Two Terriers Trapped in a Drain, 1957

From the front page of the Lancashire Evening Post, October 14, 1957:

Day-long bid to rescue terriers trapped in drain during fox hunt

TWO men were fighting a battle against time with pick and shovel in a little wood near Hullet Hole Farm, Appley Bridge, near Wigan, today. They were desperately shifting tons of earth in a frantic attempt to rescue two terriers trapped in a deep drain since yesterday afternoon. The terriers, Blackie and Ruin, chased a fox into the drain at about ‪four o'clock‬. They are trapped In a tunnel about 18 in. square which winds for many yards into a wooded knoll. Stuck there too, it is thought, is the fox they were after.

The dogs were heard scrabbling at rocks deep in the heart of the knoll at midnight. Early this morning one of them was heard to whimper. Nothing has been heard from them since and their owner Mr Jack Rutter, of Rollinson’s-lane, Heath Charnock believes they are dead. “They've either died of exposure or else the fox has killed them," he said.

Blackie and Ruin were brought to the farm yesterday by Mr. Isaac Tyson, of Farnworth estate, Duxbury near Chorley. Mr. Tyson is huntsman for the South West Lancashire Fox Destruction Society, members of which were holding a shoot to rid farmer ‪Dennis Lambert’s‬ land of pests.

Mr. Tyson's hounds put up three foxes from covert. One was shot, one escaped — and the other bolted into the drain followed the two terriers.

Mr. Tyson stayed by the entrance to the drain for four hours after the terriers had gone in. He went, back ‪at midnight‬ and heard them scratching inside. At dawn he was working with a shovel digging his way to where he thought thev were trapped. He heard one whimper - and then silence.

Burley Jack Woods, of Cross End Cottages, Charnock Richard, joined him soon after and the two dug two 10-foot deep pits down to the tunnel. Constantly the walls of the pits threatened to tumble in and bury them alive.

They were unable to locate Blackie and Ruin who did not respond to their shouts. Late this afternoon they were digging into the sloping ground further along the course of the tunnel which twists and turns every few feet. While the two worked, Mr. Rutter stood by with food and brandy for the terriers.

“But there's water In the drain,” he said. “They'll most likely have given way under the cold if the fox hasn't got them first"

Mr. Tyson, a Cumbrian from Eskdale, has had plentv of experience in rescuing trapped terriers. He doesn't hold much hope for the survival of Blackie and Ruin. "But well keep digging until they are found—dead or alive,” he said.