leasowe station 1900 tradgedy - 9th Feb 2010 10:47pm
The date was Monday 25th Febuary 1876 Sixty seven year old THOMAS BEESTON and best friend SAMUEL DOWNS wandered about the small agricutural village of Moreton the former was a farm baliff to the HON SIR EDWARD CUST of leasowe castle and held that position for some time.
The pair called at local farms looking for labourers to help plough the fields,during the day they had a few beers and made there way to the PLOUGH INN MORETON were they had a supper off cheese and bread washed down with a few brandys and disscussed buissness with other farmers till round 9 and decicided to head home, THOMAS and SAMUEL headed off home down reads lane and met another labourer by the name off JOHN OWENS upon reaching reeds lane they said goodbye to MR BEESTON and made there way home through a route along the railway he did not seem drunk so MR DOWNS and MR OWENS were quiet confident in the old baliffs ability to get home by himself,
The next day the body of an elderly man was found on the railway track near leasowe station it was THOMAS GODWIN who made the grusome descovery of a mutilated and mangled body one leg had been sliced off the contorted face was black with bruising and water logged brain tissue scattered along the track there was a quantity of blood and hair stuck to the track some 15yrds away from were the body suggesting that the man had been hit by atrain and dragged along the track for a few seconds,on the night of Monday 25th February a special train had run from hoylake to the docks station and back this was to accomadate a few passengers delayed in the crossing of the mersey to birkenhead by a earlier collision between to locamotives CHESHIRE and MONTANA ,THOMAS HUMPHREY driver of the train recalled that upon passing leasowe station he had felt something hit the train but was to dark to see anything it was until nthe next morning he found remains on the trains buffers,In summing up the coroner said it was a complete accident and that MR THOMAS BEESTON had walked up the track instead of crossing the track.
The pair called at local farms looking for labourers to help plough the fields,during the day they had a few beers and made there way to the PLOUGH INN MORETON were they had a supper off cheese and bread washed down with a few brandys and disscussed buissness with other farmers till round 9 and decicided to head home, THOMAS and SAMUEL headed off home down reads lane and met another labourer by the name off JOHN OWENS upon reaching reeds lane they said goodbye to MR BEESTON and made there way home through a route along the railway he did not seem drunk so MR DOWNS and MR OWENS were quiet confident in the old baliffs ability to get home by himself,
The next day the body of an elderly man was found on the railway track near leasowe station it was THOMAS GODWIN who made the grusome descovery of a mutilated and mangled body one leg had been sliced off the contorted face was black with bruising and water logged brain tissue scattered along the track there was a quantity of blood and hair stuck to the track some 15yrds away from were the body suggesting that the man had been hit by atrain and dragged along the track for a few seconds,on the night of Monday 25th February a special train had run from hoylake to the docks station and back this was to accomadate a few passengers delayed in the crossing of the mersey to birkenhead by a earlier collision between to locamotives CHESHIRE and MONTANA ,THOMAS HUMPHREY driver of the train recalled that upon passing leasowe station he had felt something hit the train but was to dark to see anything it was until nthe next morning he found remains on the trains buffers,In summing up the coroner said it was a complete accident and that MR THOMAS BEESTON had walked up the track instead of crossing the track.
