The Pier Street tragedy at the notorious accident blackspot

Consequently, traffic coming down Union Street had to navigate a sharp right-hand turn into what was then Pier Street.

With the arrival of the motor car the turning became notorious as an accident blackspot and was the subject of many complaints to the council, all of which were ignored ­— until events one afternoon in March, 1929.

Charlie Wheeler, a driver for the Enterprise Bus Company, was driving his bus down Union Street when disaster struck.

His brakes failed halfway down and he took the corner at nearly 30 miles an hour. Horrified lunchtime shoppers watched aghast as the bus turned over on its side, leaving two people dead, including the conductor, Fred Bull, aged just 19.

This is Pier Street in 1913. On the left is the side of the Royal Pier Hotel and on the right, the King Lud with its mock Tudor front.

The bus, just in from East Cowes, had nine passengers onboard and had made its first stop at Cross Street where a lady and two little girls had the good fortune to get off.

Charlie then set off down Union Street with the remaining passengers, among them Jack Nunn, 45, a ship's rigger returning to Essex after several days working at East Cowes.

Charlie told the subsequent inquest how he had driven down Union Street in third gear.

He said: "Everything went well until I got down the hill just below the Post Office, and then the bus seemed to shoot ahead all at once, just like a greyhound.

"I put on the emergency brake and found nothing there. I tried reverse, but there was nothing there and I came to the conclusion that it had jumped out of gear and that the engine was in neutral.

The Royal Pier Hotel and coaches in 1912.

"I shut off the engine and kept the bus well over to the left side of the road. I knew I was outdone before I got to the corner."

A witness at the inquest, Reg Yeldon, told the court: “I was outside the Post Office.

"My attention was first caught by the rolling of the body of the bus going from side to side, then I heard a loud noise which I think was the brakes being applied, or reversing the gears, and the bus then seemed to gather speed.

"It was travelling at about 30 miles an hour, the fastest I'd ever seen a bus go down the street."

Another witness, Edward Stock, watched in horror as the bus hurtled past him.

He said: "The driver was going fast and I wondered if it was going to make the corner at the bottom at that pace."

By now lunchtime shoppers were rooted to the spot, looking on in horror as the bus careered helplessly down the road and it was obvious to all that the bus and its passengers were in serious trouble.

The hotel and Esplanade in a 1907 OS map.

Winifred Teesdale told the court: "As it got near the bottom of Union Street I happened to look at the conductor who was on the bottom step.

"The bus got quicker and when it passed me it was over on its two nearside wheels."

Charlie tried in vain to get round the sharp corner.

He said: "I tried the best I could to swing round in to Pier Street. I got part of the way round but what happened then I don't know.

"I just trusted to Providence to get round."

Sadly, providence wasn't enough. Charlie had no chance and shocked onlookers saw the bus take the corner practically on two wheels and then topple over onto its left-hand side, felling a lamppost in the process.

The demolition of the Pier Hotel in October 1931 in a sketch by Tom Smitch, a gifted amateur cartoonist who worked as a printer at the CP. His work regularly appeared in its pages.

Jack Nunn suffered serious head injuries and was killed instantly, his body ending up lying on the ground in between the lamppost and the bus.

Charlie was pulled from the wreckage through the broken windows, frightened and in a serious state of shock but somehow with only superficial injuries.

He said: "All I know is that I fell under the bus… but I was one of the lucky ones."

He was indeed.

Poor Fred Bull was not so lucky. The 19 year old, one of a family of 12, and described as “a promising young lad and a popular fellow", was pinned face down on the road underneath the platform with much of the weight of the bus resting on him.

Someone had telephoned for an ambulance and by the time it got there the crowd had lifted the platform and pulled him out.

He was taken to Ryde Hospital where he spoke for a short while, complaining of chest pains, but fell unconscious and died 15 minutes later.

He'd only been a bus conductor for twelve weeks.

Back at Pier Street the wrecked bus lay on its side until mid-afternoon, the County Press reporting: "Her ripped front and her battered side with its broken glass presenting a sorry sight. A sense of gloom passed over the town. "

The Inquest jury exonerated Charlie Wheeler from all blame, describing the braking system of the bus as 'useless'.

They also said something should be done about the dangerous corner. The council, who had twice turned down the chance to buy the hotel, were now stung into action.

They bought the hotel for £13,800 and it was demolished in October 1931.

The next time you're driving down Union Street, spare a thought for poor Fred Bull and Jack Nunn.