50 Years Ago

[kar999]

"Storm cuts power in Stafford (Originally published: August 15, 1955)

Electricity supply was cut off, women shoppers and other pedestrians were drenched, children were frightened and traffic was brought almost to a standstill in Saturday's thunderstorm in Stafford.

But while people in the north of the town fought a losing battle to keep water from their doorsteps, people living in the south end did not get the dust laid in their gardens.

Only the short duration of the tropical like downpour saved many homes from being flooded.

Lightning struck a grid transformer at the rear of Stafford power station and power supplies were cut off to a large section of the town. Normal supplies were restored after nearly an hour.

Women shoppers were drenched before they could reach shelter."

-------- > Obviously the men didn't shop in those days and would have been safely in the pub!

-------- > And this sounds like a dust devil.

"Whirlwind 'visitor' to Chadsmoor (Originally published: August 16, 1955)

A miniature whirlwind at West Chadsmore yesterday tore off the span roof of a garden shed, spun it through the air for 30 yards and deposited it on the roof of a bungalow, where a number of tiles were smashed.

The shed is in the garden of the bungalow - home of Mrs Bertram Maiden, at Keats Avenue.

She told an Express & Star reporter: "A terrific wind sprung up without warning, and it was all over in a matter of minutes.

"I was listening to the wireless when I heard a bump, and was amazed when I found part of Bert's shed deposited near my back door," said a neighbour, Mr W Johnson."

(All credits to http://www.midlandsmemories.com/onthisday/50yearsago.php)

[Osbourne One-Nil]

Also 50yrs ago today, Peter Tattum and John Holmes share a joint retirement party.

[shuggee]

There's been a lot in the news recently about historic catastrophic weather events such as this.

Very interesting reading - and in the days before GW... Ken?

[Terminal Moraine]

Indeed so Shuggee. A look at any issue of British Rainfall will reveal a wealth of severe thunderstorms, excessive amounts of rain in a few hours or a day, hailstorms etc etc.

This applies to every year since the publication began in the 1860s to its' demise in the early 60s. The only difference between then and now seems to be that now, we hear of almost every incident due to saturation media coverage and the wonder of the web.

T.M

[johnholmes]

Also 50yrs ago today, Peter Tattum and John Holmes share a joint retirement party.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

got the day wrong OON and can't remember seeing PT but then its not surprising given my age now!

[Thundery wintry showers]

1955 was undoubtedly a classic year- hence the large number of "50 Years Ago" threads that keep coming up!

There was an even bigger summer storm during July 1955, apparently.

[kar999]

50 years ago 17th November 1955

Must have been quite a pea-souper!

Four fall into canal in dense fog - Express & Star

Edited November 18, 2005 by kar999

[kar999]

Following the coldest night of the winter all areas of the West Midlands suffered power cuts this morning as the demand for electricity soared..........

......Throughout Britain road conditions were rendered extremely hazardous. The intensely cold night - 13 degrees of frost were recorded at Shawbury, Salop - resulted in mist, thick fog, snow and ice.

Coldest night and power cuts (Dec 19 1955) Express & Star

I'm not sure if they used Centigrade in those days. If that's fahrenheit above then that's -25C Brrrrrrr.

[Summer of 95]

Following the coldest night of the winter all areas of the West Midlands suffered power cuts this morning as the demand for electricity soared..........

......Throughout Britain road conditions were rendered extremely hazardous. The intensely cold night - 13 degrees of frost were recorded at Shawbury, Salop - resulted in mist, thick fog, snow and ice.

Coldest night and power cuts (Dec 19 1955) Express & Star

I'm not sure if they used Centigrade in those days. If that's fahrenheit above then that's -25C Brrrrrrr.

No- 13 degrees below 32F so only 19F- that's about -7. It's been colder at Shawbury (and here) in the 2000s!

[kar999]

Thanks for the clarification SO95. I thought -25c was a bit chilly!

[kar999]

A right Pea-Souper.....

Fog causes chaos in W Mids

...... One of the worst fogs in the history of the town made Wolverhampton a major bottleneck for road and rail transport.......

Originally published: Jan 6, 1956 Express & Star

[optrex]

Thats a pretty decent site there, made for some interesting reading :lol:

[kar999]

Midlands worst hit by freeze

Originally published: Feb 1, 1956 Express & Star

More snow fell in the West Midlands today after the coldest night in the region, and in other parts of Britain, for nine years.

At Wolverhampton and the centre of Birmingham there were 15 degrees of frost, and at Dudley 14 degrees.

Birmingham airport has the unenviable distinction of recording the lowest temperature to the Air Ministry. It had 22 degrees of frost........

.................And there is no sign of a change, say the experts. The frigid conditions will go on for at least another 48 hours.

I haven't heard that term for cold being used by the met recently!

[Thundery wintry showers]

February 1956 was certainly a cold month (CET -0.2). Looking at the historic charts, it looks like the first half was mostly cold and dry, while the second half looks to have been quite snowy in places.

[kar999]

The 50 year-old beast from the East perhaps!

[Rollo]

The 50 year-old beast from the East perhaps!

I spent my first week in the RAF during the last week of February 1956 and can confirm it was bl**dy cold with one heck of a lot of snow,I think the cold spell lasted until around the end of the first week of March.

[kar999]

March winds...

Looks like the Atlantic was reeking havoc 50 years ago.

Gales cause havoc - Express & Star

Originally published: March 2, 1956

Three people were killed and extensive damage was done in a gale which lashed the Northern and Midland counties of England and parts of Scotland during the night.

Of the people who died, one was struck by a train whose approach he did not hear because of the wind. Another was buried when a wall collapsed, and a third died in his sleep when a roof was blown in.........

See link above for full article