Campaigners never stopped efforts for Dibbles Bridge memorial - The Yorkshire Post

After 47 painful years, those mourning the 33 victims of Britain’s worst road accident were finally able to commemorate them at a fitting memorial.

By YP Comment

Published 28th May 2022, 06:00 BST

A commemoration by the Dibbles Bridge Memorial outside Thornaby Town Hall, 47 years on from the crash. Picture: Tony Johnson.

In 1975, a driver and 32 pensioners from Thornaby-on-Tees died when the coach taking them for a day trip to Grassington organised by their town’s mayoress lost control at Dibbles Bridge between Greenhow and Hebden in the Yorkshire Dales.

Only 13 of the 45 women in the party survived after the vehicle’s brakes failed on the steep descent.

A memorial displaying the names of all 33 people who died, made of stone quarried from Hanson’s at Greenhow Hill close to the crash site, was unveiled at Thornaby Town Hall in April.

On the 47th anniversary of the crash yesterday, the memorial was dedicated during a special ceremony.

The Yorkshire Post continues to offer its condolences to the loved ones of all who died and pay tribute to those who never stopped campaigning for this memorial.