Natural Resources

Christmas Eve at the Front

An interesting letter has just been received by Mrs Packer, of Broadclyst, from her husband, Corpl Packer of A Company, 1st Battalion Devonshire Regiment, who is serving with the Expeditionary Force in Northern France. In the course of a letter he describes a remarkable incident which occurred on Christmas Eve between the British and German trenches.

Though Bideford housewives manage a smile in adverse circumstances.

People who live on the surrounding hills, and those who meet complacently at the dry Castle, Exeter, where the Devon County Council have their meetings, in duty bound should pause to consider the plight of some scores of householders in the lower portions of Bideford Borough.

Yet again this winter, housewives of Chanters Lane have awakened to find all their ground floor rooms flooded by water, not in the normal way from outside, but from inside, forced up through the drains and sinks by the laws of nature. The houses shown above were built long before Devon County Council built Kingsley Road, which helps to pond up the water brought down from Kenwith Valley, part of which lies in Northam and takes the stream from Buckleigh area, and part in the Rural District, and these Bideford householders are paying the price in health and sheer financial loss and dismay.

The full Gazette article dated 21 January 1955

Torridgeside Paralysed By Its Worst Blizzard

Worst blizzard this century

The Torridge area – particularly the more remote country areas – was yesterday still recovering from the worst blizzard to hit the Westcountry this century.

At the peak of the storm, six and a half inches of snow were recorded in the Bideford area. Main problems, however, were caused by strong winds which swept the snow into huge drifts, some more than 20 feet hight, and which cut communications between many villages and towns.

Transport was at a standstill and many people had cause to thank the RAF rescue helicopters who flew hundreds of sorties, not only rescuing people who had been cut off but also delivering much needed supplies. They flew expectant mums to hospital – including Mrs Wendy Mitchell from Buckland Brewer – and among several kidney patients in Devon they airlifted to hospital was Mrs Colwill, of Bideford.

Most of the schools in North Devon were close and many villages in the Torridge area were without power and water – some until Wednesday.

Farmers were left counting the cost of dead stock trapped in snowdrifts and thousands of gallons of milk which had to be poured away because milk tankers could not get through narrow lanes piled high with snow.

Counting the cost, too, were county and local councils. The county engineer, Mr Michael Hawkins, said this week; “This has been a bigger clearing operation than in the notorious winter of 1963. It is going to cost many hundreds of thousands of pounds but we will not know the final cost until it is all over.”

People in the Hartland, Clovelly and Torrington district were among 100,000 in the South West Water Authority’s area whose supplies were cut off by power failures that stopped pumps at Prewley and Tamar treatment works and Clovelly water tower. In many home the only source of water was boiled snow until some supplies were restored on Monday afternoon.

On Saturday night the electricity supply to nearly 100,000 people in North Devon was maintained by the power station at East Yelland.

So many power distribution lines were put out of action by the snow that from 7.20pm on Saturday to 11.53am on Sunday the entire area was isolated from the National Grid supply. It meant that the power station had to keep three sets operational to maintain supplies.

Mr Ray Furseman, electrical maintenance engineer, explained: “This was no mean task as at times we were struggling with just a skeleton staff as the station was cut off by snow drifts. Staff living up to five miles away walked in, but many had to sleep on site. They all did a marvellous job.”

Trapped For 15 Hours
In the years to come, little Miss Emma Lamey will be told by her parents how they set out to visit Appledore and ended up by flying in a helicopter.

Emma herself will remember none of the details for she is only three months old. She was being taken by her parents, Mr and Mrs Keith Lamey, to visit Keith’s parents, Mr and Mrs Ted Lamey, of Marshwood, Pitt Hill, for the first time when they became victims of the savage weather which hit the Westcountry at the weekend.

It all started when their car broke down near Taunton on the way from Kingston in Surrey where they live and Mr Ted Lamey, together with Mr Carey Evans, also of Appledore, set out to rescue them.

But near South Molton the group ran into giant snowdrifts and became trapped. They all spent the night in the car and the following morning Mr Evans and Mr Keith Lamey set out to get water for the baby’s feed. They struggled for an hour and a half through deep drifts before reaching a farm from which they phoned for help and a helicopter from RAF Chivenor air-lifted mother and baby to hospital at Barnstaple after they had been trapped in the car nearly 15 hours.

Gazette articles dated 24 February 1978

Wind Reached 104 MPH!

Tremendous seas and trail of damage

Hurricane Force winds – a gust of 104 miles an hour was recorded at Hartland Coastguard Station – left a trail of damage around the North Devon coast early yesterday (Thursday). And the effect of the wind on the tide, coupled with heavy rainfall, led to further flooding in the Chanters Road district of Bideford. At Westward Ho! the story was said to be among the worst in living memory. Mountainous seas dashed over the promenade and houses in the Westbourne Terrace area, carrying massive pebbles even into Golf Links Road.
The pebble ridge was considerably weakened near the Bailey Bridge and slipway, allowing the sea to pour through and flood the Burrows. Stock were forced back to higher ground and a cow had to be rescued.
Four beach huts were washed from their foundations and three disintegrated. The fourth was found floating in the field together with the debris from the others as well as pots and pans.
At ‘The Gay Sombrero’ owned by Mr F Meadows, who is in Spain on holiday, part of a stone wall was demolished, allowing the sea that washed over the wall of the promenade to invade and flood the building to a depth of about six inches. Holiday flats at 8 Westbourne Terrace were flooded when a first floor window on the seaward side was smashed and waves poured through. Damage to carpets and furniture was considerable.
Nearer the slipway it was not possible to investigate some of the damage, notably at the house of aged Mrs Richards, who is in hospital. An electrical fault meant that the water was electrified.
Mr L Branch of 6 Westbourne Terrace told the Gazette ‘all hell was let loose’. She was awakened when the roof of a garage at No. 4 was carried away by the gale. Although windows were shut, she said, the sea sill penetrated into a bedroom at her home. Battling her way to an outhouse to get coal she was caught by a gigantic wave that washed over the houses and was thrown against the wall. ‘I was drenched and my face was white with salt’ she said.
Police and Northam Urban Council were inundated with calls due to roads having been blocked by fallen trees. There were two down at Stanmore and Limers Lane and Durrant Lane was also blocked. An electricity pole was also brought down by the gale and on the main road, opposite Donnington Guest House, a tree fell across Major Proctor’s newly-erected garage, shattering the roof. Roadway opposite ‘The Chalet’ was covered with broken glass from a greenhouse opposite.
Coastguards had to battle their way to the bad weather station at the end of the Burrows. So strong was the wind that at times it was difficult even to stand. ‘If this keeps us I do not know I shall get back to Westward Ho!’ said one.
No personal injuries were reported, but one casualty was a cormorant rescued by PC Rennies.
At Bideford the anti-flood pumps were in operation for a second day and an auxiliary pump was also used. At high tide the Kenwith stream flooded Elmdale Road and across the Kingsley Road for a while. Flooding in the Kenwith meadows was much more than on the previous day.
At Weare Giffard the River Torridge, already flooding meadows, spilled across the road for a while.
Rainfall at Jennetts for the 24 hours ending 9am yesterday was 0.86 inches.
Gazette article dated 12 January 1962