The terrible tragedy behind naming Swad road
IT MADE NATIONAL HEADLINES AT THE TIME
THE tragic history behind the name of a road in Swadlincote has been revealed.
It has long been known that Sir Herbert Wragg Way, which leads from Derby Road to The Pipeworks retail park, is named in honour of the town’s pipe yard owner.
However, the road opposite, Frank Bodicote Way, has a sad history behind it.
Frank Bodicote Way and Sir Herbert Wragg Way are situated around the former Granville Colliery and pipeworks.
An employee at the colliery, Frank Bodycote – as he was named in subsequent newspaper reports – was tragically killed in a massive explosion which rocked the town and could be heard as far away as Burton.
Trees in the surrounding plantation were also blown up.
A powder magazine – a building designed to store the explosive gunpowder in wooden barrels for safety – blew up as Frank Bodycote walked in with his horse and cart.
His death on Friday, March 24, 1911, was reported across the UK, with newspapers publishing that ‘his body was shattered to fragments.’
One report said: “The powder magazine at the Granville Colliery at Swadlincote was blown up and one of the employee was killed, his body being chattered to fragments.
“Frank Bodycote, a married man, aged 26, was sent to the magazine with a horse and cart to draw the weekly allowance of gelatine explosives.
“This was at 2pm, and 10 minutes later there was a tremendous explosion. Nothing was to be seen of the powder house but a few bricks, the debris being distributed over an extraordinarily wide area.
“It was Bodycote’s regular duty to draw the supplies, but on this occasion no one saw him enter the magazine, so that the origin of the explosion is quite a mystery. There are those, however, who witnessed Bodycote’s horse and cart hurled high into the air, the horse being practically uninjured. “Windows were smashed in the neighbourhood and furniture and crockery thrown down. “Even at Burton, between six and seven miles from the scene of the explosion, the vibration experienced was similar to that of an earthquake shock, the windows of houses rattling violently.” Other newspapers added that people rushed out their houses alarmed, fearing a big colliery disaster. A report on the circumstances surrounding the explosion was later presented to the Secretary of State for the Home Department and was ordered to ‘lie upon the table.’
This means it was accepted by Parliament, but no direct action was taken. Fast forward 88 years to 1999.
That’s when a group of 50 people attended a meeting to measure the progress of the 70-acre site off Derby Road known as Forest Park.
This is the development now served by Frank Bodicote Way. It is not known how the spelling of his surname changed.
The former mining land was, at that point, being transformed into housing and woodland developments as part of a £27 million regeneration project.
A member of South Derbyshire Local History Forum suggested the names of former Swadlincote mines and potteries, and their owners, be used at the three housing schemes at the park.
One such historical character was Frank Bodicote.
The member told the meeting at the time: “His pieces were never found and it would be a fitting memorial to have a street named after him.”
The proposal was praised as a good idea which would lead to people to raise questions about the town’s history.
His pieces were never found and it would be a fitting memorial to have a street named after him.