Was working a night shift in a office building by Tower Hill that night. Just me and the security guard looking out in amazement at all sorts of shite flying past the window, The drive home in the morning was particularly tricky, I failed to get up Blackheath Hill because the roofs of the old flats (no longer there) were in the middle of the road. Certainly sticks in my memory. The weekend before I had badly put up a new middle fence down my garden and the storm had literally lifted the panels out of the grooves in the posts and deposited them three gardens down.
I was night shift at Hither Green railway depot.The night started quietly enough but then the wind got up and parts of the engine shed roof started falling down.We were going to be sent with a loco to pull a train that had hit trees at Swanscombe.First the Sidcup line shut,then the Bexleyheath line and North Kent lines were shut.Then I remember the whole of London s lights flashed twice and the whole place was completely black,you had a good view over London from Hither Green.So we were stuck just outside the depot unable to move! Then the City Bank building lit up,must have had its own generator. When I finally got home to Sidcup the scene was unbelievable the amount of trees down.Living next to Footscray Meadows I was expecting out house to be flattened but it was untouched. Was in the local at lunchtime and some bloke was drowning his sorrows after his house had been completely wrecked!
I was 18 and still living at home in the box room, woke up in the morning to find the window wide open and the net curtains stuck to the ceiling, all the walls in the close had been blown over too and I slept right through it all. At about 9am the phone started ringing and as my old man is a roofer, it didn't stop ringing for about a month!
I was livi8ng in Birmingham, turned on the radio and thought London had been hit by a nuke. Could not get through to family to check on them cause phone lines were all round and no one had mobiles.
My husband and I couldn't sleep because of the noise the wind was making. We thought that our bedroom windows were going to blow in, so went downstairs and had to use candles as there was no power. The patio doors looked like they were going to blow inwards but fortunately didn't. We woke up to find all our fences were down and a shed from two gardens away had been blown right over our garden and into our next door neighbour's garden. We couldn't get to work as everyone was being advised to stay at home.
I was on a night shift alone in the signalbox at Wateringbury, watching all the electrical ,power lines falling and causing massive arching everywhere. Listening to all the trees falling, and shitting myself
I was in Tenerife. The only inkling that there was something wrong "back home" was that I couldn't get an English paper. They had to be flown out in those days.
It's my birthday on the 15th of October, I was 6 at the time. I remember getting up in the morning to play with my new Thunder Cat toys then looking out the window and seeing our fence in the garden down. Day off school though so was happy.
Remember looking out of the bedroom window in the early hours and seeing 6' fence panels whizzing across the garden about ten foot of the ground, then watching a couple of trees coming down. Was very worried about the chimney stacks the old place had but although the cowels blew off along with some slates, the rest survived although there was a lot of creaking and knocking going on. We were cut off from Reigate for a day or two and without sparks for 5 or 6 days: so much for having an electric chainsaw! As Oggy said loads of logs, in fact there were still some lying about when we moved earlier this year. Noticeable how the old 'blitz' spirit kicked in with people helping each other and sharing resources to get things sorted..
I have a pretty 'interesting' story relating to this.
I was 7 at the time and we had been away on a family holiday to the Canary Islands and were flying back the day before / into the evening (bear in mind the flight path from the canaries - up over the bay of Biscay etc).
Yes, we were flying back straight through the incoming storm. And whilst I dont remember much, it left my Mum with a fear of flying that she had for the rest of her days (she was fine before that). And my Dad still tells me how we were waiting for a lift home for ages upon arrival (days before flight times on the internet) as the tail winds pushed us home something stupid like 1 hour 20 mins early early (only a 3 and a half hour flight). Apparently the pilot came on the tannoy calmly telling us that we were doing 750mph (or something like that) and would be home a bit early.
My dad has travelled on business all his life and maintains to this day that it was the most terrifying flight of his life.
Was living on my own in a flat in Grove Park. Slept through the night, woke to no power and no trains, decided to try walking to work (Dillons Bookstore in Gower St, WC1). Set off towards Lewisham/New Cross, along Old Kent Rd past lots of fallen trees and debris, via Waterloo Bridge and Holborn to arrive about 11.30am. Didn't realise how bad it had been until hearing all about it at work!
Was living in bognor at the time and stopped the night at my then girlfriends house. We used to get away with sleeping in the same bed (we were 16!!) as he parents bedroom was the other end of the house.....sadly that night they came to see if we were ok. Also remember a whole week off school, two giant firs blown down on either end of my street and Butlins fell down!
That night was the night before my 21st birthday party - had takern the day off to play golf and then get party resdy but obviously golf was off. My actual birthday is 19th October, and I was working in a stockbrokers at the time, many will remember that day became known as Black Monday with a massive stock market collapse, I spent most of it in the pub completely unaware - quite an eventful weekend!!
I was night shift at Hither Green railway depot.The night started quietly enough but then the wind got up and parts of the engine shed roof started falling down.We were going to be sent with a loco to pull a train that had hit trees at Swanscombe.First the Sidcup line shut,then the Bexleyheath line and North Kent lines were shut.Then I remember the whole of London s lights flashed twice and the whole place was completely black,you had a good view over London from Hither Green.So we were stuck just outside the depot unable to move! Then the City Bank building lit up,must have had its own generator. When I finally got home to Sidcup the scene was unbelievable the amount of trees down.Living next to Footscray Meadows I was expecting out house to be flattened but it was untouched. Was in the local at lunchtime and some bloke was drowning his sorrows after his house had been completely wrecked!
At that time I was working at Selhurst railway depot, I lived in Gravesend at the time....needless to say I didn't make it into work that day.
Was living on the 9th floor in Dolphin Tower, Deptford, and about 1am-ish the whole of London was hit by a blackout for 10 seconds or so: Thought the world had ended.
I was night shift at Hither Green railway depot.The night started quietly enough but then the wind got up and parts of the engine shed roof started falling down.We were going to be sent with a loco to pull a train that had hit trees at Swanscombe.First the Sidcup line shut,then the Bexleyheath line and North Kent lines were shut.Then I remember the whole of London s lights flashed twice and the whole place was completely black,you had a good view over London from Hither Green.So we were stuck just outside the depot unable to move! Then the City Bank building lit up,must have had its own generator. When I finally got home to Sidcup the scene was unbelievable the amount of trees down.Living next to Footscray Meadows I was expecting out house to be flattened but it was untouched. Was in the local at lunchtime and some bloke was drowning his sorrows after his house had been completely wrecked!
At that time I was working at Selhurst railway depot, I lived in Gravesend at the time....needless to say I didn't make it into work that day.
Nearly a Medway Mafia member! I went to Norwood Depot the following year and spent four great years there(apart from there cup run and the messroom being a sea of Nigel colours!)
Remember me mum moaning about the vandals as we walked through Hickin and Gallon Close and then the alley (opposite club shop as it is now), she was walking me to me mates gaff, the painted house on Floyd Road, she was then going on to Charlton Station and I walked to Fosdene School with me mate, when we got to school the playground was full of roof tiles. There weren't many of us turned up and we all got sent home.
I was living in a flat above a shop in Hither Green next to the railway line. I slept right through it all. Had an electric alarm clock that obviously didn't go off. Woke up wondering why I hadn't heard any trains. Looked out the window and thought it was Armageddon. I had only moved down from Scotland the previous year and had a few of my mates on the phone in the next few days cracking jokes about a little bit of wind/what real gales felt like/southern softies etc. I told them to fuck off!
I was working in The City in those days. Woke up and wondered why my clock radio hadn't gone off. There had been a power-cut in the night and so it had reset. Decided to drive to work, Blackheath was wild,fallen trees everywhere. I remember my old Vauxhall Cavalier wobbling form side to side as I went over London Bridge. Got into work and was treated as a hero, one of only a handful who got in. The boss paid my car park fee and we all went home again as the BOE declared it a Bank Holiday for trading purposes.
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http://bigdavel.wordpress.com/2012/10/15/remembering-the-storm/
Some photos of Plumstead Common area on the morning after.
When I finally got home to Sidcup the scene was unbelievable the amount of trees down.Living next to Footscray Meadows I was expecting out house to be flattened but it was untouched.
Was in the local at lunchtime and some bloke was drowning his sorrows after his house had been completely wrecked!
At about 9am the phone started ringing and as my old man is a roofer, it didn't stop ringing for about a month!
I was 7 at the time and we had been away on a family holiday to the Canary Islands and were flying back the day before / into the evening (bear in mind the flight path from the canaries - up over the bay of Biscay etc).
Yes, we were flying back straight through the incoming storm. And whilst I dont remember much, it left my Mum with a fear of flying that she had for the rest of her days (she was fine before that). And my Dad still tells me how we were waiting for a lift home for ages upon arrival (days before flight times on the internet) as the tail winds pushed us home something stupid like 1 hour 20 mins early early (only a 3 and a half hour flight). Apparently the pilot came on the tannoy calmly telling us that we were doing 750mph (or something like that) and would be home a bit early.
My dad has travelled on business all his life and maintains to this day that it was the most terrifying flight of his life.
Also remember a whole week off school, two giant firs blown down on either end of my street and Butlins fell down!
Nearly a Medway Mafia member! I went to Norwood Depot the following year and spent four great years there(apart from there cup run and the messroom being a sea of Nigel colours!)
My mate still hasn't repaired his roof.
Woke up and wondered why my clock radio hadn't gone off. There had been a power-cut in the night and so it had reset.
Decided to drive to work, Blackheath was wild,fallen trees everywhere. I remember my old Vauxhall Cavalier wobbling form side to side as I went over London Bridge.
Got into work and was treated as a hero, one of only a handful who got in. The boss paid my car park fee and we all went home again as the BOE declared it a Bank Holiday for trading purposes.