Notorious ford closed permanently after inquest hears of man's death

The day after North East Hampshire coroner Andrew Bradley recorded a verdict of accidental death at Jonathan Gammon’s inquest, Hampshire County Council confirmed that the ford, which straddles the Hampshire/Berkshire border, in Thornford Road, was to be sealed off with concrete bollards.
The inquest at Alton heard how mental health tribunal judge, Mr Gammon, aged 52, of Teddington, Middlesex, died on April 30, after the Toyota Yaris in which he was a passenger was swept away crossing the ford.
At Tuesday’s inquest, his wife, Priscilla Turner, aged 55, said that she was driving her husband to a tribunal at Thornford Park hospital at Crookham Common.
She said that she was relying on both her satnav and her husband’s map reading for directions.
“I said: ‘Isn’t that the road the hospital is on?’, so we took that road,” said Miss Turner, who added that she did not see the warning signs and the water looked deceptively shallow.
“The next thing I recall is water coming into the car,” she said. “I recall Jonathan trying to open a window and the door wouldn’t open, and calling the emergency services and getting quite frightened.
“I said ‘stop panicking, I will sort this out’ and had this belief I would get us out of danger,”.
She added that she only had hazy recollections of events as the car was swept away.
Headley villager of 18 years, Dorothea Ryan, was walking her dog by the ford when she spotted Miss Turner standing in the River Enborne, holding a shoe.
She told the inquest: “The water was up to her chest and she was holding on to the branch of a tree.”
After crossing the ford by a footbridge, Mrs Ryan risked her own life as she held on to a branch to pull Miss Turner out of the powerful current.
She added: “She was crying and in total shock and said: ‘I’ve killed my husband’ and I said: ‘No, it’s an accident’.”
Kingsclere firefighter, 22-year-old Jack Bancroft, who lives near Ashford Hill, told the hearing that he climbed out over fast-flowing waters on ladders placed from the river bank to the car roof, before smashing several windows in an attempt to rescue Mr Gammon and the couple’s dog.
He said that the dog’s body floated out first, before he pulled Mr Gammon out, then made his way back across the ladder to the bank to waiting paramedics.
Mr Gammon was pronounced dead at the scene.
Mr Bancroft said: “I was numb and couldn’t feel my arm because of the cold. The passenger door closed as I released it, due to the power of the water.”
Villager Peter Hemmings, said that he gave Miss Turner a coat to keep her warm, before emergency services arrived.
Mr Hemmings, who lives close to the ford, said that vehicles got stuck in the ford regularly, despite warning signs on the approach and depth gauges. He added that satnavs failed to warn drivers of the ford.

Villagers have now had their say on the permanent closure of the ford.
The chairman of Ashford Hill with Headley Parish Council, Barrie Hiscock, is unhappy about the permanent closure of the ford.
Speaking after the inquest, he said that it would mean agricultural vehicles would be forced on to the busy A339. He said: “It’s absolutely ridiculous. We don’t want it. Just because one man drowned. There’s a lot of agricultural machinery that goes through. They will all be going up the main road.”
Headley villager Simon Hiscock agreed that the closure was an over-reaction.
He said that the decision had come too late to save Mr Gammon and would antagonise locals. “It needs to be slightly managed, with a barrier across during floods – as in Scotland during snow, or blizzards, when a barrier is erected across roads,” said Mr Hiscock. He described the decision as using “a sledgehammer to crack a nut,” adding: “You will find dumped vehicles and flytipping down there.”
He also criticised the time it had taken to make the decision, given that Mr Gammon had died in April. He said: “If they were going to do that, they should have done it the next day.”