26 years since the Great Storm

[Ex-Staffs Gull]

Slightly drunk walking back through Eastbourne with a mate. Windows in Debenhams were smashed and people were helping themselves. We decided to leave and go home. Wind started getting bad and my mate got pinned behind a gate he opened. Eventually made it home and slept until tree branch came through the roof! That sobered me up!

 

[Grombleton]

I was only 3 at the time so i slept right through it - i lived in Billingshurst at the time and our house narrowly missed having a tree topple on it but i vaguely remember not being able to go to school and having helping clear up with my parents.

 

[forrest]

I was only 11 at the time. Heard the wind outside and went back to sleep. Woke up in the morning, looked out the bathroom window to see all the trees down in the nature reserve behind us. Day off school as all the schools in haywards heath were shut. So spent the day playing down in the nature reserve on all the fallen trees. pretty dangerous really as the wind was still howling during the day.

My dad worked in Burgess Hill, him and his mate tried driving. But gave up as they couldn't get through Haywards heath town centre due to most of the shop windows being blown out and glass everywhere. so they walked down Issacs lane. Bloody nutters.

The kids that lived in Horstead Keynes that went to my school had a nice long break as they were cut off for over a week and had the army fly in food supplies.

Also remember that year over at Lindfield we didnt need to build a bonfire on November 5th as the contracters built one for us with all the fallen trees.

 

[backson]

Was in a caravan on a school trip to Dorset. We got evacuated about midnight, had to sit in minibuses for ages whilst they sorted out somewhere for us to go, with one minibus getting hit with a bit of corrugated iron roof from somewhere. Ended up in some kind of day centre in Swanage, when we went back in the morning a handful of caravans had tipped over and split open.

Great fun when you're 15

 

[Stumpy Tim]

Slept through it, and in the morning my brother got up to do his paper-round...

 

[drew]

I slept through it. However, working for a commercial insurance broker I can assure the phones were very busy over the next few months.

 

[Hillian1]

Another slept through it here, mainly due to being quite drunk.

I do remember walking from Cuckfield to Haywards Heath the night before and thinking everything was very calm. Next morning I got to work in Burgess Hill 4 and a half hours late to find there was only 3 of us there and 2 of those came from Haywards Heath, only 1 of the Burgess Hill lot bothered.

 

[vegster]

I remember it well, I was woken by the sound of the wind and the death rattle of my slates sliding down the roof at regular intervals. I looked out of my window and could see the slates on the house opposite lifting and falling in groups as the wind eddied over the roof. I got in to work, eventually as Chesswood road was impassable as every 10 yards a tree in Homefield Park had gone over bring down huge chunks off the surrounding wall.

Always remember, it happened at low tide on a short tide, if it had hit at high on a spring tide there would have been catastrophe.

 

[StonehamPark]

Quick quiz.
Where was this photo taken:

 

[Gritt23]

Quick quiz.
Where was this photo taken:

Stoneham Park.

 

[Colossal Squid]

I was only young but what stands out in my memory was that it took OVER A WEEK to get the electricity back on in our street. The idea of going without any electricity for that long now seems utterly unimaginable

 

[Uncle C]

I was back in town at the weekend and was impressed at how well the trees in Hove Park have re-established themselves.

 

[PFJ]

Drove back from London after seeing Doctor and the Medics .Drove through it in a Triumph Spitfire . My mate spent the whole M23 stretch with his hand out of the window holding on to the soft top roof. Thought it was a bit windy . Got to Handcross Hill and it was like driving through a sea of leaves , very surreal , especially when a For Sale sign went flying over the car. The first I realised how windy it had been , was when I saw the first tree down , just outside the Black Lion pub in Patcham. Very odd waking up the next morning and wondering where Stanmer woods had gone.
Made it to work the next day through peoples gardens and off roading through Hove Park to get to work in Newtown Road.

 

[Mr Blobby]

I lived at home at time in Princes Crescent in Hove. We lost about half our roof that night. I remember going to football on the Saturday (H v Preston North End) and the damage to Hove Park was shocking, nearly ever tree uprooted!

I was working at the Royal Bank in George street at the time and we couldnt believe the number of complaints we got because the cash machine was out of action!

I was sent this link ages ago re damage to Hove park - around 6 mins 50 you can see Hove Park opposite the Goldstone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wsj67HgCwTQ

 

[brakespear]

Also slept through it. Had an interview the next day at the Careers Office on the Steine that I didn't want to go to and amidst allthe damage and broken trees etc the place was still open

 

[The Andy Naylor Fan Club]

I slept through but was woken up by my father thinking that the roof was going to fly off at any time. sitting in the living room no electricity, absolute silence apart from the odd tile flying down the road. Very weird feeling,quite eerie. Wish he had left me asleep.

 

[Coldeanseagull]

Remember it all too well, a real sixpence, half a crown night. Most of the roof came off and the back door broke in half. The rabbit hutch was blown over the wall and shattered on next doors patio(rabbit was shaken, but ok). My shed was decimated but the greenhouse was moved 3ft without breakage. My car(2000e Cortina estate) was blown into another with minimal damage whereas the neighbours car had roof tiles embedded in the bonnet. With all the payouts from insurance companies, guess who got stiffed by the loss adjusters?
For months afterwards, the slightest breeze would cause my heart to race. I can still hear the noise of breaking glass and smashing tiles and never want to experience anything like that again

 

[tinycowboy]

My parents' house is in the middle of a wood. I remember that my brother was away, my dad wasn't there and my mum and I spent the whole night listening to trees crashing down around us. I was petrified. The next morning I opened the front door to find that it was blocked by leaves - a huge tree had fallen parallel to the house, but not on it. We could not get out to the nearest town for a couple of days. There were people with chainsaws all down the lane trying to saw it clear. I still like woods though.

 

[Bevendean Hillbilly]

Looked out of my front window in Worthing to see something like this. Thought the bomb had gone off while I was akip.

 

[boik]

I was in France in Morlaix following The Beloved on their French tour. Gig was cancelled that night, and we had an amazing taxi ride back with the maniac driver swerving his Citroen CX round chimney pots, trees and even the roof of a petrol station. Amazingly enough trains were running the next day, but all of the pine trees next to the track were snapped off about 12-15 ft up.

When I got back home, there was a huge tree on top of my soft-top car, but when I pushed in and checked, it was completely undamaged, with the huge trunk resting about an inch from the roof. The tree guys were fantastic and removed it without any damage to the car at all. Mind you, half the roof of my house was missing.

Dramatic days!