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Somerset County Herald and Taunton Courier. Saturday 12 Dec 1959

Page 1 Column 1 to 7

The pile of bricks, woodwork and rubble, at the site of the shop of Messrs. W. H. Smith & Son, North Street, Taunton, which collapsed on Monday morning.

SHOP A WRECK, BUT BUSINESS GOES ON

It Could Have Been A Major Disaster

Offers to W. H. Smith's Soon Came In

Very soon after the shop of W. H. Smith & Son, Ltd., in North Street, Taunton, had collapsed, without any warning, early on Monday morning, leaving it a mound of rubble, offers of accommodation from other traders came in.

Even the same morning, the newspapers were delivered to the customers, and they are continuing to be delivered regularly by the staff from the premises of Messrs. Cartwright & Ridal, wholesale newsagents, in Priory Bridge Road.

Other departments have been transferred to 4, North Street, the shop until recently occupied by Fontayne's. The work of adapting the premises was put in hand quickly by the firm's shop-fitters, and the shop was opened yesterday (Friday).

There the bookstall has been re-established and various other goods will be sold.

The library service will be re-started on or before Monday, 21st December, at premises at the rear of Messrs. Maynard, Ltd., confectioners, 37, North Street (next to the Post Office).

When the news of the collapse reached London, a director of the firm left for Taunton and consulted on reopening plans with the manager, Mr. A. E. TOOTELL.

MIRACULOUS ESCAPE.

The wrecked shop is next to a site where Boots the Chemists' premises have been demolished under a clearance scheme for the £250,000 Lloyds Bank building. The exposed side of Smith's had been buttressed. The back of the old shop is more or less intact.

Salvage is going on from the ruins, where thousands of pounds worth of stock – much of it newly in for the Christmas trade – is buries under the debris. The value of the buried stock has not been stated.

Work has started on clearing the rubble. After the collapse crowds stood around The Parade surveying the wreckage, across which was perched the dislodged large shop sign.

What people have thought of, as much as anything, is the miraculous escape of the employees, about 20 of them, and what might have happened if the collapse had taken place an hour or so later. If it had happened when the shop was full of customers, it could, as Mr. TOOTELL said on Monday, have been a major disaster, involving possibly hundreds of people. Providentially, not a single person received a scratch.

Next Door Shop Evacuated

The building collapsed quite suddenly at 6.22 a.m. going down, as one eye-witness told the 'Somerset County Herald,' 'like a pack of cards.' Fortunately, it happened too early for the usual bus queue to have formed outside the shop.

The premises next door to the wrecked building, occupied by Salisbury's on the ground floor, and Messrs. Hammett's offices on the first floor (not the printing works), have been evacuated and buttresses erected. Salisbury's stock has been moved to Messrs. Hammett's printing works in Hammet Street, and Hammett's have transferred their office equipment department to their works in Church Square. The condition of the North Street premises will be reviewed when the wreckage at Smith's has been moved. The front of Midelton's shop, which is now isolated, has been shored up for safety.

The first member of the staff on the scene after the building had come down was 19-year-old Derek HOOPER, of 23, High Street. It was his job to see to the delivery of the morning papers, but when he arrived he saw the wreckage enveloped in a cloud of dust. He arrived at 6.30, a few minutes later than his usual time.

Mr. TOOTELL heard about the collapse when the police telephoned him at 6.30. After seeing the extent of the damage, he told a representative of this paper that it may take until next Christmas before the shop is replaced. Meanwhile, the staff are doing all they can to fulfil Christmas orders. Mr. TOOTELL said, 'We are doing all we can to maintain our service to the public.' He expressed the firm's thanks for the many offers of accommodation and help and for the forbearance of their customers.

What Eye-Witnesses Saw

A representative of E.B.C. & Sleeman, the Lloyds Bank site contractors, said that when their firm's employees arrived for work they were switched to help in clearing the debris. Clearance work was expected to take several days.

The building consisted of a shop on the ground floor, a library on the first floor, and a store at the back.

A window cleaner, Mr. J. G. ANDREWS, was working nearby at 6.20. He told our representative that he first saw a flash as though electric wires had crossed. Then he heard a rumble and saw a cloud of dust go up. Putting his handkerchief over his mouth, he went along the street and found the shop had collapsed, as he put it, 'like a pack of cards.'

A woman who was walking to work along Castle Bow was terrified when the shop fell. She heard a crackle and then a great crash. Electricity cables were damaged and street lights and traffic lights went out. She told the police.

Heard a Bump

Another woman who lives in an apartment opposite was unable to sleep because of the heavy rain and wind. Hearing a bump and, rushing to the window, she saw electric sparks. Because of the dust she could not see what had happened until daylight.

The police were soon on the scene and had a difficult time rerouting traffic around the Parade. For most of the day only single-line traffic was allowed and buses were running late.

A strong smell of gas came from fractured pipes and the Fire Brigade waited until the danger of ignition was over.

Expressions of Regret.

At a meeting of the South-West Area Council of the National Chamber of Trade, at Taunton, on Tuesday, it was agreed to send a letter to the headquarters of W. H. Smith & Son Ltd. expressing regret at the loss of the company's premises at Taunton.

Sympathetic reference to the upset for Messrs. Smith & Son was also made by the Mayor (Mrs. UNMACK) and the Vicar of St. Mary's (the Rev. H. L. BOTHAMLEY) at the annual meeting on Monday of the Taunton Auxiliary of the British and Foreign Bible Society.

The scene of devastation in the Lending Library on the first floor of W. H. Smith & Son's Taunton Shop, after the building had collapsed. This gives some idea of the way in which the structure caved in.

Somerset County Herald and Taunton Courier. Saturday 12 Dec 1959

Page 1 Column 1

A MIRACLE OF TIMING

THE collapse, without any warning, of the shop premises of W. H. Smith & Son, in North Street, Taunton, on Monday morning, could not have come at a worse time from a business point of view. Large quantities of Christmas stock were in, and a lot of it was buried under a mass of rubble within a matter of minutes.

But from a far more important angle, the timing was miraculous. The crash could have happened when the shop was full of customers, and then Taunton might have suffered the biggest tragedy in its history. Even an hour or so later there would have been at least 20 members of the staff there. So the sight of the rubble must evoke a feeling of thankfulness that no worse calamity befell.

Smith & Son are a large and prosperous firm, but even so, the inconvenience has not gone unmarked by other traders in the town. Offers of help came immediately, and the firm will be carrying on its business in other premises. It says much for the spirit of the staff, and of those who have come to their aid, that there has been no interruption of the daily delivery of papers, and that the other business has been resumed so quickly.

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