Traction Engine in the Canal at Shrivenham

Faringdon Advertiser

 

Sat 25 Nov, 1911

 

Traction Engine in the Canal.

 

Much excitement was caused in the village on Wednesday afternoon when it was known that a traction engine had crashed through the wooden drawbridge that spans the Berks & Wilts Canal, where it crosses the Ashbury Road. The engine, which belongs to Sir F.W. Carden, of Star Grove, East Woodhaye, was conveying a load of fodder in two trucks from the Home Farm to the Barrington Arms Hotel, Shrivenham, where the owner’s horses are being stabled for the hunting season. Proceeding up the Ashbury Road the driver attempted to cross the bridge. The two front wheels landed safely on the other side, but the hinder part of the engine was precipitated into the water. Fortunately the men in charge of the vehicles sustained no injury, but considerable inconvenience is caused by the road being completely blocked to vehicular traffic. The work of extricating the engine by means of a steam crane is in progress.