Recovering from the Great Storm

By Sally Nancarrow
BBC News, South East

A 70-year-old man died at the wrecked Queens Hotel, Hastings

BBC weather forecaster Michael Fish remembers he told the nation to "batten down the hatches for some extremely stormy weather" in October 1987.

The gales on the night of 15 October, which came to be known as the Great Storm, cost 18 lives.

Fish came under fire for failing to forecast the storm of the century.

But he maintained afterwards, and still does 20 years later, that he gave an accurate broadcast and that he was misquoted by the critics.

The legend grew up that he said that night: "Earlier on today apparently a lady rang the BBC and said she heard that there was a hurricane on the way. Well don't worry, there isn't."

But the forecaster, a lifelong resident of Eastbourne, East Sussex, who still works occasionally for BBC South East, said it was taken completely out of context.

"It was another occasion and I was just linking to an item on the news about a hurricane that might be affecting Florida," he said.

"I said, quite correctly, that the hurricane wasn't going to affect Florida - nothing whatever to do with the UK."

Among those who died that night were 70-year-old Ronald Davoes who was in the badly damaged Queens Hotel in Hastings, East Sussex.

Two crew members of the 1,500-tonne cargo vessel Sumnia died when she lost power and struck the southern breakwater in Dover harbour, Kent.

The Vine now boasts seven young oaks and one mature specimen

Casualties on the roads included a resident from Hindhead, Surrey, whose car was crushed by a tree which toppled over on the B2146 near Chichester, West Sussex.

Much of the devastation in the South East was caused by the 15 million trees that came down.

For many people it was this which most vividly demonstrated the sheer power of the storm.

Hundreds of beech trees were lost at Reigate Hill in Surrey, where there was speculation the wind speeds exceeded 110mph.

In Sevenoaks, Kent, six out of the seven trees at The Vine cricket ground, said to have given the town its name, came down.

Later seven new ones were planted - so that today the young oaks flank the one remaining mature specimen.

As much as I like to think I influence nature by growing trees and shrubs, I'm really at her mercy, Andy Jesson In Pictures: The Great Storm

"I have no idea why they did that," said Mark Whyman, now the chief executive of Sevenoaks District Council's leisure centres.

"But the loss of those trees became symbolic and generated a lot of sympathy for the Sevenoaks area."

Mr Whyman, a planning officer at the time, was involved in the eight-week clean-up operation in the area.

"We had help from the Royal Engineers Training School at Chatham and had a lot of expensive, heavy equipment in constant use," he said.

The woods at nearby Chartwell, Sir Winston Churchill's home, were badly damaged along with many National Trust properties stretching across the South East from Slindon in West Sussex.

"Because the staff accommodation is sheltered we didn't realise what was happening until dawn," said former head gardener Jon Simons.

Even now, visitors to Chartwell can see how much of the woodland was lost, with the few trees on the surrounding hills that predate 1987 rising randomly above the others.

Much of the woodland at Chartwell in Kent was lost in 1987

Box Hill woodland near Dorking, Surrey, lost 2,000 trees - mostly beech, whose shallow roots made them vulnerable.

Some of the devastated areas were cleared and replanted while others were left to regenerate naturally.

At all its sites, the National Trust found that where trees were allowed to seed naturally, they grew faster than those that were planted as seedlings.

It now uses the lessons learnt since 1987 to manage trees and woods, helping them become more resilient to future severe climatic events.

At Sheffield Park Gardens in East Sussex, head gardener Andy Jesson said the storm had taught him to work with nature and the seasons.

"As much as I like to think I influence nature by growing trees and shrubs, I'm really at her mercy," he said.

Visitors to Chartwell today can still see the aftermath of the damage

As well as more than 2,000 trees and shrubs, the storm also destroyed large areas of the garden's drainage system.

It took 15 years and a £360,000 appeal to install new drainage, and the planting of 4,500 new trees and shrubs did not get under way in earnest until five years ago.

The 20th anniversary of the storm was being marked on Monday with the planting of an English oak tree and a time capsule containing seeds from the garden and pictures of the gardening team.

One of them, Alan Bradford, has worked at Sheffield Park for 35 years.

"He was 32 at the time of the storm and had already worked with the lost trees for 15 years," said Mr Jesson.

"Then he had to clear the garden and has also worked on the replanting - so it has been a very personal experience for him."

Other National Trust properties are also holding commemorative events in the coming weeks.