104mph gust at Liverpool

[Weather-history]

There were three major weather events during the winter of 1927-28, the Great Christmas Blizzard, the Thames flood and surge of January and this event which has been forgotten but affected a large part of England, Wales and Ireland.

Since early January 1928, the weather had been very unsettled and mild and zonal, January was exceptionally wet. On the 10th of February 1928, a low tracked across the far north of England and deepened producing severe gales along its southern flank, a gust of over 100mph was recorded at Liverpool. There was large scale wind damage and a number of lives were lost. Details are sketchy but it was believed that at least 12 people died as a result of the gales.

Here is from the Times of 13th February 1928 on the great gale of 10th/11th February

[Coast]

The following is a report from that day by Willie Archbold who lived in the fishing village of Craster, situated on the Northumberland coast 6 miles northeast of Alnwick:

My mother's brother's boat, 'The Provider' with two other fishermen from here, Tom Archbold and James Sanderson and my uncle, William Stephenson and they went to the long lines. It was 1928, Friday, 10th February. There would be about 9 to 10 fishing boats from Craster then and my father said it was a pretty good morning when they set off. It was flat calm, but there was a red sky and they didn't like that, but never mind the boats went away. They shot the lines and as the day wore on, coming up to 11 o' clock the wind blew up from the south east and the boats were fishing south east of here. They had to come forward, which is very bad for a coble - they are better coming into it and they had to come into Craster and my father was the last in, bar the one that never returned. He was with the two Smailes brothers - Billy Smailes father and uncle. And my father told me that they were still hauling the lines when they passed the boat that never returned and they seemed OK when they were off Cullernose about two mile out, coming in.

There was a tremendous sea had started the back of them, what we call a south easterly lipper and they saw it coming towards them and one of them in the boat asked if they were going to turn the boat to head up to it 'cos they were stern onto it and they said no, in case it caught them broadside on and that would be a bad job. They put the boat's engine out of gear and, when they were hit, the boat was nearly stopped and when the sea hit them there were two or three bucketfuls came into the boat, but one of them seas had hit the boat that never returned. It just took one, that's what they thought and I'm sure they were right, but my father said they never got another bad one like that, for a good job and they just put her into gear again and put her in the harbour. They got in about 11 o'clock and they reckon the boat was lost about 12 noon.

There was an old fisherman on the summerhouse, they called him Simpson. He died in June of that year. He was 88. He wasn't getting out with being old and he was looking out of the window and there was a man called Bob Taylor, he was going back and forward asking him if he could see it, 'cause everybody was watching for it. About 12 noon, he must have seen out the window and he said, “if that boat's not in now, it'll never come back” and he was right. The sad thing about it as well, the Boulmer Lifeboat was sailing then and my uncle's father, his brother, was the coxswain of the lifeboat and it was sad for him, because it was my uncle who was in the boat.

There was only one motor lifeboat then on the Northumberland coast, between the Tweed and the Tyne and that was at Holy Island and they fetched it out and it came right up here and they asked the shipping to look out. As the day wore on the wind turned to the land and my father said that about 2 o'clock, he asked for volunteers and the two Smailes volunteered and they launched the coble and they found a hat and an oar and some dead fish, not exactly where the boat had sunk. They did know exactly where the boat had gone, 'cos there was oil and that winter it broke up on the bottom 'cos there were bits coming in. There were three crew lost, my uncle, William Stephenson who was 31, Tom Archbold, the skipper was 51 and James Sanderson, he was about 39. They were all bachelors at that time, although my uncle was courting.

Courtesy: www.crasterhistory.co.uk

[Weather-history]

82 years ago