The Death of Leonard Tingle July 1955 Royal Ascot - An update

 I received an email this week from the reader of the site who had come across the article on the death of Leonard Tingle in July 1955.

I had not added any additional information to the article since 2018 and so I took the opportunity to update the content.

"My mum has recently passed, and before doing so (with the normal protracted decline of an 88 year old), she talked about how many times she should have died (aneurism in the early 90s and given a life expectancy of 2 days in March 2025 - she died 4th December 2025).  But she mentioned 3 occasions, so I questioned her.  She lived in Ascot at the time, attending Windsor Grammar school.  Because the race meets went across the road into the town/village, she and her friends were dropped outside the racecourse.  They went to watch and were holding onto the railings in the rain. waiting for the race to begin.  Just before the lightning struck they moved away from the railings and she recalled the lightning hitting the railings before travelling around the track and moving underneath the grass to strike those in the tea tent.  I have no idea how truthful this account is and I didn't really believe her until I looked it up.  

She was born in Welling, Kent, but spent her early years living on the outskirts of Sheffield, firstly as an evacuee and later with her parents and siblings, before moving back down South." 

Her mothers recollections tie in with a report in the Weather Eye section of The Times newspaper

"In the UK, one of the worst lightning strikes in a sports arena was at Royal Ascot on July 14, 1955. On a hot and muggy day, a thunderstorm broke during the afternoon and sent crowds rushing for shelter as rain pelted down. Soon afterwards lightning struck a metal fence and, even though no one was struck, the voltage gradient from the lightning ripped through the ground and scythed down crowds packed in and around a nearby marquee. The aftermath looked like a battlefield, as the injured lay on the ground and others wandered around dazed and shocked. Two spectators died and 48 others were injured." 

Manchester Evening News dated 18th July 1955