THE driver of a car involved in a crash with a steam wagon in Oxford didn’t have to wait for an ambulance – he was taken to hospital in an Oxford Mail newspaper van!

Reader Den Green found a cutting of the crash which, judging by the typefaces used in the paper, almost certainly happened in the 1930s.

The Oxford Mail recorded the incident under the headline, A collision and its results.

The steam wagon, owned by H Tuckwell & Sons, the Oxford haulage contractors, was being driven towards Oxford along Woodstock Road when it swerved to avoid a stationary car and crashed head-on into the car.

The wagon driver said his view was obstructed by a bank of steam from a lorry in front.

The radiator of the car and the offside wheel were smashed, the engine severely damaged and the windscreen shattered.

The car driver, Mr A F Tyler, of Finchley, was taken to the Radcliffe Infirmary in an Oxford Mail van which happened to be passing.

He was treated for a cut mouth and hands, sprained wrist and shock.

Mr Green, of Links Road, Kennington, has also sent in a photograph of one of the company’s later steam wagons.

He writes: “I remember my mum telling me that the chap second from left in the hat and light coloured coat was my eldest brother Tom. My dad, also called Tom, worked for Harry Tuckwell when he had horse and carts.

“It would be interesting to know what year the crash happened – perhaps the registration number of the wagon, WL 910, will give a clue.”

Harry Tuckwell started his general haulage company in the 1840s, later branching out into the coal wholesale business.

He supplied most of the coal burned in Oxford homes from railway yards in the area.

The company then moved into the building supplies market at premises in Chapel Street, off Cowley Road, quickly establishing itself as a major supplier in the area.

Further expansion came when the company started working its own quarries at Long Hanborough, Cassington and later at Radley. In 1958, it opened a ready-mixed concrete plant at Radley.

Its projects have included Oxford railway station, Abingdon police station, the Said Business School and the Oxford Children’s Hospital.

Today, it is still flourishing after 160 years.