Thought for the Day

It's a nice bright sunny day here in Harrow, N.W. London, and I've jogged in for an hour’s quiet catching up on a few things. Came over Harrow-on-the-Hill and through to our magnificent architectural wonder of a hospital. Now I can at least claim to have been on the “playing fields of Harrow” (if not, as yet, Eton).

I walked through nearby Wealdstone yesterday, where I first learned of the 1952 train disaster. On 8th October 1952, the Perth to Euston express ran a red signal and collided with a stationary commuter train. The locomotive of the express was derailed into the path of a northbound express, causing a second collision. 122 passengers lost their lives. Apparently, this was one of two high-profile incidents in the 1950’s where signals were passed at danger, the other being Lewisham in 1957. Another notable point about the Wealdstone incident, is that it was reported to be the first time that the “triage” system of casualty management was used with civilians in the UK, prioritising cases according to their urgency and expectancy for survival! Sobering stuff.