed in cars to the scene and fought the flames with fire extinguishers and buckets of water from the near-by drain, but it was, impossible owing to the fierceness of the fire to reach either pilot or passenger. We got the flames under in eight minutes.”
Mr. F, D. Taylor, an assistant in the Surveyor’s Department of the Skegness Council, said that he was testing water mains opposite the Nottingham Convalescent Home, and saw the ill-fated aeroplane take-off.

RANG FOR FIRE BRIGADE

“To me, the pilot appeared to rise too steeply,” he said, “and immediately he essayed to turn on a southward course, down wind, he went into a spin, and nose-dived with a crash into the field just to the north of the aerodrome.
“I at once rang up the police and asked them to send the Fire Brigade, and also phoned for the Water Department to give full pressure, but within a few minutes there was only a charred mass remaining, and the Fire Brigade’s two mile journey was in vain.”
The Fire Brigade and motor fire engine Chief Officer J. Davy in charge, made an insistent sounding of the fire alarm, but with two miles of road and several fields separating them from the blazing ‘plane, they had little hope of reaching it before it was completely burnt out.

Their timely arrival, however, was extremely welcome, for they were able to finish the work already begun by the aerodrome fire party, and the Chief Officer of the Brigade and Supt Ackrill and other officers of the local police supervised the task of extricating the dead bodies of the two occupants from the charred and twisted wreckage.
BEYOND RECOGNITION

A deep hole was made in the ground where the airscrew boss struck, and the engine, as stated by Mr. Hill, was forced back into the fuselage of the ‘plane little remained but the metal framework and wires, all fabric and woodwork being entirely consumed.
The remains of the ill-fated occupants, charred and burned entirely beyond recognition, were removed after extrication in the ambulance of the British Red Cross Society.
Mr. Chantrey’s father, Mr. W. Herbert Chantrey, is a partner in Chantrey, Button and Co., Chartered Accountants, of Africa House, Kingsway, London.
Mr. Hubert Chantrey was a civil airman and flew his own plane which he used for business purposes, frequently flying to Birmingham. He was a London representative of a Birmingham firm, the Deritend Stamping Co., and lived with his parents.

FATHEWS STATEMENT

Mr W H Chantrey, father of the dead pilot issued the following statement last night:
“Mr H B Chantry, accompanied by Miss Vera Field, of Croydon, a great flying enthusiast, left London on Saturday to fly to Edinburgh to meet the members of the motor cycling, club on their arrival there.This they did on Saturday evening.
“On Sunday they returned to Kirkby Moorside, leaving there for London this morning. They called at Skegness for lunch and fuel, and subsequently they took off from the aerodrome when the fatal accident took place. In due course the Air Ministry will make a report.”
When Mr. Chantrey was killed, his father and mother were on the road, motoring back frorn Llandudno, where they had been spending Whitsun. They did not hear of the tragedy until they arrived at their home in Connaught Place, W.

Shortly before Mr. and Mrs. Chantrey returned, friends arrived at the house to break the news to them.

One of the friends told a Press representative; “Mr. Chantrey was a typical plucky, sport-loving young man. Besides flying he was very keen on motor cycle racing, and had won several cups. He is the only son, but has a married sister, Mrs. Emberton, wife of the well-known architect.”
The inquest will be held at the Skegness Petty Sessional Court-house to-day (Wednesday) at 4.30 p.m.

Source: Skegness News 1933

TARRED AND NAKED MAN AT SKEGNESS

REMARKABLE DISCLOSURE AT SPILSBY POLICE COURT

WALKED ROUND TOWN AT NIGHT
The remarkable disclosure that a man had entered a shed at Skegness, tarred himself from head to foot and walked about the streets naked all night, was made at a special police court at Spilsby last Wednesday.

Ernest Thomas Furze (33) described as a kitcnen porter, of Mevagissy, Cornwall, was charged with wandering abroad, lodging in the open air without visible means, and failing to give a good account of himself at Partney, near Spilsby, the previous night.

APPREHENDED AT PARTNEY

P.c. Evans, of Partney, stated that about 8p.m. he received a complaint from Mr. Holderness, of Model farm, Partney, that a man was wandering round his stacks and field. Proceeding there in company with Insp A. Stevens they found Furze lying under a stack covered with tar practically from head to foot, and his only clothing was a pair of old trousers.

It appeared the man had torn off all his clothing except his trousers and thrown them away with his boots.
When questioned he could give no clear statement about himself and was taken to Spilsby police station.
Insp. A. Stevens said Furze had volunteered to him the information that he had I been in trouble several times at numerous places and had been wandering about the country since October last year.

The Inspector asked for a remand for a week, during which time the authorities would endeavour to get the tar off the man and have inquiries made concerning him.

ABSOLUTELY NUDE.
It appeared from what Furze told him, added the Inspector, that Furze went to Skegness earlier that week and there entered a shed where there were some tar barrels. He then tarred himself all over and walked around Skegness during the night, absolutely nude.
Later on he went into a shelter and back again into the shed.
The magistrates were shown Furze’s legs, which were black with tar, and Insp Stevens commented that the man had said that he “would do something to himself”‘ if he was allowed to go.
Furze: Yes, I shall. It’s no good putting me back on the road. You had better send me to prison.
Insp. Stevens: He is in that state of mind that makes it necessary for something to be done for his benefit.
The magistrates granted the application for a remand, and asked that a report be made by the prison authorities upon the state of mind of the prisoner and also his physical condition.

Source: Skegness News 14th November 1923

Various news articles appeared in the local newspapers regarding the erection of a War Memorial to the Fallen in Skegness:

WAR MEMORIAL - ORDER GIVEN FOR ITS ERECTION

After a long delay the suggested Public Memorial to the, Skegness men who died in the Great War will become an accomplished fact.

Since the first proposal was mooted, a great at deal of discussion and heated argument has taken place, whether the new wing to the Cottage Hospital, an Ex-Servicie Men’s Hall,
a Cross in front of the Church of England should be the memorial.

Remarkable as it may seem, two of the proposals are to be accomplished, viz the Wing of the Cottage Hospital, the Cross in front of St Matthew’s Church, and the ex-service men have ‘got a club and who knows but the last may eventually be accomplished and, a permanent hall erected.

The result, taken all round must be a gratifying one to Skegnessians whilst the various committees elected are delighted the objects they aimed for have been consumated.

After a Cross outside St Matthew’s Church was decided upon, Rev Disney placed a letter in the Skegness News:

A SKEGNESS WAR MEMORIAL
Dear Sir: Your readers will like to know that the Earl of Yarborough, Lord Lieutenant of the County, has consented lo come on Thursday the 15th, of November to unveil the Memorial, at a Dedication Service which we hope to make worthy of the occasion.

To ensure perfect accuracy in the names of the Fallen and with a view to producing a Form of Service which may be prized as a memento, a communication has been addressed to the relatives 0f the Men asking for fuller details that can be placed on the, Memorial.
It may be that in spite of the care taken to complete the list, some name has been omitted. The Committee will be extremely grateful if information can be sent to me without delay in such a case.
Yours faithfully,
Wm. DISNEY,Hon Sec to the Committee, The Rectory, Skegness.

The War Memorial Unveiling Ceremony

The following ‘Order of Service’ was printed in the Skegness news the day before the ceremony was to take place:

Lord Yarborough unveiling the War Memorial at St Matthew’s Church, Skegness.

Photo below: (left to right) The Earl of Yarborough PC; The Right Reverened Bishop J Taylor Smith CB CVO DD, Chaplain-General to the Forces; The Rev William Disney, MA; Major-General The Earl of Scarbrough, GBE KCB.

Skegness Video was invited into the camp of the homeless people on Skegness Beach, situated amongst the scrub near the North Parade Pullover.

We were greeted with a warm reception from the group, who appeared very friendly and co-operative.
One of the guys us that they had been there around four weeks, having been moved on by East Lindsey District Council from the south beach.

The camp consisted of two tents and several people, men and women. There was a camp fire which served for warmth and cooking purposes.

Looking at the rubbish littering the scrub, the homeless people were anxious to tell us that this was not their rubbish, and pointed to rusty cans which were obviously more that four weeks old. East Lindsey District Council had provided them with purple rubbish bags which were to be placed just outside the camp ready for collection.

Whist we were in the camp, a police officer came in to check all was well.

As we were taking the pictures below, another camp member, David, retuned with wood for the fire. He agreed to a video interview and tells us his views in the video.

I was time for us to go, and the homeless people shook our hand as wished us well.

In the video David says that the reason they are there is because the Council keep moving them on until they end up in another county, passing their problems onto someone else. He says that this is not the way to solve the problem - the Council should address the problem instead of passing it on to someone else.

The whole experience was very enlightening, raising some very pertinent questions:

Are these people the Council’s responsibility?

Just as much so as any other persons who cannot support themselves?

Tell us what YOU think in the comments box below.

Source: Skegness News 1927

SKEGNESS LAD’S MISFORTUNE

Playing around the Council’s steam-roller while it vas backing into Mr Manton’s yard on Sea Road Road on Saturday, little Cyril Kirby, aged nine years, of St. Andrews Drive, had the misfortune to have one foot crushed by the roller.

He was taken to the Cottage Hospital in a car by members of the local Police Force and was attended by Dr. D. F. Menzies.

We understand that the little sufferer had to have several of his toes amputated.