BIG HUNT FOR CRAVEN FIRE-RAISER.

[Stanley]

Fire bug report from Telegraph and Argus, Monday 4th of May 1959.

BIG HUNT FOR CRAVEN FIRE-RAISER.
Top level police talks after mill blaze sends the damage total up to nearly £1million.
By Donald Alred. T and A crime reporter.

The Chief Constable of the West Riding, Sir Henry Studdy, today called a top-level conference as his force embarked upon one of their biggest man-hunts – to catch the West Craven fire-raiser.

The conference follows a blaze at Dotcliffe Mill, Kelbrook, near Earby, which is estimated to have caused £200,000 worth of damage and which brought the total losses caused by arson in the area to nearly £1million in six months.

I understand that fires started at five or six points in the mill and yesterday, Mr H Powell, Chief Scientific officer from the North Eastern Forensic Science laboratory, Harrogate, spent several hours there.

It is believed that the fire-raiser was still inside the mill while the alarm was being raised.

Police concern over occurrences in West Craven was indicated by the talks called at Wakefield HQ by Sir Henry Studdy.

Present were his two assistants Mr H Lofthouse and Mr George Blackburn and the County’s CID chief, Detective Chief Superintendent George Metcalfe.

From that conference it is expected that there will be an increase in the tempo of investigations by the calling in of more officers from various parts of the county.

This afternoon, Mr Metcalfe went to Earby Police station- headquarters for the enquiry.

SHIPLEY DETECTIVE.
He had summoned to Earby his special ‘murder squad’ team with two of the senior officers in Det. Chief Inspector Jack Handley of Shipley and Det. Chief Inspector Jack Eddington of Harrogate.

Saturday’s fire was discovered at 10:10pm by Mr William Henry Walton, a joiner, of 59 Dotcliffe Road Kelbrook who went outside his house to lock up for the night.

He noticed a flicker of fire through a window of door shutters at one end of the mill.

Mr Walton ran to the house of a mill-worker whom he thought had a key but there was no one in so he set off down the village.

Mr J L Seago[sic] clerk to Earby Urban District Council, heard a commotion outside his door and saw Mr Walton who told him what he had seen. Mr Seago telephoned for the brigade.

It is thought that while Mr Walton was seeking aid the fire-raiser was still inside the mill starting seats of fire for there was no sign of smoke or flames from the main building when Mr Walton first saw this flicker which was well away from the main part of the buildings.

Flames shot into the air as the main portion of the mill crumbled. It took three hours to get the fire under control and the fifty firemen fought the blaze throughout Saturday night and Sunday morning.

Today fire assessors examined the mill and it is hoped to restart in about a fortnight but it is not known whether at that stage it will be possible to start full production. The Dotcliffe Mill has been one of the busiest in Lancashire.

NEW “LINES”.
Tracker dogs were out yesterday in the fields and lanes around Kelbrook and house-to-house enquiries were resumed today while Mr Handley and Mr Eddington followed up one or two other new “lines” that had come to light yesterday.

The village of Kelbrook with it’s population of about 700 was a sad place today. Dotcliffe Mill provides the weekly wage for many of the inhabitants. About 30 of the 130 employees were inside the building doing salvage work.

Among them were Mr Sidney Smith, foreman of the twisting and drawing department and a clerk, Miss Rita Walton, who were sorting out the partially burned records of the departments so that they could prepare a list of new equipment that would be needed for that department. Mr R King, General Manager of Charles Shuttleworth and Company Limited, Dotcliffe’s sister mill at Earby, said that it was intended to step up production at Earby by engaging more employees and it may be that some from Kelbrook are drafted in immediately.

Mr C Lord, General manager of Dotcliffe Mill said “We are certainly not going out of business and although the three-storey section is completely gutted, we hope to be back in part production at least in 14 days”.

Det. Chief Superintendent Metcalfe appeals to anyone in West Craven who can Help with any information – however minute it may seem to them – to contact the police immediately. The fact that it may be a stranger from outside the villages and towns concerned in the fires is not being overlooked.

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE.
From the manner in which the premises have been chosen and the scenes of fire set however it would it would appear that the culprit is not only someone who has a considerable knowledge of the West Craven district but also knows the premises well where the fires are being started.

In every instance the premises chosen have been somewhat isolated with green fields on at least one side of the building.

So far as the mill fires are concerned there has been talk of sabotage but the police have no facts at their disposal to back up this suggestion. Whoever the culprit is he worked quickly and made a speedy escape before the arrival of firemen or police.

SIX MONTH LIST
Here is a complete list of the fire-raisings:
November 18th 1958; Fernbank Mill, Barnoldswick, damage estimated at £30,000. Barnsey Shed of S Pickles and Sons Ltd, Barnoldswick, extensive damage. Attempt on the shed of John Widdup and Sons, Barnoldswick.
January 26th 1959; Moss Shed, Barnoldswick. Two private houses at Kelbrook. Barn at Kelbrook. Barn at Long Preston.
February 20th 1959. Springfield Infant’s School, Earby, extensive damage. Earby Cricket Club Pavilion, fire confined to the refreshment room. Attempt on Alder Hill School, Earby.
February 22nd 1959. Cragg Top Farm, Silsden, barn on fire.
February 25th. Garage at Earby, attempt.
March 9th 1959. Fire at Kelbrook Garage, damage slight.
March 16th 1959. Well House Farm, £60 damage. Ivy Cottage Farm, Carleton and Royds Farm, Kelbrook, two barns.
April 18th 1959. Lane Ends Farm, Lothersdale, hay stack fire.
May 2nd 1959. Dotcliffe Mill fire, damage £200,000.

[Transcribed by SCG 18 June 2005 from an old cutting donated by Robert King of New Zealand. He was Shuttleworth’s manager in Earby at the time of the fire.]

Mail from Bob two days later:

Morning Stanley,
The fire bug was on everyone's mind during the epidemic of fires in 1959, since it was one of our mills that was burnt, we decided that as far as Spring Mill was concerned that we needed something more than a "night watchman" to cover security, so we went into Cheshire to the RAF Dog Training School to ask for a guard Dog.  We were fortunate in that they had a dog called Bruce who had come back from the Middle East due to the fact that his trainer was demobbed and he was surplus to requirements. The conditions were that I had to go into his small cage and bring him out on a lead!!! But since I was a "Dog Man" having several gundogs, I commanded him to sit and walked out with him free gratis and for nowt.  Bruce weighted nearly 10 stone he was a German Shepherd and it took me a week to convince him to eat.

I would release Bruce into the mill and the offices at night and bring him our at 5.00 a.m. every morning of the week.  The newspapers got hold of the story and we never had any problems with the fire bug. A policeman from Wakefield who was in charge of dog handling for the West Riding met me one night as I had release Bruce into the mill and he would insist on going in to have a look at him. I did insist that he should not go in but he was adamant.  He shone his torch and out of the corner of my eye I saw two yellow eyes gleaming at him from behind a couple of weaver's beams. I never saw Bruce but he did attack the policeman, grabbing him by the front of his uniform and tearing the front off.  I was advised that "That Bloody Dog is dangerous"  when we pulled the policeman out and allowed Bruce  to carry on doing his guard duty!!!

On another occasion I was a 5 minutes late in letting Bruce out of the mill and Hedley Bradshaw our engine man blithely opened the mill door to get in and he hadn't gone 20 yards when Bruce grabbed him by the backside of his overalls and Hedley jumped about 6 stone steps and slammed the door on him!!!  From then on Hedley wouldn't go into the Mill if my car wasn't stood at the front car park. We can laugh about it nowadays but at the time it was serious.

Aye Hatepe  

[Stanley]

Bumped.....

[Stanley]

I never tire of these stories.....