On this day in 1328
The First War of Scottish Independence ends
When it signed the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton on 17 March 1328 at Holyrood, England agreed to recognise the Kingdom of Scotland as independent, and ruled by Robert the Bruce and his heirs and successors. In exchange it received £100,000, and the long-running First War of Scottish Independence, which had begun with an English invasion in 1296, came to an end.
The invasion had come about after the English king, Edward I, changed his mind after being asked by the Scots to help decide who should be the Scottish king after the death of Queen Margaret. Having appointed John Balliol, he turned against the Scottish king and crossed the border at Berwick upon Tweed.
Robert the Bruce
Robert the Bruce later took part in William Wallace’s revolt against the English throne and was crowned King of Scots at Scone on 25 March 1306. He reigned for the rest of his life.
England eventually recognised that it had no option but to offer terms for peace, and orders were submitted by the Parliament at York outlining terms. Scotland agreed to the terms on 17 March 1328, and they were ratified by the English Parliament in Northampton, hence the treaty’s name, on 3 May.
Unfortunately, pressure upon the English throne from nobles south of the border made it increasingly difficult for the monarch to uphold the terms of the deal. King Edward III, who had been a signatory to the original agreement of 1328, once again sent forces to Berwick-upon-Tweed in 1333.
...and on this day in 1979
Penmanshiel rail tunnel collapses
Penmanshiel Tunnel was once part of the East Coast Main Line, between Dunbar and Berwick-upon-Tweed. The 244m tunnel, which accommodated two tracks, was built between 1845 and 1846, and was closed after a rockslide on 17 February 1979 killed two workers and injured several others.
The workers who were caught in the collapse had been removing ballast so the track bed could be lowered, effectively increasing the headroom so that it could accommodate international freight containers, which are 8ft 6in tall. The project had already been half completed, with work on one of the two tracks finished, and already underway on the second.
Rock bursting off the wall
The official report from the Department of Transport described what happened. After shining his torch on one of the tunnel walls, a contractor on the project “saw small pieces of rock apparently bursting off the vertical face about 200m below the springing level of the brickwork. He decided that it would be advisable to shore up the wall as a precaution and started to walk southwards out of the tunnel on his way to the site office to make the necessary arrangements. He had walked only some 20m when he heard a loud noise and turned round to see that the tunnel behind him had collapsed and filled with rock.”
The report couldn’t say for sure why the collapse had occurred, but it seemed likely that rock had been falling from the roof of the tunnel onto the brick arch with which it had been lined. There was a significant void above the brickwork, extending to 9ft in some parts of the tunnel. Thus, the inspector concluded that “I am satisfied that there are no grounds on which any individual can be held in any way responsible for the collapse”.
The Railways Board pleaded guilty to charges of having failed to ensure the safety of the workers in the tunnel, and was fined £10,000.
Yesterday…
Oceanographer John Murray killed in a car crash
John Murray is considered the father of modern oceanography, having undertaken several expeditions around the world.
Tomorrow…
Captain Alexander Allan dies in Glasgow
Alexander Allan started with nothing and built up what became the world’s largest privately owned shipping empire.
Body snatchers Waldie and Torrence are hanged in Edinburgh
Jean Waldie and Helen Torrence murdered a young boy in Edinburgh and sold his body to students for dissection.