Car’s skid on icy patch

When his car skidded on a patch of ice while he was driving along the Bideford-Barnstaple road in the vicinity of South Yeo, Instow, on Friday morning, Mr E C Beadle, of Luneray, Windmill Lane, Northam, a rating a valuation officer and leading member of Bideford Camera Club, had a lucky escape from serious injury.

After skidding and colliding with the nearside fencing, Mr Beadle’s car spun right across the road, crashing through a wooden protective barrier and coming to rest with its front wheels hanging over a 10-foot drop.

No other vehicle was involved.

Although the car was extensively damaged, Mr Beadle, who was on his way to his Barnstaple office, escaped with a severe shaking and bruises.

As Mr Beadle was taken back to his home a passing motorist, Mr Michael Hutchings, of a North Devon electrical radio and engineering firm, called his Bideford office with his van’s radio telephone and a message was passed to an Instow garage for a breakdown vehicle to be sent to the scene of the accident.

The road was partially blocked for a time.

The Gazette article is dated 15 February 1963