Great Storm of -87

[WorcsWuss]

I was in a caravan in essex when I found one of those blowup rubber doll things in distress in the debris,I think it had done a 'mary poppins' from chelmsford to maldon,so I shot it in the gob

 

:lol::lol:

[geoff]

:lol::lol:

 

OOps,hope Felix isn't looking in here!

 

It was a fascinating event,(the storm),lots of the trees where I was that survived have a lean on them where they partialy turned their roots,mainly scots pine & a few ash.

A long row of bat willows were all but over,exposing the root & soil,I winched them up & propped them,& they mostly got themselves stable again.

Edited October 15, 2012 by geoff

[Graham]

It was my first year of self-employment. I didn't jump on the bandwagon but was asked to do some clear up work in Croydon.

 

Went down with truck, tools, tractor loader and chipper. I just remember living in a caravan, heating water on a brazier we made for washing and what seemed like total devastation.

 

As I remember it was followed by another big blow in early '88 which managed to clear some more loosened by the first storm.

[Stubby]

I was 35 and I woke up and looked across to the woods at West Dean and they were gone . It put a lump in my throat . Some areas were replanted and others left . The areas that were left and regenerated naturally seem to have done better than the the planted areas .

[openspaceman]

I never made much money from this storm as I was busy keeping existing customers happy. Certainly didn't rip anyone off.

 

Me too, big mistake

 

I believe the accidents that happened with inexperienced chainsaw users at the time led to the current certification trend though I may be wrong.

 

You're not wrong IMO as that is what I believe happened

[Rich2484]

I wasn't really asking about ripping people off. More about anyone who found that the storm helped kick start there business.

[lowerforest]

I spent the day at Windsor Great Park trying to cut a clearway to my parents house next to Offa's Oak (as its now called). 1300 years old, propped with wooden poles, and yet it stood whilst other younger and more vigorous trees nearby fell. The scene across the Park was one of catastrophe, with so many veteran trees blown over, not to mention entire modern plantations of conifers, which tumbled like dominoes in a rowdy pub table game.

 

Go there today, and you'd never know it had happened ....

[Stereo]

I was 16 and out on the beers with some mates. It was a bit windy by midnight out so we decided to go up to Dartington woods and see what was going on. The night was a bit of a blur as we were pretty hammered but I do recall running through the woods laughing and all these crashing sounds around us. Pretty bloody stupid.

 

The next day it was like some kind of apocalypse movie.

[Old WoodChip]

Me too, big mistake

 

 

 

You're not wrong IMO as that is what I believe happened

 

 

We missed the wind in Wales but I knew of some who drove up there & made loads£££££, I was a fool and stayed home keeping regulars happy:confused1: you live and learn.

 

I dont think it lead to present H&S, all that was on the cards and IMHO is why we have no heavy industry in this country,(life is cheap in China) that and maggy wanting to kill the big unions...... thats another long story

[john p]

I was 35 and I woke up and looked across to the woods at West Dean and they were gone . It put a lump in my throat . Some areas were replanted and others left . The areas that were left and regenerated naturally seem to have done better than the the planted areas .

 

I lived in west dean then,at the vine yard,woke up morning after and saw whole avenue of beeches gone,was 10 at the time and thought it was brilliant!west dean got hit propr hard