National Trust criticised over fall death

Sigrid Smith had just arrived at the Trust’s site at Watersmeet on Exmoor in Devon, when she tripped over a stone embedded in the path and then, as she tried to regain her balance, tripped over a tree stump and fell over a cliff edge into the river below.

The inquest in Exeter heard no warning sign or barrier was in place where she fell because the Trust did not deem it a dangerous enough point to warrant any. More than a year on there are still no warnings apart from a small sign on a “visitor’s board” at the very top of the path and another at the bottom of the gorge.

While accepting the verdict of accidental death yesterday, her children claimed it took pressure from them months after her death on June 23 last year for the Trust to start looking at any possible changes, including removing the stump she tripped over. It is now reviewing its practices on the site near Lynmouth.

Son Bernard Smith, said: “Nothing that can be done now will bring back someone that we loved dearly. We hope that the legacy she leaves behind is to tighten up certain health and safety that need to be addressed in the light of our experiences since.”

At the time of the incident, Mrs Smith was visiting her son Tim and his wife Susan at their home in Somerset, with her sister Doris. Susan Smith told the inquest they were walking from the car park down the path when the accident happened. She said her mother-in-law seemed to “fly like an eagle” as she fell, with Doris and her watching in horror.

Mrs Smith suffered massive head and spinal injuries and despite the efforts of paramedics and an off-duty fireman was pronounced dead after being flown by a rescue helicopter to North Devon District Hospital.

National Trust workers told the inquest at County Hall the path where she fell was “typical of the property” and not deemed particularly dangerous, because there was a steep wooded slope before the edge of the gorge that would prevent people falling over it.

Julian Gurney, the Trust’s head ranger at Watersmeet, said he still felt warning signs were unnecessary at the point where Mrs Smith fell.

“Too many signs spoil the countryside,” he added.

Stephen Mulberry, the Trust’s property manager for north Devon, told the inquest that the organisation was carrying out a review of safety across the area which might result in new warning signs being erected but that “the conditions of the footpaths might not be changed”.

He said that the Trust’s policy was not to remove stones from paths, saying it had a responsibility to balance safety on the footpath with “the spirit of the place”.