TRAFFIC was brought to a halt briefly in Barnard Castle last week when a hay bale came off a tractor and trailer near the town’s iconic Market Cross.
The tractor was travelling along Newgate and turning around the grade I-listed building towards Market Place when the incident happened. Thorngate resident Karl Jones was walking up The Bank towards The Corner Bistro when the bale broke loose.
He said: “It got to that point [at the Market Cross] when the bale rolled off and hit the back of the tractor.”
He added that it was fortunate the bale had not rolled down The Bank where it could have caused extensive damage to vehicles and property.
Mr Jones said: “He was quite lucky really. There were a few seconds there where I was scared.”
Business owner Pauline Connelly heard the thud from her toy shop nearby and rushed out to help the farmer roll the bale onto the pavement outside The Corner Bistro. She said there was no danger of the bale rolling down The Bank. The shopkeeper added: “It was a dead weight and soggy. It made a bit of a whack [when it hit the ground].”
The experience reminded Ms Connelly of a similar incident she witnessed a few years ago when a bale fell from a tractor at the same place. Ms Connelly said: “It wiped out the railings – it was one of the square ones (bales]” A JCB loader arrived about ten minutes after the incident to remove the errant bale. Ms Connelly said the bale had caused some damage to the tractor's mud guard and rear lights.
