Death on Howden Moor Derbyshire 1924
"Dying Man's Terrible 5 Day Ordeal"
For those readers not familiar with the area Howden Moor lies in the Peak District National Park. According to Wikipedia "The Howden Reservoir is a Y-shaped reservoir, the uppermost of the three in the Upper Derwent Valley, England. The western half of the reservoir lies in Derbyshire and the eastern half is in Sheffield, South Yorkshire; the county border runs through the middle of the reservoir, following the original path of the River Derwent . The longest arm is around 1+1⁄4 mi (2.0 km) in length. The reservoir is bounded at the southern end by Howden Dam; below this, the Derwent flows immediately into Derwent Reservoir and subsequently the Ladybower Reservoir. Other tributaries include the River Westend, Howden Clough and Linch Clough"
The Following photograph was taken by the author in June 2006 when he flew over all the dams in a helicopter.
The Manchester Guardian dated Thursday 9th October 1924
North Mail and Newcastle Daily Chronicle dated 7th October 1924
The Birmingham Gazette dated Tuesday 7th October 1924
The first point that comes to mind when reading the reports in the distance Henry went when he went out for "a walk." His home address 101 Upperthorpe Road Sheffield no longer exists but lied more or less adjacent to Sheffield's Royal Infirmary, the hospital in which Henry passed away. It would be at least 15 miles from that address to Howden Moor, it could even be further as Howden Moor covers a wide area. Henry was found in a isolated location and was three and a half miles from the nearest habitation. Henry stated that he had no recollection of the walk and how he got into this pitiful condition which is strange to say the least. But the question must be why does a 42 year old forgeman from a working class area of Sheffield go for a walk in a wild and desolate part of the Derbyshire Moors.
The second point is that Henry had not been heard of for 5 days but based on gamekeepers reports a search party was formed by his friend Maurice Swift and Henry was found in a very distressed state in a shooting box. If he went out for a walk he must have told someone that he was going to Howden Moors but they did not raise the alarm for 5 days which seems a very long time, If he did not tell anyone how did they know he was on Howden Moors! He must have told someone before he went which means the walk was pre-planned and that it must have had a purpose. The only thing I can surmise is that Henry may have been attempting to secure a casual position as a beater or similar with one of the grouse-shoots or he was engaging in some form of poaching
What ever the purpose if any Henry had when he set out for his walk, he was patently unprepared for walking is such a bleak and desolate place. He did suffer an an agonizing and painful death which could have been prevented if he had been properly equiped..
Henry is buried in Sheffield's Burngreave Cemetery along with other members of his family.
STARR, Henry (Forgeman, age 42). Died at 101 Upperthorpe Rd; Buried on October 10, 1924 in Consecrated ground; Grave Number 17590, Section DD1 of City Road Cemetery, Sheffield.
Sources
UK Census
The Manchester Guardian dated Thursday 9th October 1924
The Birmingham Gazette dated Tuesday 7th October 1924
North Mail and Newcastle Daily Chronicle dated 7th October 1924
Sheffield Indexers
This page was last updated on 11/12/23 17:09