storm of 1987

[Tim Stobart Tree Surgery]

I was 7 living in Uckfield, East Sussex. It was if my memory serves me correctly, the 17th of October, and we got away lightly. I slept through it and we lost one slate of the roof. Carnage when we headed to school the next day, trees everywhere. The school however lost it's entire roof and was shut for ages, followed by lessons in church halls etc. I remember a big yew being uprooted in the church yard and being able to see skeletons beneath it's plate. We had a caravan that was sheltered and undamaged. We lived out of it for a while until power and gas were restored.

I had the misfortune of sitting on the horizontal stem of a large chestnut a day or two after (maybe that was the 17th), and my obese sister was climbing the tree (as my parents had specifically told us not to do). When she fell, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and she landed on me, shattering and dislocating my elbow. There was an X-ray of my shoulder that showed my forearm. I remember a doctor telling me that I may loose the use of my right arm (the most terrifying moment of my life to date), but after 2 operations and it being pinned, it's now pretty good. I cannae touch my shoulder with it mind, and it's a right pain if I ever go rock climbing. By the time I was using my right arm again, I was better at writing with my left hand than my right. Took me ages to get used to using my right arm again.

 

The other lasting memory; Going outside before I went to bed. It was hot. Not warm, but properly humid HOT. Michael Fish got it sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo wrong.

[NFG]

Hi

 

I remember it well, spent a fair bit of time fixing the church roof as a number of slates were removed

 

N

[cornish wood burner]

I was working in a workshop (Cornwall) with a heavy steel door at the time and vividly remember seeing this door bending as if there was a dozer outside trying to get in. Sounded like it as well. We only lost a few slates from the leading edge of our house roof so we were luckier than most. The village was without power for a week and almost all the garden sheds were flat packed either by trees or the wind. Most houses lost some slates or worse. Roofers made a killing that month.

Only helped with the clear up on my old mans farm but it certainly thinned out the weak rooted trees.Kept us in firewood for a year or so.

[Wolfie]

Don't remember a lot about the storm, only that our garden wall blew over. It was rebuilt and lasted two years until the 89 storm!

 

 

 

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[Gary Prentice]

Don't remember a lot about the storm, only that our garden wall blew over. It was rebuilt and lasted two years until the 89 storm!

 

 

 

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I bet your dad does though:lol: I slept through it, woke about 6AM to my fiancee saying it's been like this all night. I ran up to the phone box, rang work and got ordered in.

 

They'd tried to wake us earlier but couldn't:blushing: Just got to take saws in my car and start clearing roads. "which ones?" "

 

Any, but concentrate on the main roads and note addresses, we'll sort out billing later!"

 

Absolute mayhem in Cambridge, chucking branches into peoples gardens, just to open roads. We ended up at a childrens home, can't remember where, at a huge beech which was lifting everytime it gusted - it stayed blowy all day. Put a cable off the Matador around the co-dom, leaning towards the building, and attached it to the second stem, with a view to biting it out and sliding it around and down the cable - away from the home.

 

Remember the boss asking if I was ok climbing to bite it out. If I didn't want too they were going to evacuate the building and put the kids into the local school hall. I got told not to put a lanyard onto a brand new 2100cd, if it got stuck just to leave it and get down.

 

Bit it, left a good hinge and got down, trees still lifting, and tensiones the cable. Came down as planned, felled the remaining stem in pitch darkness and called it a day. Just mental, some of the things we were doing really:biggrin:

 

 

Worked on a shelter belt on one of the Newmarket rides, for James Waugh, after that. Big mature beech again, I think it took 3-4 weeks just to re-open the road again. Tree on top of tree, on top of tree. Had some three Brays on site, they'd move something and the tree you were sawing 200ft away would move. God played 'pick up sticks' with those.

 

As someone said above. You couldn't buy a saw for weeks. Every-man and his dog bought a saw - and cut themselves, causing the HSE to jump on the industry.

[Wolfie]

I bet your dad does though:lol:

 

 

Oh yes, he was out night and day. One job was trying to clear Tennis court road. Nowhere to stack so trying to throw branches back over Downing's high wall.

 

My first teacher, Peter Large, was telling us of his experience. He was out day and night for two/three nights solid. Finally got home, sat on door step to take boots off and woke up the next day on the door step.

 

 

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[Graham]

Where does that time go to? 1987 seems like five minutes ago. The first year of self-employment for me and was earning 2k a week when we went down south!

[Gary Prentice]

Where does that time go to? 1987 seems like five minutes ago. The first year of self-employment for me and was earning 2k a week when we went down south!

 

I know. Queens Silver Jubilee in 1977, the storm, Y2000, Golden Jubilee, the Twin Towers, we've quietly got old

[s.varty]

Hi

 

I remember it well, spent a fair bit of time fixing the church roof as a number of slates were removed

 

N

 

At least that's what you told the police:laugh1:

[Stubby]

I was 34 in 1987 . The things I remember are ...Micheal Fish ( the weather man ) saying " don't worry " !!!! the evening before . Waking up the next morning and looking across the sky line at West Dean and it being totally different . Some of it was replanted and some was left to regen itself . The regen has done much better in my opinion . If you look at that sky line today there are 1 or 2 who survived that stand out twice the height of everything else .