Bench tribute to Ribble Valley road crash victim

1:10pm Wednesday 10th November 2010 in Read Photograph of the Author By Nazia Parveen, Reporter

MEMORIES: Matthew Alston MEMORIES: Matthew Alston

A MEMORIAL bench has been unveiled as a lasting tribute to a Ribble Valley teenager who was killed in a car crash.

Matthew Alston, 18, died in August after the smash in Whalley Road, Read.

Police said the former Clitheroe Grammar pupil, of Scott Avenue, Simonstone, lost control of his Vauxhall Corsa and crashed into a Seat Toledo travelling in the opposite dir-ection.

Two off-duty police officers were in that vehicle, but did not suffer serious injuries.

Since the tragedy, Matthew’s friends and family have atten-ded a memorial and fundraising evening in the Rendezvous nightclub, Whalley, raising cash for the bench, which has been placed near to the site of the crash.

A close family friend, who did not want to be named, said: “It is somewhere for everyone who knew Matthew to go and think about how he was such a superstar lad.

“His family will never come to terms with what happened and he will always be in everyone’s thoughts.

"It is still a very difficult time and I am not sure if they will ever truly cope with it but we hope the memorial bench will be somewhere they can go and reflect.”

The former Simonstone Prim-ary School pupil had just finished his A-levels at Clitheroe Grammar.

He was preparing to study international business at a university in the North East.

He had worked in sales at weekends for the Rufus Carr Ltd Ford dealer, in Clitheroe, for two years.

Police are preparing a file for the coroner to stage an inquest into Matthew's death which will be on November 24 in Blackburn.

The A671 Whalley Road has seen a number of serious acci-dents over the years, particularly at the Devil’s Elbow bend a mile from where Matthew crashed.

Matthew left dad Andrew, mum Janet, and younger brother Hayden.

Comments (4)

9:18pm Wed 10 Nov 10

Crispy says...

Very sad story. I didn't know the lad myself, but he was in my son's year at CRGS, & he confirmed that all the tributes paid to Matthew were highly appropriate & accurate. He was a genuinely nice & popular young man.
As a parent, you can't help thinking, "There but for the grace of God, go any of us." My sincere condolences go out to his family.
Very sad story. I didn't know the lad myself, but he was in my son's year at CRGS, & he confirmed that all the tributes paid to Matthew were highly appropriate & accurate. He was a genuinely nice & popular young man. As a parent, you can't help thinking, "There but for the grace of God, go any of us." My sincere condolences go out to his family. Crispy

12:51pm Fri 12 Nov 10

In my opinion...... says...

...a sad loss of such a young life.
Thankfully the two police officers on the way home from work that were caught up in this incident will make full recoveries from their injuries.
Hopefully other young drivers will learn from this and if one life is saved by young and inexperienced drivers thinking they invicible behind the wheel then Matthew may not have died in vain.
...a sad loss of such a young life. Thankfully the two police officers on the way home from work that were caught up in this incident will make full recoveries from their injuries. Hopefully other young drivers will learn from this and if one life is saved by young and inexperienced drivers thinking they invicible behind the wheel then Matthew may not have died in vain. In my opinion......

10:19am Thu 18 Nov 10

Ramster says...

The neadless loss of any young life is a tradgedy, and my heartfelt sympathy goes out to the family and friends of this young man.

I just don't understand the decision to place a memorial bench close to the scene of the tragic accident? A familiy friend commented:

“It is somewhere for everyone who knew Matthew to go and think about how he was such a superstar lad."

Quite frankly I find it quite macabre; it's a busy main road, not somewhere associated with quiet contemplation! Surely it would have been better placed in a garden of rememberance or a place Matthew liked to visit?

The current location of the bench will forever be associated with Matthew's tragic death, and not a celebration of his life.
The neadless loss of any young life is a tradgedy, and my heartfelt sympathy goes out to the family and friends of this young man. I just don't understand the decision to place a memorial bench close to the scene of the tragic accident? A familiy friend commented: “It is somewhere for everyone who knew Matthew to go and think about how he was such a superstar lad." Quite frankly I find it quite macabre; it's a busy main road, not somewhere associated with quiet contemplation! Surely it would have been better placed in a garden of rememberance or a place Matthew liked to visit? The current location of the bench will forever be associated with Matthew's tragic death, and not a celebration of his life. Ramster

2:11pm Thu 25 Nov 10

foreverwithyou says...

Ramster wrote:
The neadless loss of any young life is a tradgedy, and my heartfelt sympathy goes out to the family and friends of this young man.

I just don't understand the decision to place a memorial bench close to the scene of the tragic accident? A familiy friend commented:

“It is somewhere for everyone who knew Matthew to go and think about how he was such a superstar lad."

Quite frankly I find it quite macabre; it's a busy main road, not somewhere associated with quiet contemplation! Surely it would have been better placed in a garden of rememberance or a place Matthew liked to visit?

The current location of the bench will forever be associated with Matthew's tragic death, and not a celebration of his life.
As one of matthew's friends i can quite easily reassure you that everyone does go to the bench to celebrate matthew's life. Before the bench was put there his close friends went up to the spot to be with him. Every monthly anniversary people go up to spend time with him and remember the precious memories everyone had with him. If you ask me and i'm sure most of his friends and family will agree, it is a perfect place to put his memorial bench.
[quote][p][bold]Ramster[/bold] wrote: The neadless loss of any young life is a tradgedy, and my heartfelt sympathy goes out to the family and friends of this young man. I just don't understand the decision to place a memorial bench close to the scene of the tragic accident? A familiy friend commented: “It is somewhere for everyone who knew Matthew to go and think about how he was such a superstar lad." Quite frankly I find it quite macabre; it's a busy main road, not somewhere associated with quiet contemplation! Surely it would have been better placed in a garden of rememberance or a place Matthew liked to visit? The current location of the bench will forever be associated with Matthew's tragic death, and not a celebration of his life.[/p][/quote]As one of matthew's friends i can quite easily reassure you that everyone does go to the bench to celebrate matthew's life. Before the bench was put there his close friends went up to the spot to be with him. Every monthly anniversary people go up to spend time with him and remember the precious memories everyone had with him. If you ask me and i'm sure most of his friends and family will agree, it is a perfect place to put his memorial bench. foreverwithyou

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