Heritage railway enthusiast and former pub landlord dies in A35 crash
Tributes have been paid after a former pub landlord – who also helped on heritage railway in Somerset – died in a crash on a major A-road. Bruce Woodsford, known as Bill, died on the A35 near Axminster, just across the border, in Devon, on July 20, 2023.
The 75-year-old, who lived in Kilmington, was married and a retired housing benefits advisor, was said to have spent 15 years in the Merchant Navy after leaving school, and then spent several years running pubs, the last being the New Inn Kilmington where he remained a loyal customer.
He was also into steam trains and would often travel on the heritage railway in Yeovil to help maintain the trains there, as DevonLive reports.[1]
The inquest into his death held at Exeter[2] Coroner’s Court on September 24, heard that he had been for his weekly Thursday lunchtime drink alone at The White Hart Inn in Colyford.
He had his usual two pints of ale and that when he left around 1.20pm, the bar manager had gone to check on him because he had seemed a ‘bit confused and light-headed’. She said: “He said, ‘I’m okay, I’ve just had a bit of a wobble’.”
Shortly afterwards he died. Witnesses’ evidence read out during the inquest heard that the driver of the HGV lorry said in a statement how he could see a blue Citroen stationary at a junction from the A358 ahead of him and when he was around 25ft away from the car it pulled out to turn right in front of him and said he was unable to avoid colliding with it despite applying emergency braking causing the lorry to jackknife.
The inquest was told the lorry driver ‘had no chance of stopping’ and was praised for avoiding any other vehicles on the road. Despite medical assistance provided by people at the scene and paramedics, Mr Woodsford was unable to be revived.
In a statement, his stepdaughter Nicola Boyland described Mr Woodsford as a ‘creature of habit’ and said he was a ‘cautious’ and ‘good’ driver who was ‘fit and well’ despite some health problems.
She said: “He was a very methodical creature of habit. His interests always involved tinkering and working on machines. He enjoyed attending the Wiscombe Hillclimb event to watch the cars racing.
“He was also into steam trains and would often travel on the heritage railway in Yeovil to help maintain the trains there.
“He was a rock for my mum and is greatly missed.”
Dashcam footage taken from the lorry was reviewed by police. Motor patrol constable Sarah Harvey told the inquest the lorry driver had been driving within the speed limit.
She said: “The dashcam footage shows he [Mr Woodsford] approaches the junction and it appears he does come to a standstill for a short period of time before then pulling out.”
She added there were no defects with either of the vehicles that could have caused or contributed to the collision.
Giving her conclusion for the probable cause of the crash, MPC Harvey said: “The only reasoning we could come up with was whether or not he had a medical episode prior to the incident occurring or just failed to see the HGV approaching and pulled out directly in front of it.”
Recording a conclusion of road traffic collision, senior coroner Philip Spinney said: “Based on the evidence I have heard it is not possible to determine why Mr Woodsford entered the carriageway in the path of the HGV. The evidence does not support the conclusion it was intentional.
“It is more likely than not it was accidental and was either due to a medical event or momentary lapse of concentration and judgement.”
The medical cause of death was multiple injuries to the chest and head, alongside ischemic heart disease. The doctor who carried out the post-mortem examination said he couldn’t rule out the possibility of a medical event immediately before the collision due to his heart condition.
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References
- ^ as DevonLive reports. (www.devonlive.com)
- ^ Exeter (www.devonlive.com)
- ^ Somerset Live (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
- ^ click this link and select ‘Join Community’. (chat.whatsapp.com)
- ^ Somerset Live (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
- ^ Privacy Notice. (www.reachplc.com)
- ^ Click here to join our WhatsApp community. (chat.whatsapp.com)