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, 1891Unknown
History
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
Unknown
Blizzards -- England -- Cornwall (County) -- History; Cornwall (England : County) -- History; Devon (England) -- History
ST. COLUMB.--The advent of the blizzard at St. Columb was sudden and
unexpected, and the force of the wind drifted most of the snow into
the roads and hedges in such a way as to completely stop all vehicular
traffic. In some spots the drifts were fifteen feet high. No letters
or papers arrived in the town from Monday until Wednesday evening,
and among other inconveniences was the unavoidable postponement of a
wedding which was to have taken place. As this event was not fixed for
any earlier date than the last day of the week, and could not take
place then, some idea of the condition of the country may be formed.
The farmers were apparently taken by surprise, as most of their sheep
were out, and hundreds were buried beneath the snow. Many lambs and
sheep were found at a depth of seven or eight feet, and instances
occurred of lambs, who had been born under circumstances such as these,
being found alive and healthy. Buried houses were by no means an
uncommon occurrence. At Winnard's Perch, about two miles from Redruth,
a woman was snowed in from Monday until Wednesday at noon, when she was
dug out. Great damage was also done to trees, and for a time business
was suspended.
ST. IVES.--A tempestuous sea was the chief cause of suffering at St.
Ives. The blizzard blew mainly from the E.N.E., and caused sad havoc
along the coast on Monday night and Tuesday. Ships in positions of
peril were occasionally observed, and the lifeboat crew, with rocket
apparatus, held themselves in readiness, and in some cases, endeavoured
to get near the endangered vessels, but the tracks to the shore were
impassable. The window of a cottage on the Warren, overlooking the sea,
was blown in, and the sea rushed in and partly filled one of the rooms.
Slates and chimneypots were blown about to the imminent danger of the
inhabitants. A man named Metters left St. Ives for St. Just, with a
donkey cart, on Monday, to sell herrings, and after nearly a week's
absence his friends gave him up for lost, but he returned to his home
on the following Monday, having been snowed up at St. Just for the
entire week.
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