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Bride-to-be in fatal fire
9:40am Thursday 6th September 2001
Tributes have been paid to a popular young mother and bride-to-be who died in her Woodside home when her bedroom caught fire in the early hours of last Friday morning.
Teacher Jacqueline Sutherland, 29, was found lying on her bedroom floor by fire fighters who arrived just after 4am on August 31.
She was pronounced dead at the scene in Birchanger Road, but her eight-year-old daughter, Naomi, escaped injury because she was staying at her grandparents' house in Lancing Road, West Croydon.
Jacqueline's fiancee of eight months Leon Campbell (30) said: �She had big dreams. We were going to be married next July. We'd just come back from Canada where we were looking for a flat. We were planning to live there.�
Sister Sharon (23) who has been living with her sister for three years, cut short a two-week holiday in America after hearing the news.
She said: �She was my best friend. When I was just about to give up my training as a hair dresser, she persuaded me to stick with it. Wherever she was, I wanted to be with her.�
Jacqueline's parents Keith and Conseta Sutherland, both 64,were devastated after hearing the news at 5.20am.
They are part of a very close family. Jacqueline had five brothers and sisters and she visited her parents' home every lunch time because it was near West Thornton School in Rose Court Road, where she taught the infants.
She was living in her flat for six years, which was owned by a housing association. Her brother Gifford said there should have been smoke alarms fitted and the family is considering legal action.
Conseta Sutherland said: �If the housing association can give me my daughter back I will forgive them.�
She added: �Every time Naomi sees her mum's picture she cries.�
Gifford added: �Naomi's a very quiet child, so who knows what's going on in her head?�
Fire fighters from Beckenham and Woodside put out the slow-burning fire within 20 minutes of arriving at the Sutherland Court flat, after neighbours raised the alarm.
One neighbour said: �She was a beautiful girl inside and out. We're still very upset today she was a good friend of ours, always with children around her.�
Bleary-eyed neighbours emerged from their homes to witness the commotion and some cried as the body was removed.
The four-bedroom flat was not fitted with a smoke alarm and firemen spent the following day delivering free smoke alarms to neighbours.
Woodside station commander Frank Borries said: �I want to stress to people the importance of fitting a smoke alarm in your home, they can save lives.�
Fire officers are investigating the cause of the fire, which was contained in the rear ground floor bedroom. An inquest into her death was opened by Croydon Coroner's Court on Tuesday.
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Prehistoric walk
The interesting brochure you can obtain from the car park at Foulshaw Moss says that more than several thousand years ago the Witherslack Mosses were part of an extensive wetland in what is now the Lyth Valley and on the flat ground west of the Kent Estuary. The Mosses - Meathop, Foulshaw and Nicols - are raised peat bogs brought about by sphagnum moss that draws up, acidifies, and holds water like a giant sponge, creating waterlogged conditions as it grows. Sphagnum grows from the tip, leaving the lower part to die. Waterlogging halts decay of these dead bits that build up and up over thousands of years, to form deep domed mounds of peat that are raised many feet above the surrounding ground. The Witherslack Mosses have dried out partly as a result of forestry and the invasion of scrub. Over time, drainage and peat cutting led to the loss of more wetland and now only significant fragments remain. Specialised peatbog flora and fauna have been unable to thrive because of the area being too shaded and too dry. Recently conifers have been removed and also masses of rhododendrons have been cleared. Hundreds of peat and plastic dams have been installed to bring about the ‘sponge’ effect of the peat. At Foulshaw, the remains of a 15ft to 16ft wide prehistoric trackway has been uncovered. This is believed to have been constructed in the mid-Bronze Age to allow people to cross the once huge wetland. Trunks of ash and birch were laid side by side and supported on logs. Foulshaw Moss is open to the public. Nichols Moss, a really squelchy one, is only suitable for a hundred yards or so before you encounter pathless very wet moss. It is a delight to stand and look ahead but as there is no walkway do not continue. Pause just on its edge from where you might spot red deer. Meathop is a lovely walk but only for those with a permit from Cumbria Wildlife Trust or if you are a member. The parking is difficult. After the first short grassy track, follow a wider track, left, that winds round right by a pasture and into fine conifer woodland. Beyond this a wide walkway takes you out some distance into the moss, from where you will spot all sorts of interesting lowly plants. To visit Foulshaw Moss, on the A590, it is best to approach the entrance from the direction of Kendal. If coming from the opposite direction continue on past the entrance and make use of the Levens underpass to make a U-turn and approach from the north. This avoids trying to make a right turn across a narrow section of the busy A-road. The entrance is not signposted until you have turned off the road. The entrance turn, a cart track, lies just before a large layby on a narrow section of the A-road. Just beyond the turn, stands a huge sign saying ‘Dual carriageway a mile ahead’. To approach the entrance, drive the dual carriageway at Levens until it ends. Continue a short distance along the two-way road and begin to signal your left turn. Watch out for the large sign ahead. If you reach the layby you have gone too far.
Jacqueline Sutherland, 29, was a popular primary school teacher
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