A MIGHTY RUSHING WIND

Quite apart fro the power outs yesterday I found when I came to publish yesterdays blog that our internet connection was also out, which put both myself and my son in bad humours as we had a good deal of correspondence to attend to.
Watching yesterdays weather forecast and seeing that there was a possibility of yet another blasted gale I did all I could to tie up my plants and to tie down anything which might blow away and this proved to be a wise precaution.

All was relatively calm until dusk when from no where a great gust of wind hit the trees in the lane causing the branches to toss alarming l and to creak and groan like and old sailing ship. Through the window of my newly liberated quiet room a young ash tree bent almost in half by the power of the gust touched the window with the tips of its branches and gave the poor cat a terrific fright, she shot under the bed and refused to budge for ages.

During the evening the gust became more violent and more frequent until they became a tearing wind which ripped its way through the young leaves scattering branches and twigs every where. Coming as I do from a moorland environment I am well used to howling gales, the difference is that on open moorland there is very little that can be damaged by such force .Trees are scarce and the houses , particularly the old ones were build with the forces of nature in mind.

The farmhouse I grew up in had walls three feet thick , a heavy slate roof and flat small paned widows to withstand the gusts, many houses even had shutters. There are also fewer items to blow about, now and then a badly maintained hen house would disappear during the night and the chickens would be found the next day rammed into a hedge of with luck sheltering in a more sable building.

Gales in town are I think far more dangerous, on country lanes it a tree comes down the chances that there will be some one passing at the time are slim,in town were roads are busier the odds are much shorter. Bill boards, hoardings, scaffolding and dustbin lids are frequently scattered during violent storms. Just a short distance from my home the actor Gordon Kaye aka Rene Artois was almost killed by a wind blown sign board, it was a shocking business.

During last nights gale the lane was soon filled with branches and in the shelter belt another old tree fell at around two in the morning with a tearing groaning sound which made my blood run cold. Old trees are vulnerable at the best of times but in summer when the trees are in full leaf they are at even greater risk in high winds, the last gale brought down two enormous tress the like if which we can ill afford to lose.

Throughout the night the storm raged about et house and I watched the heavy velvet curtains moving with each gust,doors rattled and during one almighty blast the loft cover popped open. Now the full wildness of the storm could be heard as the open cover meant that the noise of the wind on the roof was louder than ever.

Three O clock struck and I got out of bed to make a hot drink and sat at the window sipping my coffee, munching a biscuit and watching the mayhem in the lane. Woe to my beautiful daisies, the early flowering ones were ruined by the gale that destroyed my green house and now these tall elegant flowers were being flattened too.

At the hight of the storm what looked at first like a tent appeared in the lane out side our gate, on closer inspection I realized that it was one of those pop up Wendy houses and as I watched the wind lifted it on to the park railings where it was soon torn to shreds by the sharp spikes. Less than an hour later there was nothing left of it at all.

Sleep finally claimed me at around four and as a consequence I felt very rusty when I woke at seven. Throughout the day the wind blew strongly and I was quite alarmed by the amount of twiggy bits falling from the trees as I made my way to the local DIY shop to purchase a couple of coat hangers.

One good thing has however come from this weather event, the new buggy covers did not budge an inch during the gale and since that last one was totally destroyed a few weeks ago this was a huge relief ass the covers are expensive to buy. So next time we are subjected to high winds that is one thing I shall not have be concerned about.

Eight thirty and the wind is still high so it looks as if we are in for another wild night so shall just fill up the biscuit tin, turn up the television and snuggle up in bed,and jolly good luck to any poor unfortunate who happens to be on a camping holiday!