A picture of Charfield, in the county of Gloucestershire

This was the site of a Railway crash on the morning of October 13th 1928. The Leeds - Bristol Mail Train is said to have gone through an outer red signal and ran into some goods wagons that were being shunted off the main line to allow the Mail Train to pass. The Mail Train was catapulted against the Bridge (where this photo was taken from) and the carriages jack-knived across the track and being gas-lighting some caught fire. At that moment a third Train, a Goods coming in the opposite direction crashed into the burning carriages. 16 people were killed, of which it is said 14 were burnt to death, these included 2 Children whose remains were never identified, nor were they ever claimed. They, and the other victims, were buried in a mass grave in Charfield's St James Churchyard, Who the Children were remains a mystery to this day, although a number of theories have been put forward, and there have been the inevitable stories of 2 ghostly children being seen in the area of the crash !!.

Charfield Gloucestershire Railways Gloucestershire