Tributes for Widdrington man hit by train

Jul 10 2009 by Peter Taylor, The Journal

A BOSS has paid tribute to a teenager killed by a freight train on a railway line.

Daniel Blacklock, 19, died instantly when he was hit by the train in broad daylight on a stretch of line half a mile south of Widdrington station, near Morpeth, and near his home in the village.

The student was well known in the village and his death has left residents stunned. They told how he was often spotted out and about with his skateboard.

Billy Shaw, owner of the Widdrington Inn, where Daniel worked as a part-time barman, said: “He was a nice lad who always turned up for his work.

“We don’t know any details of what happened so we are just looking at it as a tragic accident. I don’t like to speculate on something as tragic as that.

“He was well liked and was an agricultural student at Kirkley Hall college. I think he had been there three years and he wanted to go into landscaping.

“He was a chatty lad who got on well with everybody. There was not a bad bit about him. He was always pleasant to everybody and enjoyed talking to the customers. His younger brother Jamie used to work here as well.”