Anger as ‘drink-driver’ wrecks landmark
A SUSPECTED drink-driver flattened a landmark in an early-morning smash.
People living in Audenshaw in Tameside have been left distraught at the destruction of the Grade II-listed Trough monument.
The granite cattle and horse drinking trough had sat at the Y-junction of Manchester Road and Audenshaw Road since 1879.
Residents said they heard a long loud bang and saw the car had mounted the pavement and crashed at a junction known locally as ‘The
Trough.’ A cast iron electricity transformer, which sits behind it and used to contain three lamps to direct trams during the days of the Manchester Corporation, was also flattened and badly damaged.
It is the only surviving one in the region.
Mum Kelly Chapman, 39, who lives facing the junction with her husband and daughter said: “I have seen some crashes at the junction over the years, but never one as bad as that.
“I heard what sounded like a barrel falling off the back of a wagon. It was so loud it woke me up. We looked out and could see the car. It had gone over the trough and smashed into the transformer. They were all in bits. A few of the other neighbours ran out and then the police turned up.
“It’s just really upsetting to see it like that.
“That belongs to the people of Audenshaw and a lot of hard work has gone to looking after, preserving and maintaining it. We need to make sure it is secured urgently and saved. It defines the area – we can’t lose it.”
Council bosses are urgently trying to have it salvaged and repaired. Labour ward councillors Oliver Ryan, Charlotte Martin and Terese Smith said: “We are distraught that someone has done such significant damage. It is really distressing. It is a much loved-landmark.
“We are working quickly with Tameside council to have it salvaged and repaired.”
According to Historic England, the polished Cornish granite trough was installed on behalf of Miss M. Ashworth in 1879 as a rest-stop at a time when cattle and horses were still regular users of the public highway.
The front of it carries the inscription ‘the righteous man regardeth the life of his beast.’
In modern times locals have used it as a planter for flowers to brighten up the area.
A 34 year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of drink-driving over the incident which involved one car, a BMW 330.