#scottish borders

Barberry (1863) by Margaret Rebecca Dickinson (1821-1918). Collected around Melrose (Scottish Borders).

Watercolour.

jstor.org

March 17th 1979 saw a collapse in the Penmanshiel Tunnel near Grantshouse Berwickshire, in the Scottish Borders, two men tragically lost their lives.

Shortly before 3:45 a.m. on 17 March 1979, the duty Railway Works Inspector noticed some small pieces of rock flaking away from the tunnel wall, approximately 90 metres from the southern entrance, He decided that it would be wise to shore up the affected piece of the tunnel and was making his way towards the site office to arrange this when he heard the sound of the tunnel collapsing behind him.

It is estimated that approximately 20 metres of the tunnel arch collapsed, with the resultant rock fall filling 30 metres of the tunnel from floor to roof and totally enveloping a dumper truck and a JCB, along with the two men operating them. Despite efforts to get to the men further falling rock prevented this.

The thirteen other people working inside the tunnel at the time of the collapse were able to escape successfully, but despite the efforts of rescuers (including a specialised mine rescue team) it was not possible to reach the two operators.

What must be more heart-breaking for the families of the two men, Gordon Turnbull and Peter Fowler is that it was deemed too dangerous to try and recover the bodies and the tunnel was sealed and abandoned their remains left buried where they perished.

A report into the collapse could not reach a conclusion on the overall cause due to the abandonment. However, geotechnical investigations of the area surrounding the tunnel found evidence suggesting fracturing of rock overlaying the tunnel and, in particular, an anticlinal structure of shattered and sheared rock intersecting the line of the tunnel in close proximity to the area of the collapse.

The report accordingly concluded that the collapse was likely to be the result of degeneration of the fractured rock overlying the tunnel in the end it stated that as the conditions leading to the collapse could not reasonably be foreseen—there were no grounds for finding any individual responsible for the accident.

Despite the enquiry findings British Railways were fined £10,000 “having failed to ensure that persons in the tunnel were not exposed to the risk of personal injury by the collapse of part of the [tunnel] structure”, they did not contest the case pleading guilty to the charges.

A memorial stands directly over the point of the rock fall in tribute to Gordon and Peter, the 3-sided Obelisk bares a plaque dedicated to each of the men, and the 3rd side bares the cross, with the memorial constructed from rock that had fallen that night.