53 years on, Kempsey residents remember the victims of the Middleton Street accident

A level crossing accident at Middleton Street between a school bus and north bound Daylight Express saw the sad passing of six school children; Margaret Bennett, Grahame Burley, Rosemary Lawrence, Sharon Perrott, Trixie Ramsay and Rhonda Searle.

53 years on they are still remembered at Middleton Street.

The South Kempsey Tennis Club, along with various residents, do their best to ensure the memorial retains its beauty.

"We make sure to keep an eye on it, lay some flowers and light a candle on the anniversary while council keeps up the maintenance," Shirley Mayhew said.

In the December 10, 1968 Macleay Argus, the accident was described as "the worst in Kempsey's history".

Hundreds attended various funerals and memorial services with a moments silence held at 4 o'clock in Kempsey exactly a week after the accident, as reported in the Argus.

"As the chimes from the post office tower slowly sounded, cars pulled to the kerb and pedestrians halted to line the footpaths," the article read.

"In Belgrave Street, where the fire station siren signalling the beginning of the two-minute silence was barely heard, shop assistants and their customers came out of their shops to join the silent ranks.

"Drivers stopped their vehicles and for a brief time the only traffic moving was that of travellers passing through Kempsey.

"There was little noise. There was little movement."

Standing at the memorial, paying her respects, Tennis Club member Patricia Fay said it's a memory stuck in the mind of all locals.

"Everyone remembers where they were that day," she said.

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