David – Thanks for your comment. In answer to your question, the statistics relate only to accidents which were reported and in which a person was either injured or killed. Inevitably there’s going to be some under-reporting, but I have to admit I was very surprised when sheep were listed as a factor in just three of the incidents!
Hi David, thanks for your comment, and thanks for reading the site. I didn’t actually state that this section of law hadn’t been called upon since 1911, just that as far as I was aware that was the last occasion when a Westminster election had been declared void because of criminal wrongdoing by a candidate in this way.
Anyone interested in this topic might want to take a look at an article I published recently about road safety on the A62 in Saddleworth. It’s from a different perspective than Ken’s piece in the Saddleworth Independent, and focuses on the accident statistics for the road – www.saddleworthnews.com/?p=2836
Andrea, Yes as I understand it the process is known as ‘tithing’ and is relatively commonplace. Whether it’s right or wrong of course is a matter for the politicians to argue about!
Thanks for your comment. I’ve got brief reports for each incident which give most of the information you list such as weather, vehicles, visibility, etc, although instead of a stick diagram it’s just a written record of how each accident occurred. I’ve got the information for each accident going back to 1 January 2000.
Hi Helen. Thanks for your comment. In answer to your question, no I didn’t call Phil Woolas for a further comment. I didn’t really see the point to be honest, surely the article speaks for itself?
You describe Mr Woolas as “not very important” but he was, until recently, one of the more senior ministers outside the Cabinet, which I think does make him fairly important. Therefore, in my opinion, his revelation that he was fed up with life in the last government is somewhat interesting, regardless of his motives for telling us about it now.
Sorry your first post didn’t get put up last night, it was my fault. I get hundreds of spam messages in the comments each day and sometimes I miss one or two genuine ones in amongst them. I apologise again that this happened to your comment, as you can see I’ve now published it above.
On your remark about who is allowed to comment on this website, the answer is that anyone can. This is a local news site for Saddleworth, not a website purely about Keith Bennett, although inevitably there is the odd article on here about Keith. People are free to share their memories and thoughts about the case as they wish.
Indeed, it would technically be a by-election rather than a re-run, and each of the parties would be able to choose different candidates if they wanted to, and candidates from other parties could stand as well. In fact, the Winchester case was also technically a by-election. I only included it in the piece because it was the most recent occasion when a Westminster election result was declared void following an election petition, even though the grounds for that petition were obviously different than in this case.
Church Fields is a grassy area in the middle of the village of Dobcross in Saddleworth. I’m afraid I’m no expert on the history of this area and don’t know whether Church Fields is the Churchfield you’re looking for, or whether they are two different places. You could try contacting someone from the local historical society who may have more information – their details are on their website here – www.saddleworth-historical-society.org.uk/
David – Thanks for your comment. In answer to your question, the statistics relate only to accidents which were reported and in which a person was either injured or killed. Inevitably there’s going to be some under-reporting, but I have to admit I was very surprised when sheep were listed as a factor in just three of the incidents!
Hi David, thanks for your comment, and thanks for reading the site. I didn’t actually state that this section of law hadn’t been called upon since 1911, just that as far as I was aware that was the last occasion when a Westminster election had been declared void because of criminal wrongdoing by a candidate in this way.
Anyone interested in this topic might want to take a look at an article I published recently about road safety on the A62 in Saddleworth. It’s from a different perspective than Ken’s piece in the Saddleworth Independent, and focuses on the accident statistics for the road – www.saddleworthnews.com/?p=2836
Andrea, Yes as I understand it the process is known as ‘tithing’ and is relatively commonplace. Whether it’s right or wrong of course is a matter for the politicians to argue about!
Hi Brian,
Thanks for your comment. I’ve got brief reports for each incident which give most of the information you list such as weather, vehicles, visibility, etc, although instead of a stick diagram it’s just a written record of how each accident occurred. I’ve got the information for each accident going back to 1 January 2000.
Richard
There’s more information about the events which are planned as part of the Yanks Are Back weekend at the Visit Oldham site here – www.visitoldham.com/site/whats-on/yanks-are-back-in-saddleworth-p157791
Hi Helen. Thanks for your comment. In answer to your question, no I didn’t call Phil Woolas for a further comment. I didn’t really see the point to be honest, surely the article speaks for itself?
You describe Mr Woolas as “not very important” but he was, until recently, one of the more senior ministers outside the Cabinet, which I think does make him fairly important. Therefore, in my opinion, his revelation that he was fed up with life in the last government is somewhat interesting, regardless of his motives for telling us about it now.
Hi Warren,
Sorry your first post didn’t get put up last night, it was my fault. I get hundreds of spam messages in the comments each day and sometimes I miss one or two genuine ones in amongst them. I apologise again that this happened to your comment, as you can see I’ve now published it above.
On your remark about who is allowed to comment on this website, the answer is that anyone can. This is a local news site for Saddleworth, not a website purely about Keith Bennett, although inevitably there is the odd article on here about Keith. People are free to share their memories and thoughts about the case as they wish.
Richard
Thanks for your comment Helen.
Indeed, it would technically be a by-election rather than a re-run, and each of the parties would be able to choose different candidates if they wanted to, and candidates from other parties could stand as well. In fact, the Winchester case was also technically a by-election. I only included it in the piece because it was the most recent occasion when a Westminster election result was declared void following an election petition, even though the grounds for that petition were obviously different than in this case.
Hi William, thanks for getting in touch.
Church Fields is a grassy area in the middle of the village of Dobcross in Saddleworth. I’m afraid I’m no expert on the history of this area and don’t know whether Church Fields is the Churchfield you’re looking for, or whether they are two different places. You could try contacting someone from the local historical society who may have more information – their details are on their website here – www.saddleworth-historical-society.org.uk/