storm of 1987

[TheTreeWiseMen]

I was 19, remember it well....worked my balls off clearing up that mess. Never forget seeing roads where every tree was laying on the floor all the same way.

[Jason James Gairn]

I woke up to find a caravan in my back garden. We never found out who it belonged to either, it had blown some distance. The damage to trees was because of heavy rains and late leaf drop. Most damage was entire mature trees going over with the root plate. I know of a guy who went to an un-named chainsaw suppliers and bought their entire stock of saws and then did a tail gate shop out side the original store selling saws at 4 times the price.

First Ive heard of it not being a hurricane. Getting accross epping forest on the roads was impossible for weeks. Lots of work for everyone though. Many firms started with the Hurricane.

15 million trees were uprooted.

[Craig Johnson]

as ayoung man (18) i rushed down to kent with a gang i'd just started out cutting pulp for (200 quid a week) on the promise of untold riches,production was plentiful,worked 12hr days,one good week,market flooded,went home to discover father had sold 4x200 hoppus ft burr elms for £10 cube,did the maths and decided its not who you know,its what you know

 

true

 

i went down on the same promise (but a little older) stayed for a few weeks and realised there was no one at home to do the work there, so came home.

[Lee Winger]

was half watching a programme on britains worse weather last night. Was goin on about bad storm when thousands and thousands of trees went down in 1987, I was only 8 half remember it! Did any of you older contractors clean up in more ways than one. (thought it was 86, cheers skyhuck)

 

 

I was busy clearing up, not exactly earning mega bucks though, I was just a kid 19 or so....

[niftysteve]

that was the year i left school. I remember there was a huge horsechesnut in front of the school that dropped a large limb straight on to the french techers car LOL

[John Shutler]

on sunday i went to look at taking down 2 beech trees that are all that remains of a long line,the rest of which came down in 87

[Treejedi]

I was 16 when the storm hit, 2 months into a YTS working for what was Southern Tree Surgeons. An amazing eye opener to tree surgery.

[arbogrunt]

I was on hurricane alert in Belize, they had us cutting all the coconuts off the trees!. When I saw the news I thought it must be some sort of practical joke. We never did get that hurricane out there...

[David Humphries]

I was 18 and had just started driving tractors.

 

It was the catylyst that took me into working with trees.

 

 

27 years on, some remnants of the great storm can still be seen.....

 

.

[woody woodpecker]

Hi I was about 17 at the time and studying at Bicton college on the way home we used various green lanes and crossed fields when we found the road blocked by trees the land rover came in very use full that day.