I have a number of photos which show the aftermath of a series of crashes with local connections.

The scene shown in the first of these pictures could have taken place on almost any of Burnley's characteristic terraced streets. It happens to have been Finsley Gate and the crash took place in 1907. As you can see, a Fowler steam traction engine, hauling a mill boiler for cargo, has come to grief in property which has long since been demolished though the incident almost did for the property years before it was finally reduced to rubble.

Despite what you might think, no one was seriously injured but, unfortunately, though the incident took place in Burnley, our town has, so far as I know, no connection with either the makers of the engine or the firm, Galloway's of Manchester, which constructed the boiler.

Similarly, the contractors engaged to transport the boiler, did not come from Burnley and the final destination of the boiler was outside the town, in Nelson.

The story behind the incident is a simple one but a combination of unrelated circumstances resulted in the accident when, had things been different, the crash would not have happened. An unnamed Manchester firm of contractors was asked to deliver the boiler to Nelson and they set off, with a driver and a stoker, on what was a considerable journey for a traction engine, especially one hauling a huge mill boiler weighing several tons.

It was up to the contractor to work out a route to get the huge machine safely to its destination. They decided to bring the boiler to Burnley, not along Manchester Road, which had a notorious accident record (as had roads in Crawshawbooth, Constable Lee and Edenfield on the same route), but via Todmorden Road. This was undoubtedly the better option but there was at least one problem involving the use of this highway about which the contractor might not have been aware.

It is likely the engine would have had to have used Church Street almost whatever route decided upon. Though narrow, the ancient street was negotiable but you will be aware that getting to Church Street through the Culvert was going to be something of a challenge.

The Culvert as we know it today dates from 1926, almost 20 years after the accident shown in today's picture.

Before then, the Culvert, though it had, from the 1890s, small pedestrian tunnels named the Gimlet Holes either side of the main archway which carried the road, was recognisably the same structure which had been constructed at the end of the 18th Century. It had not been designed to allow a massive vehicle like the traction engine to pass under the canal.

This problem was resolved by the use of Parliament Street and one can imagine the traction engine, belching smoke out of the huge chimney you can see in the picture, trundling its way along the street arresting the attention of those out and about at the time. It must have caused quite a stir, though this was nothing when compared to what happened only yards away.

At the end of Parliament Street the bridge over the canal, with which we are familiar, was in use in 1907. It had been built in 1885 and had replaced the original "turn bridge" which I doubt could have coped with the traction engine and boiler. The vehicle and its cargo negotiated the bridge safely and made for Finsley Gate.

It was then that things started to go wrong but, before I deal with that, a few words about Finsley Gate. At the beginning of the 20th Century, it was one of Burnley's more significant streets. It linked, as it still does, Manchester Road to Burnley Wood and Fulledge, which were important residential and employment areas, but the bridge near the Canal Company's buildings were significant for exactly the reason that had been identified by the Manchester contractors. It was one of the few means of crossing the canal for larger vehicles wanting to travel to and from the South of the town centre.

Finsley Gate was not only used by vehicles for, at the time we are considering, there were many places of employment, including mills, engineering workshops and the gas works, close to it and, at certain times of the day, there were large numbers of pedestrians on their way to and from work in this part of town.

Something else that was particularly important was that the surface of Finsley Gate was constructed, not out of asphalt but out of stone setts.

Not many streets in Burnley sport stone setts these days and not without good reason. Attractive as they are (look at those on Piccadilly) setts can become dangerous when they are wet and, in fact the accident in 1907 was put down to the greasy state of the setts.

What happened was that, just over the bridge, the engine's large iron wheels lost contact with the stone setts and the engine with its cargo plunged into numbers 124 and 126 Finsley Gate.

The property, of which numbers 124 and 126 were parts, was a terrace of 12 houses and shops. They stood between Doctor Street and the canal bridge and, coming over the bridge, the houses would have been almost immediately to the right as the engine driver attempted to guide his vehicle into Finsley Gate.

The resident of 126, a Mrs Lawless, just before 10 a.m. on Wednesday, September 26th, 1907, was scrubbing her doorstep when she saw and heard what was happening. She ran into the house and called to her seven-year-old daughter, who was ill in bed, to get up, as she put it, "without the slightest of delays." The crash happened immediately after. The girl had hardly managed to get out of bed and Mrs Lawless only just made it to the rear yard carrying her baby.

Number 124 was occupied by Mr James Taylor. He and his wife were at work but had left their daughter in charge of the house and she was at a nearby shop making a purchase for dinner when the accident happened. The resident of number 122, the elderly Mrs Matilda Brennand, was less lucky.

She was in the house when she heard the commotion and, going to the front door, saw what happened and fainted on the spot, falling into a mound of glass from a smashed gas lamp. Mrs Brennand was badly cut but these were the only real injuries suffered by anyone.

Asked why the accident had happened, the driver, a Mr Frank Taylor of Weaste, said: "You cannot pull up when an engine starts skidding" and he added the accident would not have taken place if the road had not been greasy.

The damage to numbers 124 and 126 Finsley Gate was considerable. The sum of £200 was mentioned. As you can see the boiler crashed into the front elevations of the houses bringing down much of their front walls. The picture is not all that clear but the damage can be estimated if you look at the stone laying in the pavement.

The picture does not show the large crowds that gathered or the fact neighbours in property unaffected by the crash threw open their houses to receive those whose houses were. In two hours the traction engine was back on its way to Nelson, but I would think its brief visit to Burnley was remembered by some of its citizens for many a year.