Coroner praises 'exceptional spirit' of villagers who formed search party for 77-year-old who drowned in the River Ouse

Michael Turnham, 77, was swept downstream on October 9 last year after falling into the water at the point where the Ouse and the Nidd meet and his body was recovered near Clifton Bridge.

An inquest held at County Hall in Northallerton today (February 1) heard that the retired human resources director, who had lived in Nun Monkton for around 40 years, regularly walked from his home to the riverbank because he volunteered with the local ferryboat, which carries passengers to Beningbrough Hall.

He had already walked to the jetty where the boat was kept the afternoon of his death, and returned home before announcing that he had lost his mobile phone and was going to retrace his steps to find it.

By this time it was dark and assistant coroner for North Yorkshire John Broadbridge said it was likely that Mr Turnham, who lived at a property called St Annes on the Green with his wife Patricia, a retired civil servant, had slipped and lost his footing on muddy, uneven ground. The water was high and fast-flowing at the time.

Villagers formed a search party to look for Mr Turnham after his wife reported him missing on the community Whatsapp group when he had been gone for over an hour.

Mr Turnham, who was a qualified pilot and an experienced sailor, was instrumental in the return of the ferry service to Nun Monkton in 2018, after it had stopped running in 1952 and residents faced a much longer journey by road to reach Newton-on-Ouse on the opposite bank. He had also been involved in a project to improve broadband in the village and had organised an arts festival.

Mrs Turnham described her husband as an 'active, mobile' man who enjoyed walking and was loving and well-known locally. He had experienced some health problems in the past year and she had noticed some slight memory loss, but these were not major concerns.

She said he left their home at around 4pm for his walk to the river, returning half an hour later having chatted with a fellow ferryboat volunteer, Isaac Vaughan, at the jetty. He then poured himself a glass of wine which he did not finish before realising his phone was missing. Mrs Turnham told him to take a torch with him as it was dark and told him not to be long as dinner was nearly ready. She became worried when he did not return within 45 minutes.

Mr Vaughan said that when he had seen Mr Turnham on the walk earlier that day, he had seemed 'sombre' and was not his usual self. He was smoking and looking out over the water, but they chatted normally and Mr Turnham did not express any worries.

Both Mrs Turnham and Mr Vaughan said that Mr Turnham was extremely familiar with the route to the pontoon and walked it regularly.

Sergeant Simon Pape from North Yorkshire Police said that after Mr Turnham was reported missing, he categorised him as 'high risk' due to the fact that the disappearance was out of character and because his mental health had been slightly deteriorating. The police helicopter, dog unit and the York Rescue Boat were all called in to help with the search.

While officers and villagers were searching, he was radioed about the discovery of the body at Clifton Bridge, which was being recovered by the rescue boat crew.

Sergeant Pape said: "Every possible action was conducted to find him. The spirit of the local community was exceptional that night - he was clearly well respected and liked."

Another officer who attended the scene said that the grassed path was wet, muddy, uneven and slippy. The riverbank was in complete darkness and there was no fencing. An area of flattened grass was also seen on the bank.

A postmortem found that there was only a small amount of alcohol in Mr Turnham's blood which would not have impaired his functions, and the cause of death was consistent with drowning.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Mr Broadbridge said: "He was clearly a well regarded man in the village. We have no eyewitness evidence to say how he entered the river, but the path was unprotected and slippy. It is likely that he slipped and fell into extremely cold water and could not retrieve himself.

"I commend everyone who looked for him for their diligence in trying to find him."

Over £2,000 was raised in Mr Turnham's memory for the RNLI by Patricia and their son Alistair.

Nun Monkton Ferryboat volunteer Kate Harpin said: "Mike was pivotal in the successful set up and operation of the Ferryboat. His scope, knowledge, wisdom and wit was legendary. But more importantly he was an all-round wonderful friend."