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Upchurch Carnival Queen Barbara Webb with Pauline Ward and Sandra Pamlin. |
Nineteen year old Barbara Webb from Drakes Close had plenty to celebrate fifty years ago in August 1964. She had a regular job at Bowaters Packaging Department in Rainham, a steady boyfriend and had won the Upchurch Carnival Queen Competition on June 20th in the Infant’s School.
On a perfect sunny day for a carnival 22 floats drew up on The Recreation Ground for judging before taking off on a procession around the village. The St John’s Ambulance Brigade led the way as the procession wound its way around the village while big crowds lined the route waving, joking and shouting comments at the participants. Barbara Webb and her attendants waved to the crowds and probably felt very happy as important figures in the event.
When the procession came to its end crowds poured into The Paddock where the annual dog show had begun, a coconut shy was already in action and a selection of stalls sold a variety of produce, while pop music boomed aloud from the loud speaker system overseen by Rich Boakes from Chaffes Lane.
Walking around The Paddock I noticed an eery hush come over the crowd. Bernard Sketchley, formerly from Chaffes Lane, waiting to participate in one of the junior sports events, informed me many years later that he also noticed it. Something had happened. Nobody wanted to talk about it but as news spread everyone became aware of what had happened. Standing at the entrance of the tea tent where Win Wraight, Queenie South and several other ladies were serving tea I noticed all in deep conversation. My grandmother Mrs. Rose Wood working with them noticed me at the entrance. She came over and told me that the Carnival Queen had been killed in an accident in Chaffes Lane. At this stage people began drifting away from The Paddock after learning what had happened and members of the carnival committee made a decision to cancel the evening dance due to be held in the Infant’s School.
I jumped on my bicycle, sped along Oak Lane and across The Recreation Ground to where I could see the Carnival Queen float stationary on the side of the road and a parked car just in front on the other side with nobody in sight. I rode farther up Chaffes Lane to Drakes Close and saw Barbara Webb’s mother being comforted by neighbour Mrs. Latter on the pathway in front of her house. This is when I realized the seriousness of the incident.
Barbara Webb’s boyfriend Peter Ellesmere from Chatham, already on his way to Upchurch by bus to meet her parents for the first time that afternoon, heard what had happened from the bus conductor who informed him that a terrible accident had occurred in Upchurch and that the Carnival Queen had been killed.
On the blackest day that anyone could remember in the village the story soon began to emerge. The accident happened after the procession had taken place. Mr. Myles Murr from Drakes Close was driving Barbara Webb back home so that she could change out of her costume when he encountered a stationary car beside The Recreation Ground in Chaffes Lane. Unfortunately, as he braked to slow down the vehicle tilted to the right as it passed through a dip on the right hand side of the road. This caused the armchair on which Barbara Webb was sitting to tilt sideways and then topple sending her over the side of the truck and under the wheel of the vehicle. Mr. Murr felt a jolt, a clatter and a shout and immediately stopped the vehicle. As Barbara Webb’s younger brother Ian jumped off the lorry to investigate then run off for help, Mr. Murr found Barbara Webb under the lorry with multiple head injuries. She had been killed instantly.
The inquest which took place in Rochester soon after the tragedy passed a verdict of accidental death and concluded that the armchair which had been placed on a small table but not fixed had been the principal cause of the accident. Ironically, Barbara Webb had requested this to give her more height over her two attendants. The inquest found that neither the chair nor the table were fastened to the lorry which caused everything to topple sideways when the lorry passed along the dip in the road.
On a perfect sunny day for a carnival 22 floats drew up on The Recreation Ground for judging before taking off on a procession around the village. The St John’s Ambulance Brigade led the way as the procession wound its way around the village while big crowds lined the route waving, joking and shouting comments at the participants. Barbara Webb and her attendants waved to the crowds and probably felt very happy as important figures in the event.
When the procession came to its end crowds poured into The Paddock where the annual dog show had begun, a coconut shy was already in action and a selection of stalls sold a variety of produce, while pop music boomed aloud from the loud speaker system overseen by Rich Boakes from Chaffes Lane.
Walking around The Paddock I noticed an eery hush come over the crowd. Bernard Sketchley, formerly from Chaffes Lane, waiting to participate in one of the junior sports events, informed me many years later that he also noticed it. Something had happened. Nobody wanted to talk about it but as news spread everyone became aware of what had happened. Standing at the entrance of the tea tent where Win Wraight, Queenie South and several other ladies were serving tea I noticed all in deep conversation. My grandmother Mrs. Rose Wood working with them noticed me at the entrance. She came over and told me that the Carnival Queen had been killed in an accident in Chaffes Lane. At this stage people began drifting away from The Paddock after learning what had happened and members of the carnival committee made a decision to cancel the evening dance due to be held in the Infant’s School.
I jumped on my bicycle, sped along Oak Lane and across The Recreation Ground to where I could see the Carnival Queen float stationary on the side of the road and a parked car just in front on the other side with nobody in sight. I rode farther up Chaffes Lane to Drakes Close and saw Barbara Webb’s mother being comforted by neighbour Mrs. Latter on the pathway in front of her house. This is when I realized the seriousness of the incident.
Barbara Webb’s boyfriend Peter Ellesmere from Chatham, already on his way to Upchurch by bus to meet her parents for the first time that afternoon, heard what had happened from the bus conductor who informed him that a terrible accident had occurred in Upchurch and that the Carnival Queen had been killed.
On the blackest day that anyone could remember in the village the story soon began to emerge. The accident happened after the procession had taken place. Mr. Myles Murr from Drakes Close was driving Barbara Webb back home so that she could change out of her costume when he encountered a stationary car beside The Recreation Ground in Chaffes Lane. Unfortunately, as he braked to slow down the vehicle tilted to the right as it passed through a dip on the right hand side of the road. This caused the armchair on which Barbara Webb was sitting to tilt sideways and then topple sending her over the side of the truck and under the wheel of the vehicle. Mr. Murr felt a jolt, a clatter and a shout and immediately stopped the vehicle. As Barbara Webb’s younger brother Ian jumped off the lorry to investigate then run off for help, Mr. Murr found Barbara Webb under the lorry with multiple head injuries. She had been killed instantly.
The inquest which took place in Rochester soon after the tragedy passed a verdict of accidental death and concluded that the armchair which had been placed on a small table but not fixed had been the principal cause of the accident. Ironically, Barbara Webb had requested this to give her more height over her two attendants. The inquest found that neither the chair nor the table were fastened to the lorry which caused everything to topple sideways when the lorry passed along the dip in the road.
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David Wood. |
After the tragedy Carnival Committee Chairman Eric Wright from Chaffes Lane summed up the feelings of people in Upchurch when he said,
“It was a tragedy which hit everyone.”
The carnival committee sent a letter of condolence and a floral tribute to the Webb family and a clock and plaque remembering Barbara Webb were later placed on the village hall wall as a permanent memorial to one of the most popular carnival queens to have participated in the event. It remains a great tragedy remembered by everyone from Upchurch who
attended the village carnival in August 1964.
About David:
David Wood was born and raised in Upchurch and is able to write from personal experience about many people and aspects of the village and of changes that have taken place over the years making ‘Memories of Upchurch’ a very readable book and a detailed historical study of the village. David's book ‘Memories of Upchurch’ is available direct from David at: david3702001@yahoo.co.uk or from us here at Upchurch Matters. Price £12 + £3.50 postage and packing.
David Wood.
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