The Blizzard in the West / Being as Record and Story of the Disastrous Storm which Raged Throughout Devon and Cornwall, and West Somerset, On the Night of March 9th, 1891

by Unknown

Brixham.—This historic fishing town, which has before now witnessed some dreadful instances of the disaster to life and property that furious gales with blinding snowstorms can bring about, was not on the occasion of the blizzard of 1891 allowed to pass off very lightly. There was no loss of life, but some rather serious injuries happened to the trawlers at their moorings. At daylight on Tuesday it was seen that many of these had fouled each other, by dragging their anchors. In the inner harbour most of the craft had broken adrift, running against the quays and other places, and doing themselves all kinds of damage. One trawler, named the Alice, which broke adrift at high tide, was carried up to the head of the harbour with her bowsprit eight feet in over the Strand, close alongside the Prince of Orange statue. About 200 feet of the breakwater was washed away, and its pedestal was lost. Timber in large quantities was washed away from the yards of the principal shipbuilders, and in addition to the wreck of the French brig, and others before mentioned, a boat was driven on the rocks at Fishcombe, and the Seamen's Orphan Home lifeboat went ashore, and was badly knocked about. In the town many houses were unroofed, and slates flew about, serious damage being also done to a wall and embankment in Higher Street. Large quantities of glass-roofing were smashed in, and a good deal of glass was destroyed at Newmarket Hall. Many farmers lost sheep and lambs in the snow-drifts.

Bude.—The outside world and Bude were not so thoroughly estranged during the days succeeding the storm as was the case in some other instances, telegraphic communication remaining unbroken. All the other inconveniences of the blizzard—absence of mails, presence of immense drifts of snow, and similar discomforts—were freely experienced. There was an anxious time among the shipping interest in the port, many of the coasting vessels being at sea at the time the hurricane was raging. These vessels did not all escape without calamity, but, on the whole, the damage wrought to the shipping of Bude was not great.

Calstock.—The mining town of Calstock received some rough treatment during the Monday and Tuesday of the storm, and damage was here and there done to house property, but as far as the town was concerned it may be safely said to have escaped marvellously well. Bearing in mind its exposed position on the river bank, and the many tall chimneys that rear their heads from the hillside, it is singular that no smash of any magnitude has to be recorded. This is all the more remarkable when the tremendous destruction that occurred in the district, and even close to the town, is considered. On the opposite side of the river, the tracks leading through the woods to Buralston Station were rendered nearly impassable by the number of trees that fell, and the whole wood through which the path runs was a complete wreck. Mr. James, at the Passage Inn, from which the ferry leaves to cross to Calstock, was very unfortunate, his loss being a severe one. In addition to great damage to his rose-trees, for which his house has for many years been famous, the well-known blossom-covered wicker bower, standing to the left of the house, was blown bodily away into the orchard, and almost simultaneously his cherry and apple trees began to fall. Of these he lost fifty-six.

One curious incident happened at the grounds of Mr. James, in the apparently narrow escape of a couple of geese. The geese were sitting behind a barn, with twenty-two eggs under them. During the storm of Monday, the barn having been badly knocked about, and the whole orchard in a state of wreck, the fate of the geese was not held in much doubt, and the depth of the snow in the place making salvage operations very difficult, their place of concealment was not reached until Thursday after the storm. The snow being cleared from the back of the barn, however, the geese were found still sitting in the same position as that in which they had last been seen. With the exception that they had evidently worked their heads about, keeping the cavities large enough to give them breathing room, it was quite clear that they had not attempted to move. Warm food and hay were at once given to them, and they were made as comfortable as possible, and in due course, eleven goslings were hatched from the twenty-two eggs upon which the parent geese had sat through such a trying time. The young geese are now as sturdy as could be desired, and Mr. James is naturally very proud of them for having seen the light in spite of such difficulties. The mother geese will also, in all probability, be preserved as curiosities for some time to come.

On the other side of the river a shed belonging to Mr. Goss's shipbuilding yards was blown down, and cattle-sheds were unroofed and carried great distances by the force of the gale. At Danescombe Bottom, at the foot of Kelly Rock, an iron schooner, the Naïad, 250 tons, owned by Captain Samuels of Calstock, was blown over on her beam ends. The river banks, against which the masts of the vessel struck, only prevented her being turned completely over. After considerable labour she was righted, but was found to have sustained some damage. At the Rumleigh Brick-works, and at the yards of Mr. Roskelly, builder, of Albaston, much injury was occasioned. The mineral and goods line, the property of the East Cornwall Mineral Railway Company, running from Calstock to Kelly Bray, near Callington was blocked with a drift of snow some eight feet deep, and work was stopped for two days. At the end of that time it was cleared by a gang of the company's own men acting under the direction of Captain W. Sowden. On the same property about fifty yards of fencing were completely levelled. Honeycomb House, about two miles from Calstock, was damaged to the extent of about £100; Mr. Gill, of Tray Hill, lost over 100 apple trees, and Mr. German 250 fruit trees. The heaviest damage to trees was at Cotehele Woods, the property of the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, and overlooking Calstock, which would appear to have received the full fury of the blast. The terrible night passed here, and the extent of the destruction to timber, will be found dealt with at length in the chapter on Parks and Forests.

Camborne.—The change at Camborne would appear to have been an unusually startling one, since a few days before Monday, butterflies were to be seen flying about. Snow commenced to fall in the district at two o'clock on Monday afternoon, and this soon developed into the blizzard. The storm is described as the greatest and the most severe known by the oldest residents in the parish. The telegraph wires were blown down, and, lying across the streets, threw several horses down. The houses were so covered with snow as to be almost unrecognizable, and in many places the drifts were over six feet deep. Ornamental, and other trees in the town were completely spoiled, and traffic was suspended. Anxiety was at one time felt in the town for the safety of four young girls, dressmakers, of Beacon village, who left the town on the Monday evening, but it was afterwards learned that they were all in safety. In Burse-road and Pendarmes-road the shrubs and trees were broken down, and lay overhanging and obstructing the footpaths. Passages had to be cut to get to the houses, half as high as the houses themselves. A 'bus running between Camborne and Truro was snowed up near Pool, and left in the road; and near it was an abandoned organ, the peripatetic performer on which had been unable to bear it with him to a place of safety.

At a village about a mile and a half from Camborne drifts of snow were observed thirty feet deep. In the town the Board schools were closed for the week. All communication with surrounding towns was, as a matter of course, cut off for several days. At Beacon and Troon, adjoining villages, people were taken from their bedroom windows by means of ladders; and in one case, at a funeral, the coffin had to be slid down over a snowdrift. At Breage a woman was found dead in the snow. Farmers were busy in every direction rescuing their cattle and sheep from the exposed positions, but the losses in the neighbourhood were very great, hundreds of sheep being buried. Among others who suffered in this way were Mr. Carter, of Troon, who lost nearly twenty sheep and lambs; Mr. Hickens, of Tregear; Mr. Glasson, of Crowan; Mr. Josiah Thomas, of Roskear, Tuckingmill; and Mr. P. Thomas, of Camborne. Several donkies and ponies in the district perished. The little villages of Penponds, Kehelland, and Pengegon, presented a wretched appearance, and at Penponds especially it was impossible to distinguish any hedges. Mr. E. Rogers, who had undertaken to carry out some funeral arrangements at this village, was obliged to take the coffin over hedges and ditches in order to get it to the house. At Pengegon, where the water-supply is solely obtained from wells and springs, it was found necessary to use melted snow for domestic purposes. The old thatched farmhouse of Pengegon, on the Wednesday, when the sun shone, presented a strikingly beautiful appearance, and was a prominent feature of the landscape.

The village of Treslothan also shared the effect of the storm. Trees were damaged and blown down in large numbers, and even as late as Good Friday snow nearly a foot deep lay on some of the paths. A large amount of damage was also done to trees and shrubs at Reskadirmick, the abode of Captain W. C. Vivian, the beautiful carriage drive to the house being terribly disfigured. At the factories and mines business operations were, for some time, entirely suspended, and it is calculated that during the week quite a thousand persons of both sexes were enforcedly idle. Work might have gone on at the factories, but in many cases the operatives were unable to leave their homes. At the mines there was great anxiety, it being feared that the engines would stop for want of coals. Passages were, however, in time cut through, and not more than two or three engines actually ceased working. Cuttings were made from the railway station to South Condurrow and Wheal Grenville mines, a distance of more than a mile. So urgent was the need for coal at West Seaton mine on Saturday, the 14th, that forty miners were sent to help the labourers from Portreath to make a road from the railway to the mine. The Wheal Grenville and Newton mines were stopped for want of coal for some days. At Dolcoath, however, considerable difficulty was experienced on the floors in getting a sufficient supply of water to work the stamps, owing to the leats being blocked. At the fire stamps, in particular, both engines for a time ceased work, and operations were not again renewed until late on Tuesday afternoon. The openworks suffered considerably, as it took nearly the whole of the week to clear away the snow from the frames and huddles. The miners themselves were greatly inconvenienced owing to some of their homes being situated at a distance from the mines, and their being unable to get to their work; while many who had been working underground during the afternoon, found, on coming to the surface, that they could not reach their residences. At Crowan, the Rev. H. Molesworth St. Aubyn, organized and worked hard with a body of men to help in opening up communication with Camborne.

Camelford.—At this place experience, for almost the entire week, was very bitter. The residents were absolutely shut in from Monday to Friday. The last sign of the outer world was when the North Cornwall Coach, notwithstanding the snow already accumulated on the moors, passed through on its way from Launceston to Wadebridge. The market on Thursday was a dead failure, no live stock being obtainable, and carcases very scarce. There were many narrow escapes met with, but no actual loss of life occurred. As the week passed away provisions became very scarce, and there was a growing alarm. On Friday, however, four persons on horseback, unrecognizable from the quantity of snow that covered them, entered the town in single file. The party consisted of Mr. George Martyn, late of Trewen, Manager of the North Cornwall Coach Company, Mr. Hicks, one of the clerks at Wadebridge, and the coachman and guard of the coach which had gone through on Monday. The party, who brought with them a very welcome copy of the Western Morning News, held an interview with Mr. Evelyn, the Town Clerk of Camelford, and subsequently, under the direction of the road-surveyor, a body of men was organized to cut through the three miles of snow-covered road between Camelford and Wadebridge, for the purpose of opening up a means of obtaining provisions from the latter place. This was ultimately accomplished, and by Tuesday, March 17th, the North Cornwall Coach was once more able to run to Launceston, and the Mail, from Camelford to Boscastle, also ran. Hundreds of sheep were lost, the drifts of snow being so high that much time was lost in getting at those that were buried beneath, and they were taken out dead in large numbers. Mr. Pethick, Mr. Inch, Mr. Lobb, and Mr. Greenwood, in addition to many farmers, suffered severely in this respect.

Cargreen.—At this riverside village, situated on the banks of the Tamar, the gale of Monday and Tuesday caused great havoc among the fruit-trees. Mr. E. Elliott, of Landulph, lost about three hundred apple-trees, many of which had been planted by himself thirty years before.