Blagdon Local History Society
June 09

Extreme Weather (1968 & all that) – Forum
21 May 2009

The forum was essentially about the floods of 1968 with mentions of some other significant extreme weather events. July 10th 1968 is a day that will live on in the memories of people for many generations to come. It was the day the skies opened up, bringing rains that would cause major destruction to the area including Blagdon. Over 5 inches of rain fell on the region in less than 24 hours in what was the worst storm in over 50 years. The intensity of the downpour increased as the day wore on, with nearly constant thunder and lightning and unfortunately some of the worst of the effects came after dark. Land in the area was already sodden, causing 'sheet run-off' to occur.

Mike, Anne, Daphne and Olga, led sections of the slide presentation. One of the worst affected parts of Blagdon was the valley containing Street End Lane. Several cottages in the lane were very badly affected and photos taken by the residents were shown. The photo above was taken in the combe looking down to the cottages and shows the deep trench about ten feet deep which was carved out by the torrent of water. The soil and rocks were washed down to the cottages and one family had to be rescued by the fire service - the crew was actually from Weston-super-Mare, strengthened by some members from Blagdon. The water continued down the valley to affect a number of houses on Bath Road.

Another area badly affected was Score Lane. The cascade of water made a terrible noise and people either side of the torrent could not hear each other shouting. Books and other equipment in the school had to be rescued.*Extracts from the school log were shown. The Blagdon Fire engine was called out continuously for many days. At Winford a car was deposited on top of the porch of a house near the Prince of Waterloo public house. Water rushing down Garston Lane was cleverly diverted down the footpath towards the pumping station by a large railway sleeper placed in its path.

In 1606 a great storm affected a large area around the Severn estuary. There are several plaques on buildings recording the water level, notably on the churches at Kingston Seymour and Redwick. Two thousand people died and the water remained on the land for many weeks. A scientific team has studied sites around the estuary and come up with evidence that the event was a tsunami. The main evidence is from the sandy deposits left after the event and the fact that exceptionally large boulders were washed up a particular beach.

In 1703 a great storm raged from 26 to 27 November and caused thatch and tiles to be blown off houses in Ubley. Damage was recorded in Burrington but strangely there is no mention of the event in the Blagdon Churchwardens Accounts. However, several years later, the parapet of Blagdon Church had to be repaired. Daniel Defoe circulated the incumbents of villages and wrote The Storm (1704), a collection of eyewitness accounts of the tempest.

One silver lining in 1968 was the discovery of Upper Flood, Middle Flood and Grebe Swallets near Charterhouse, which have been explored since and a beautiful chamber has been opened up in the last few years.

* No photographs of Score Lane or Blagdon School during the 1968 floods came to light leading up to the forum. Please contact Mike on 462179 if you have such photos and would allow us to see them and preferably borrow them to scan.

Mike Adams