With much of the country blanketed under deep snow and underlying  frost that had brought hundreds of mills and factories to a close with  over 15,000 workers within East Lancashire alone all being left unable  to work, for children – it brought an unexpected break from their daily  chores of not just work but that also of school.

Many took to the parks and playing fields to enjoy the extended  break, throwing snowballs, making snowmen and if they had the means,  they would find somewhere steep enough to enjoy the rare opportunity to  sledge down.

And it’s within the township of Haslingden that we are once again  travelling back to, and to the evening of Wednesday, 3rd March 1909 as  we delve into the story of the Charles Lane toboggan misadventure.

Fifty year old, James Roberts, a waste breaker who was employed at  Spring Vale mill, had left work at around 7.40pm to make his way home at  nearby 27 Prospect Hill.  With him was a man named Havelock Bond, an  engineer who also worked at the same mill as James.

Taking a pipe out from his jacket, lighting it and after a couple of  puffs of smoke, Havelock patted James on his back, telling him it  wouldn’t be long before they both reached their homes, despite the lane  ahead being in a hazardous condition.

“Aye, perhaps your ‘reet.” replied James as he lit his own pipe.