A SPECIAL memorial service is being held on Sunday, October 19, to remember the 150th anniversary of a hop-picking disaster at Hadlow, near Tonbridge, that claimed 30 lives.

On Thursday, October 20, 1853, a convey of hop-pickers were travelling across the Hartlake Bridge at Hadlow after a busy day harvesting the village's hop crop.

It was on their journey from Golden Green to their campsite on the other side of the river that disaster struck, shortly before 6pm.

The Hartlake Bridge, owned by the Medway Navigation Company, was made of timber with a three-foot boarded fence on either side.

In the days leading up to that Thursday, Kent had experienced inches of heavy rain and the fields surrounding the bridge were waterlogged to a depth of about three feet.

Two of the hop pickers on horseback took the lead to wade through the water, but three quarters of the way across the bridge, one of the horses stumbled, causing the other horse to shy. Although both riders tried to steady their mounts, the side of one of the waggons banged against the rotten bridge and then tipped over the side.

The waggon and its occupants were tipped into the freezing river, which was extremely swollen and fast-flowing because of the recent heavy downpours.

People struggling for the banks were soon swept underwater and carried downstream. A rumour passed down the generations says their screams for help were heard as far away as East Peckham.

However, their cries were heard by people from the nearby Bell Inn in Golden Green, who rushed to try to save the drowning men, women and children.

People living in nearby farms were also called out to help and tried to rescue the hop-pickers with the aid of poles and lanterns.

The tragedy left 30 hop pickers dead - 16 of them from the Leatherland family. The youngest to die was a two-year-old child whose first name remains a mystery as her mother, father and sister died with her. Only 11 people survived.

Many were gipsies. Others had come to earn a living from Ireland, including 50-year-old Jeremiah Murphy, Margaret Mahoney, and 21-year-old Catherine Roach.

An inquest was held at the Bell Inn on Saturday, October 22, 1853, presided over by coroner John Dunlow who was given details of the terrrible catastrophe by witnesses. Locals said the bridge had been in poor condition for seven years.

The jury returned a verdict of accidental drowning entirely brought about by the state of the bridge. The coroner recommended that the structure be ripped down and replaced by a stone or brick bridge.

The victims were buried in one grave in the churchyard of St Mary's Church, Hadlow. A memorial stone was erected to remember the dead in December 1853 and still remains in the graveyard.

For many years after the tragedy, villagers gathered on the same day and threw a wreath into the river at the spot where it happened.

The 150th anniversary will be marked on October 19 with a service at St Mary's, starting at 3pm. Members of the Gypsy Council as well as descendants of the victims are expected to attend. Anyone interested is welcome.