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From Our Visitors...
As mentioned in our introduction, Donald Laing's article and May Johnson's
poem gave rise to a small flood of their own..... in the form of a wave of
memories in the Visitors Book.
We have extracted these anecdotes and collated them below. We have also
started to add stories received via our new "flood story" data entry
form - accessible from our introduction page.
Together, they provide a fascinating insight into the tragedy, fear, kindness,
and even humour of the moment. The collation process involved scanning more than
130 pages of Visitors Book.
If we have missed any, please let us know!
The Realisation
We start our extracts with that horrifying moment during the
night of 31 January 1953 when Natives
realised disaster was at their door.... or, for some, actually inside it.....
| "Donald Laing's article on the 1953 floods brought back memories
of that day.
I lived with my parents and brother Cyril at 26 Middle Wall - in the
wooden cottages. The warmest room was the front room and, as we had just
had measles, we were sleeping downstairs on that night under the
watchful eye of our mother.
She suddenly heard this noise. She got out of the chair and put her
feet in water. She called for dad who replied, "You must have
left the tap running".... but he looked out the window and
added, "Get the boys up here quickly the sea is over".
We were rescued by some soldiers who took us by boat. As boys, we
thought this was great fun.
In Douglas West's book, Second Portrait of a Seaside Town,
there is a picture of our mother being rescued.
- Dennis Begent, Whitstable (24/5/04) |
| |
| My wife, Fiona, and her family have a vivid account of the flood as
they were living in Nelson Road (the sea end) at the time and were badly
affected.
There was no warning and the first they knew about it was a
knock at the front door in the early hours of the morning and people
running up and down the road with torches. There was a wall of water
pouring down from the sea after the sea wall had been breached.
- Phil Page, Ramsgate (23/4/05) |
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| "Where we lived at the Harbour Street end of Woodlawn Street, the
water came over the harbour walls, rushed down Ludgate Hill past
Starvation Point and into our houses. It reached about 4ft in depth.
Fortunately, we were roused about midnight by 'Cod' Kelsey banging on
our front door and warning us of the danger to come. Then, it was a case
of "evacuating" all our possessions upstairs - not many in
those days - so not too difficult a task. I think we were one of
the earliest areas to be flooded."
- Stewart Tilley, Whitstable (12/8/04) |
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Water
poured from the Harbour, down the hill into Sea Street, Harbour
Street and (away to the right) Woodlawn Street. |
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| "Reading the reference to the '53 floods in the Visitors Book, I
can still remember that night - although we were out of the flood area
in Railway Avenue (just). I think, it came as far as Weatherley's Corner
in Cromwell Road."
- Jacqui Whatson, Dover (21/1/04) |
| |
| "One of my most vivid memories is watching the water joining up
the two Cromwell Roads outside Weatherleys Bakery on the morning of the
flood.
I lived opposite in Cromwell Road at that time."
- Jean Clarke,
Whitstable (4/5/04) |
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| Above: Here we see
Cromwell Road looking North towards the harbour. Out of shot to
the left is the western half of the road leading to Oxford
Street. On the right, we see Weatherley's old bakery and shop
(now Stocks DIY store).
In 1953, Jean watched
the water "join up" from the two ends of Cromwell
Road. Railway Avenue to the right remained largely
dry. |
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If memory serves me right then the force of the water coming out of
Regent Street knocked down the walls in the front gardens of the houses
opposite.
- Jean Clarke (17/4/05)
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| |
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"I have been following the fascinating remembrances about the
flooding and asked my cousin if they had been affected by it. The family
live in Wheatley Road and she remembers the water coming to within 6ft
of the back door but that no houses were flooded
Their back garden had a slight rise towards the house. Some friends
living in Westgate Terrace came to stay with them when their house was
flooded and contaminated with sewage. I was only eight at the time and
living in ...wait for it...Herne Bay!
- Christine Punter, Auckland New Zealand
(23/4/05)
|
For many, the first news of the town's greatest natural disaster didn't
arrive until the next day (Sunday 1 February 1953) and often quite by
chance.....
| "I woke up on the Sunday morning and walked into my mum and dad’s
bedroom where they had hastily piled up all the furniture and many other
things from downstairs during the night before the flood level rose too
high.
I looked at the scenario with bleary eyes and asked: “What’s all
this junk doing here?” - I’ve never been allowed to forget
that!"
- Ian Johnson,
Huddersfield, West Yorkshire (25/5/04) |
| |
|
"I remember my mum moaning because the milk hadn't arrived! In
fact, this was due to Pett's Dairy being under water in Nelson Road and
the only means of access was by rowing boat
It just goes to show how long it took information to travel in those
days - with few telephones and even fewer TVs. Anyway, that was the
first that many of us living in the higher part of town knew about the
flood!
- Jackie Evans (née Ferrell), Digswell,
Hertfordshire |
| |
| "I remember waking up one morning and being at sea. Living in Victoria Street at the time, we were lucky as the water
stopped at the doorstep."
- Tony Stone, Sittingbourne (23/2/04) |
| |
|
"My Mum packed my doll's pram with jam jars for me to take down to my
grandmother on that Sunday morning. I got as far as the bridge over
Stream Walk but could go no farther as water was blocking the
tunnel.
It was never a good idea to disobey my Mum and, so, I backed up, went
up the walk to the station, hauled the darn pram over the footbridge to
Station Road and was then sent back over the bridge by a
policeman.
I ambled off home quite happily as policemen were an acceptable
reason for disobedience. Mum set off on her bike, with the jars, and
came back with them a while later."
- Carole Parker, Carstairs, Alberta, Canada (8/8/04) |
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| Above: Stream Walk viewed
from Cromwell Road. In 1953, water filled the path under the
rail bridge - cutting off Carole's route into the town from the
other side of the structure. |
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Perhaps, the most staggering conclusion to be drawn from these quotes
is that there was little warning and considerable communication difficulty.
Impact & Rescue
With much of the town centre under water, emergency services and local people
quickly became involved in rescue operations. Such operations had to be
mounted from a new, temporary shoreline.
The best remembered "beach head" was established at the junction of
Nelson Road and Oxford Street where the natural contours had prevented the
floodwater from progressing further inland. The gentle slope up from the
submerged Nelson Road provided a broad concrete ramp from which small boats
could be launched. The "dry" highway of Oxford Street afforded theessential artery for aid and transport.
| Above: This picture of Nelson
Road shows the steep slope up to the shopping area of Oxford Street. In
1953, the slope became a temporary boat ramp from which rescue
operations were launched.....
Below: How it looked at the
time.... as captured by Derek Fallon (picture kindly supplied by Derek's
daughter, Barbara Wardle).....
© Barbara Wardle
This is the scene
today....
|
An armada of small boats
transported residents from the lower areas of town such as Nelson Road, Island
Wall, Waterloo Road Road and Cornwallis Circle. Often, people were plucked from
bedroom windows as ground floor rooms had disappeared under the torrent of seawater.
Many local people were involved in the rescues - particularly those with
maritime connections, seaworthy craft or vehicles. Help also came from outside...
including servicemen from nearby bases....
| "I remember well the floods - watching people
being rescued in boats and the golf course resembling a lake with beach
huts floating in it."
- Jackie Perry, Stevenage, Herts (21/5/03) |
| |
|
| Above: Here we see
Seasalter Golf Course from the high ground of Westcliff. In
1953, this became a lake with the water at gutter level on the
club house and debris floating on the surface.... including
beach huts transported from their seafront locations by the
torrent of water.. |
|
| |
| "A friend of mine (the late Charlie Reed) and I
went into the town - not realising the enormity of the situation. We
appreciated just how bad it was when we saw row boats arriving and
leaving the Nelson Rd "boat ramp" every few minutes. We both
offered our services when we heard that guides were required to assist
American Airmen (from Manston airbase).
One trip I made was to the area around Collingwood Road and the Golf
Course. The water there was level with the gutter of the clubhouse. It
looked rather strange with just the roof showing. There were all sorts
of debris floating around - such as drink crates, clothing and other
things. I also went as far as Island Wall where we had to be
particularly careful because the houses on the town side near Terrys
Lane had small railing fences. (They may still be there).
On the seaward side of Island Wall, a space between two houses was
taken up by a large boat which had been driven bow first and had stuck
fast. I never heard how they moved it.
They said the flood was caused by a second tide arriving over the
first which was held in by gale force winds. Not being an 'expert', I
am open to correction."
- John Moore, Frankston, Victoria Australia
29/5/04 |
| |
| "I was fourteen and, apparently, there was a
call for people with cars to ferry the homeless to the various shelters.
My father, John Neame and I went to the beachhead on Nelson Road and
were directed to take an older couple to the All Saints Church Hall. I
remember feeling sorry to have to leave them there as the hall seemed
quite bleak compared with our nice dry home on Clapham Hill".
Phil Neame, Vancouver,
BC, Canada |
| |
| "My dad was out in his rowing boat rescuing
people down at Nelson Road and Cornwallis Circle. I remember him saying
that one elderly lady would only come in the boat if she could bring her
eight cats!"
- Jacqui Whatson, Dover (21/1/04) |
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Above: Cornwallis Circle
- rescues by boat.
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Jacqui's story highlights a major decision faced by many residents.....
whether to evacuate or survive the tragedy
on upper floors! In the deeply flooded areas west of the High Street, the answer was not
always based on safety considerations or depth of water!....
| "Sorry Dave, I have no photographs.
I once tried to obtain some of the floods but to no avail.
There was the famous one (featured in the museum) of Middle
Wall with food being given to people who opted to remain in their houses.
One of the residents was my Grandfather, Lewis Castle. If any of your older
contributors remember him, I would appreciate any information. He lived
where the car park is now located.
One amusing story come to mind. We were told that the reason he refused to leave
was because of his safe on the ground floor. It contained all his money.
Needless to say, when the flood waters receded, it was all ruined."
- Tony Stone, Sittingbourne (25/2/04) |
East of the High Street, the floodwater was shallower and evacuation was
usually unnecessary. However, daily life had to be adjusted and domestic rescues were
still required...
| "I remember the floods well. I lived at 66 Argyle
Rd and can remember my dad stripping down to go out to his shed to
rescue a pet rabbit.
As with many others, we lived upstairs for a few days."
- Frank Miles, Milton Keynes (22/2/04) |
The shallower flooding of the eastern areas highlighted slight undulations in the natural
relief and gave rise to some unexpected islands amidst the water...
| "I remember an 'island' running from the middle of Woodlawn
Street along St. Peter's St. towards Victoria St. Being slightly raised,
this remained dry throughout."
- Stewart Tilley, Whitstable (12/8/04) |
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|
Although
we weren't living on a hill, the location of the Fountain Inn was
sufficiently elevated for us to escape flooding altogether. Within
a hundred yards of us in most directions there was at least a foot of
water in the streets and houses.
- John Butler
(Resident at the Fountain Inn, Bexley Street, Whitstable 1953)
(Note: The above is an extract from John's
separate article "Fountain of Youth". This contains wider
memories of Whitstable and can be viewed by Clicking
Here) |
In between east and west, the commercial areas of High Street and Harbour
Street looked like this....
High Street at the
junction with Gladstone Road
Picture by Derek Fallon © Barbara Wardle
.... and not all salvage operations went entirely to plan....
| "I was the junior at the then Westminster Bank.
As I had keys to the branch, I thought I would put the ledgers and
books on high shelves. On opening the bank door, the water flooded in
carrying several oyster barrels and debris that had floated down the
high street.
Several days later the staff were all peeling apart valuable papers,
stocks, bonds etc.... then trying to dry them with electric fires. The
Bank was flooded to a depth of approximately three feet and the mud and
debris (due to my diligence) was horrific."
- Michael Dyde,
Mollina, Malaga, Spain (21/10/04) |
| |
We went to check on dad's office. He was, at the time, manager of Gann
& Brown's coal merchants on Harbour Street and, coincidentally, next
door to Daniels Bros. where I later worked for a few months.
Being on higher ground, the main office was unaffected by the flooding,
except there was no electricity. But dad decided to check out the
basement and descended the steep stairs into the darkness. The next
thing I heard was a splash and some uncharacteristic language and father
appeared soaked to the waist.
Phil Neame, Vancouver,
BC, Canada |
Coping in the Aftermath
After the rescues, the immediate problem
was one of finding shelter for the victims and providing the basic
necessities of life. Relatives, friends and kindly strangers provided help
in the true spirit of Whitstable... assisted by many people from as far afield
as Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Amidst it all, local people lost so much
| "We were lucky for we had somewhere to stay -
with my aunt (Miss Williams) who many of those who attended the Baptist
Church will remember."
- Dennis Begent, Whitstable (24/5/04) |
| |
| "We actually had a young couple to stay at our
house as their houseboat had been wrecked. I can't remember their names
- just that I liked them!"
- Jacqui Whatson, Dover (21/1/04) |
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|
"After leaving the house, Mom and Dad went to stay with my
brother George at the Council Estate and I stayed with friends at
the top of Tankerton Hill (a safe place).
My brother Ray and family moved in with my sister Jacqueline and Jim
at Manor Rd".
- John Harman, Sidney British Columbia
(28/10/04) |
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| "My friend was in the flooding as she lived in Nelson
Rd and they had many animals that all had to live upstairs with them for
weeks.
We all helped the Red Cross to give out blankets. I was
very lucky as we lived up Millstrood Hill.... so I could go home to a
warm dry home."
- Ann Nash, Whitstable (25/2/04) |
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| "During the day following the flood, Dr
Nesfield arrived at my mother-in-laws by rowing boat to check on
Fiona who was only 8 months old at the time and very ill. He arranged
for the rowing boat to go round the back of the house (which was
opposite the golf course) so that they could climb out of the back
bedroom window onto the shed roof and be rowed to safety in Oxford
Street".
- Phil Page, Ramsgate (23/4/05) |
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| "One interesting memory which might interest our
readers from the Commonwealth was that locals were able to get extra
food donated by the governments of Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
We remember going up with our Mum to the Parish Hall to collect things
like rice, raisins and tinned food."
- Ian Johnson, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
25/5/04 |
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| Above: St Mary's Parish Hall,
Oxford Street in 2004 - now the home of the Whitstable Umbrella
Community Support Centre and heading towards its centenary in 2005 .
Back in 1953, it sat on the very
edge of the flood zone and was used for the distribution of essential
aid. Some of that aid came from Commonwealth countries including
Australia, New Zealand and Canada. |
|
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| "My sister and I remember how weird it felt to have our meals upstairs in the front
bedroom and to drink soup out of
cups – as all the crockery had got dirty in the flood. This was many
years before “Cup-a-Soup” came along!"
- Ian Johnson, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
25/5/04 |
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| "Living in Victoria Street at the time, we were lucky
as the water stopped at the doorstep. Nevertheless, I have fond memories
of going to school in a punt."
- Tony Stone, Sittingbourne (23/2/04) |
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| "I was five and a half at the time and living
in Sydenham Street. I remember most vividly the excitement and confusion
of having our domestic routines broken – the sheer 'unusualness' of
everything."
- Ian Johnson, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
25/5/04 |
| |
| "I can recall how my Grandparents lost so much of
their furniture during the flood as they lived at Stag Cottage then. Of course, there was no sea wall.
It wasn't all bad, however, as I have in my possession a small
mahogany end table that was actually washed into their house. My Nan
also had a beautiful Georgian solid silver sugar spoon that they found
in the front room as they shovelled away tons of shingle!"
- Mark Foreman, Brooks, Alberta, Canada
(20/2/04) |
| |
| Seasalter farmer Percy Miles had an ancient 'old
bomb', which I was was told was a 1919 Jowett. He gave me a lift
one day when I was waiting for a bus in the rain. I was grateful to get
in out of the rain but a bit perturbed to find a large pig lounging on
the back seat!
The car was sadly "drowned" in the 1953 flood.
- Joan Baines (née Moss) |
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| "Some other memories of all-curing potions from the
chidhood days are Milk of Magnesia.... and, horror of horrors, after the
floods, clouds and clouds of white powder. The infamous DDT. This was
used to
get rid of those hopping blighters in our beds which resulted from the flooded gardens and flotsam.
I could hardly breathe at night after
my mother had squirted tons of the stuff in the bedroom."
- Tony
Stone, Sittingbourne (15/3/04) |
| |
| "For the children of Whitstable, the floods
provided an opportunity for wonderful adventures. School was off, of
course, so we "helped" fire-crews manhandle their pumps along
the narrow roads near the beach and they even let me and some friends
hold on to the hose nozzle laid out across the beach to discharge the
water they were pumping from peoples' houses.
Of course, the crews knew in advance that the water pressure would
make the hose thrash about like a demented python which even a gang of 8
or 9 year olds would have difficulty in controlling! We got fairly
soaked in the process and, on reflection, it was probably quite dangerous
but things were more relaxed then. I was very impressed that any
bollards that got in the way of the pump crews, were removed without
ceremony, with a sledgehammer. We also tried “rafting” old doors
across the more shallowly flooded roads but never very successfully.
Another feature of the storm, which had caused the floods, was that
many of the beach-front warehouses had had their beach-side elevations
completely torn away. They were thus not only open to the elements, but
also to marauding bands of adventurous children who saw only excitement
and no danger in these semi-derelict and collapsing structures. One was
full of sacks of grey, granular material which was probably chemical
fertiliser and possibly dangerous to handle. We had enormous fun
swinging from ropes hung round roof beams now exposed and dropping onto
the soft heaps of sacks."
- John Butler
(Resident at the Fountain Inn, Bexley Street, Whitstable 1953)
(Note: The above is an extract from John's
separate article "Fountain of Youth". This contains wider
memories of Whitstable and can be viewed by Clicking
Here) |
Impact on Local Businesses
Despite the town centre looking like Venice...
Picture by Derek Fallon
© Barbara Wardle
... the business world struggled to bring a strange form of
"normality" to the tragedy....
|
"I was 5 years old in 1953 and have some memories of the flooding.
We lived above Greensteds (the Fishmongers) at 47 High St. My bedroom
was at the back of house but I woke up in the night because I could hear
crashing and banging. I went into mum and dad's bedroom (which
overlooked the High St) and told them I couldn't sleep because of the
noise and was promptly told to go back to bed! However, a few minutes
later I was still very much awake and returned to their room and this
time, my dad got out of bed to look out of the window. My dad never
swore as a rule, but he did when he saw objects floating up the High
Street. The beer barrells from the public houses on the sea front were
crashing into one another as they floated by and it was, this that had
woken me up.
Dad flew down the stairs to unplug the power to the enormous fridges
he had in the shop. He then waded out into the garden and collected dry
coal from the bunker which, fortunately for us had been replenished the
previous day.
Looking back on it we were very lucky because we still had fire places
in the bedrooms and we able to keep warm and cook simple things on the
open fires.
Dad brought upstairs things that we could use that weren't already
soaked. Bless him he tried to bring my toy box upastairs but as he
picked it up the bottom fell out and everything floated away. My brother
and I were able to sit in the window above the shop and watch everything
happening including, Mr Butcher the milkman from Bartlett and Bissons
delivering milk from a rowing boat.
To me the biggest "adventure" was watching the Manager of
Vyes, the Grocers opposite, come by boat to see what damage there was to
the shop. He opened the double doors whilst swaying about in his boat,
only to find all manner of things poured out through the doors including
packets of soap powder and toilet rolls etc. I must admit the whole
family couldn't stop laughing - it really was very funny!
I remember being taken up to the boating lake area a day or two
afterwards and there being the most awful smell in the air, I later
discovered this was from the rotting dead fish. I also seem to recall
being taken to a building to choose some furniture to replace what had
been wrecked by the flood water. I believe this might have been donated
by well-wishers but this is only a guess - maybe someone could put me
right on this."
Anita Dailey, Harlow,
Essex |
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"On the Monday following the
flood, many local shops in the High Street opened for business
as usual albeit limited and sometimes from an upstairs
room whilst the ground floor was being drained and
repaired."
- Phil Page, Ramsgate (23/4/05) |
| |
"The Oxford and Regal Cinemas
were partly flooded but soon returned to performances as usual
but using balcony seats only."
- Phil Page, Ramsgate (23/4/05) |
Sadly, not all businesses survived the tragedy...
|
My father used to run a shop in Harbour street opposite the Nelson Inn
which has now I understand changed to an office. We were flooded out and
due to the insurance not covering flood my father went bankrupt and we
eventually moved to South Street Brookland Villas.
Ian Streeter, Paphos,
Cyprus |
Media Interest....
The town became a temporary home for the national media and this
gave rise to some amusing stories...
| The picture of the "Nelson Road beach" brought back a
memory.
Vincent Barker (his father was the manager of the Oxford cinema) and
I spent some time rowing up and down Nelson Road, taking provisions and,
when necessary, rescuing people who had got fed up with spending too
long trapped upstairs.
On one occasion, we rescued a dear old lady who insisted that we must
take her cat as well. He was pretty hyper having spent a day or two
trapped indoors. So, we put him in a bird cage.
As we approached the "beach", we were asked by a newsreel
camera team to row back and come in again as they weren't set up. The
poor old dear thought we were taking her back to her house and she got
nearly as hyper as the cat.
Anyway, I think she was quite taken by having all the attention,
being filmed and interviewed.
- Jack Tuckwood, France (23/4/05) |
It wouldn't surprise me if the national media asked for a complete re-run of
the flood in the new millennium... so that it could be captured in colour!
The Longer Term
The flood left memories and scars that lasted long after the
waters had subsided. These included a mistrust of sea
defences and concerns of living below sea level.....
| "We moved from Victoria Street after the
floods. Dad said higher ground would be better. So, Sydney Road was
my domicile until August 1963 when I departed for pastures new."
- Tony Stone, Sittingbourne (17/8/03) |
| |
| "One abiding memory of the flood was the smell
– it took months, if not years, before we stopped being able to smell
it somewhere or other in the town."
- Ian Johnson, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire (25/5/04) |
| |
| "At the time, I was working at Eric Brown's
cabinet shop in Hillview Road. He also had a furniture store in
the High St. near Doug West's photographic shop.
After the flood, much furniture from homes that had been flooded was
brought in for restoration - complete with their contents. Cupboards and
drawers could not be opened as they had all swollen shut. It was some
time before each piece could be dealt with and the smell was awful."
- John Harman, Sidney, British Columbia
(25/10/04) |
| |
| "It was to be several weeks before we could
return home to live as the amount of silt and mud in the home was
enormous. Things that one would normally used to clean up with,
were filthy themselves.... or had floated away.
After moving back home, there was an
abundance of mice looking for a drier abode.
My bike ran beautifully for a week or so.... and then seized up solid!"
- John Harman, Sidney, British Columbia
(28/10/04) |
| |
| "For several years after the water receded, silver
crystals formed on the garden path in Victoria Street every time the sun
was hot. All my granddad could get to grow were cabbages".
- Carole Parker, Carstairs, Alberta, Canada
(8/8/04) |
| |
| "When we bought our house in 2003, we had to
chip all the plaster off due to damp. It hadn't been replastered since
'53 and all the salts came out on the walls during hot weather."
- Emily Turner, Whitstable |
| |
| "After looking through photos on the site, I was just
wondering if Seasalter Marshes is still used for fishing these days?
Robert Jones and I, (sometimes joined by Viv Jones) would spend many hours over
there at what I believe was called Matsons Dyke. Further down the road
was the white bridge where very large pike and roach could be caught.
Is the place overgrown these days or are any of our avid local fresh
water fishermen still using the area? I know, after the '53 flood, most of
the fish were killed and local people got together and restocked fish
into the marshes. It would be a shame if it were all gone now."
- Mark Foreman, Brooks, Alberta (15/5/04) |
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