The Great Freeze of 1963
The winter of 1962/3 is widely regarded as one of the worst on record. Details will be added here of how it affected the two villages.
Storm Events
Over the years there have been many storms that have caused damage and incident in the two villages, whether it to be to the line of elm trees being felled near the river, or the electricity substation being hit by a thunderbolt. Hopefully some personal recollections will be added here, but a few press reports are included below,
The 1913 Cyclone
A cyclone was reported by the Rugby Advertiser in 1913 as follows
‘A CYCLONE AT CHURCH LAWFORD’ EXTRAORDINARY EFFECTS
On Tuesday evening last a cyclone passed over this village and neighbourhood, and no one living here seems to remember having seen anything like it before. The wind was terrific, the air seemed to be full of smoke, and branches of trees were torn off and carried long distances. It appears to have started somewhere in the vicinity of Ling Hall Farm, where it took the roof off a cart shed; then travelled towards Lawford Lodge, where several apple trees stood in the way, and were laid flat, some of the apples being carried for a distance of 100 yards. Mr T Chalmers, who was In one of his fields, stood and watched its progress towards the village, taking trees, hedges, and gates in its course. He described it as a wonderful, though fearful sight. One gate across the road, about half-way between Mr Chalmer’s house and the village, was wrenched off its hinges, one hinge being cut through as with a knife; the gate was broken through the middle and taken right up into the air.
The Cyclone continued its course towards the village, across London & Birmingham Railway, and the road from Rugby to Church Lawford, where Mrs F Cooke and Mrs H Gurney were walking. Mrs Cooke was leading a bicycle. The machine was wrenched out of her hand, and both of them were flung into the hedge at the side of the road, this probably saving them from something worse. About 20 or 30 yards farther along it took an orchard in the occupation of Mr H Brierly, uprooting four or five trees as it went. By now it had reached the village, and the roofs were partly stripped off houses occupied by Miss Riley (this was thatch) and Messrs H M Cooke and Gamble, both of which were tiled. A little farther on a line of washing was carried away and some of this has not been found.
The storm then passed down the fields towards King’s Newnham, and just at this time several men were coming home from work. Two of them W Barrett and W Jones narrowly escaped injury from a large bough which was torn from an elm tree. W Barrett’s cap was taken up, and all efforts to trace it have failed. The two men, clinging together, were taken back a considerable distance at a run.
The mill was the next building attacked, and part of the roof was carried away. A large elm tree and several fruit trees in King’s Newnham village were torn down, and also at the keeper’s lodge, occupied by Mr T Rose.
The cyclone seemed by now to be getting a little spent, although it took a wider course than when it began on Mr T Chalmer’s farm, where it could be traced through the fields about nine yards wide, whereas in the village two of the houses which were struck at the same time stand some 90 or 100 yards apart.
While it was passing, the air seemed to be full of smoke, birds, and small branches of trees, and it was accompanied all the time with a roaring and hissing sound, like the escaping of steam from a huge boiler. Horses, cattle, and sheep were to be seen running wildly up and down, as if terrified, in the fields through which this alarming phenomenon passed.
About 6-45pm the cyclone passed over Easenhall, going northwards. On the estate of Mr Bailey-Worthington, of Town Thorns, it just passed east of the Hall with terrific force, doing considerable damage to timber trees, tearing off great limbs and carrying them a considerable distance Lesser boughs were carried high up in the air. The top of one tree was completely torn off.
Alf Day (then working as a young Blacksmith for Charles Whiteman) reported on the storm in a postcard to his mother.
Nineteenth Century Storm
In the nineteenth century, a storm in 1895 caused destruction throughout the local area – reported in the Nuneaton Advertiser of 30th March of that year.
Flooding / Rainfall
Over the years the villages have suffered flood damage and disruption many times. Hopefully some personal recollections will be added here, but pictures are included below,
General Weather Information
Rainfall
The graph below shows the local Rainfall Data for the past 25 years or so (using the Lawford Heath Weather Station data) at a seasonal level. The seasons are the “Met Office Seasons” – Dec, Jan, Feb for Winter; Mar, Apr, May for Spring; Jun, Jul, Aug for Summer; and Sep, Oct, Nov for Autumn. The data starts with the winter of 1989/90 and the totals are in mm.
Temperature Records
The graph below shows the local Temperature Data for the past 25 years or so (using the Lawford Heath Weather Station data) at a seasonal level. The seasons are the “Met Office Seasons” – Dec, Jan, Feb for Winter; Mar, Apr, May for Spring; Jun, Jul, Aug for Summer; and Sep, Oct, Nov for Autumn. The data starts with the winter of 1989/90 and the values are in degrees centrigrade.
Other Natural Events
Dutch Elm Disease