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Cathy comes home for 'train wrecker' grandad play

Cathy Bowles Cathy Bowles is sitting with her arm around her father with their heads close together. They are both smiling Cathy Bowles
Cathy Bowles says her Dad did not get the chance to know his father, who died soon after leaving prison

A woman is flying from Canada to the UK to see a new play about a group of men, including her grandfather, who were imprisoned following a train derailment.

The Cramlington Train Wreckers tells the story of how striking miners sabotaged the London to Edinburgh mainline in Northumberland in 1926.

Cathy Bowles, the granddaughter of Willy Baker, was born and grew up in Carlisle, Cumbria, where her family had moved in 1950, but now lives in Canada.

"When I heard about the play, I felt I had to travel home to see it," she said.

Working Class Movement Library A black and white image of a train crash from 1928 with two carriages off the line. Two men wearing bowler hats stand in the wreckageWorking Class Movement Library
The men had intended to derail a cargo train carrying coal, which they saw as a threat to strike action

The derailment of the Flying Scotsman occurred on 10 May 1926 during the General Strike and at a time of heightened tension across the UK.

Although the train came off the tracks, passengers only sustained minor injuries.

Eight Cramlington men were ultimately sentenced to prison terms, including Willy Baker who was 28 at the time.

He received four years' penal servitude but was released after two years and three months.

Sepia, blurry newspaper images of the headshots of the eight convicted men in two horizontal rows of four images each.
Eight men were sent to prison following the derailment

"Unfortunately, my grandfather died of a heart attack soon after in1928, so my dad never really got to know him well," Mrs Bowles said.

"We do know he wasn't a miner, though, my Dad's birth certificate says he was a labourer."

Cathy Bowles The birth certificate from 1922 of George Baker which also shows that his father William Baker was a labourerCathy Bowles
Cathy Bowles says her father's birth certificate shows her grandfather was not a miner

Mrs Bowles, 64, was born in Carlisle after her dad moved there in 1950 and emigrated to Canada over 40 years ago.

"I'd come on school holidays to Cramlington from Carlisle to visit my Nanna Baker," she said.

"I heard all the tremendous mining stories and about the derailment. It's my history, of which I am extremely proud.

Mrs Bates will be attending the South Shields performance of The Cramlington Train Wreckers on 16 November.

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