Driver John Axon was killed in a railway accident on Feb 9th 1957 when, on the approach to Chapel-en-le-Frith station in Derbyshire, the brakes of his steam locomotive failed. Later the same year, he was posthumously awarded the George Cross and shortly after that, Charles Parker, along with Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger created the first of their famous radio ballad series, “The Ballad of John Axon”.
John Axon’s grandson is an actor living in Stockport and he bears the same name as his grandfather. In this programme, his reflections on living with a legacy like his are interwoven with snippets of the original ballad.
