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Click photos to enlarge. Burntwick Island. Photos courtesy of Kevin Thornton. The flooded close ups were taken from a boat in 2017. The long distance photo in the centre with Greenborough in front, then Barksore was taken in 2016. |
The Great Flood of 1953 seriously damaged land and property near the river. A surge of water in the North Sea sped down the eastern coastline of England and caused massive damage. In Upchurch a tidal wave about fifteen feet high rushed over the seawall at Bayford during the early morning hours of February 1st and continued past Ham Green to Twinney. This resulted in Charles Barling’s herd of 25 milking cows locked in a cattle shed on Bayford Marsh being drowned and Frog Farm Cottages flooded. The village football and cricket pitches at Piwit Marsh in Poot Lane and a large acreage of farmland stretching from the lower end of Poot Lane to Twinney were submerged in salt water and damaged.
A boating disaster which claimed the lives of three Upchurch men on Whit Monday in May 1910 remains the most serious recorded boating disaster in the parish. James Hatton, brothers James and John Shipp and their friend James Boyst set off on a flat bottomed punt with a sail attached from Motney Hill to Otterham Quay when a sudden gust of wind caught the sail causing the boat to capsize and throw the occupants into the river. Although all the men could swim three were drowned but John Boyst survived by clinging to the side of the boat until he was rescued. The bodies of the three drowned Upchurch men were never recovered.
Powerful winds have caused damage to buildings and trees at different times but the hurricane of October 1987 is the most serious in living memory. Nobody died or suffered serious injury but thousands of fruit trees were uprooted or damaged and outbuildings destroyed on local farms. Some houses lost chimney stacks and roof tiles, electricity and telephone cables were severed. The hurricane inflicted so much damage on Hilda’s Cottage in Poot Lane that the dwelling had to be demolished and its occupants Dolly Witherden and her son Tony rehoused.
The most notable fire disaster led to the destruction of the historic windmill located on Windmill Hill in 1910. The windmill had existed since the beginning of the nineteenth century and belonged to farmers Wakeley Brothers from Rainham. The cause of the fire remains unknown but tar and wood which formed part of the construction played a part in the rapid spread of the fire. The fire brigade tried to extinguish the blaze but they failed and the windmill burnt down.
The biggest single disaster of World War Two in Upchurch concerned the destruction of the railway bridge in Oak Lane and the resulting train crash caused by a doodle-bug (A German V1 rocket) in August 1944. An RAF fighter plane had chased the rocket above the Kent countryside but the pilot had unsuccessfully tried to shoot it down. He then flew his plane alongside it and managed to use one of the aircraft wings to flip it over. Unluckily, the rocket plunged down and destroyed the Oak Lane railway bridge in a big explosion which killed a railway worker sheltering under it and created a huge gap where the bridge had stood. Soon after this a Victoria to Ramsgate train approached and crashed into the gap killing 12 passengers and injuring 34. During the chaos the train fireman managed to escape from the wreckage and run to the Newington signal box to warn the signalman. Trains travelling in both directions were then stopped which prevented another disaster. A new bridge was later constructed.
The tragic death of Carnival Queen Barbara Webb aged only 19 from Drakes Close, killed when she fell off her float (a decorated lorry) in Chaffes Lane in 1964 became the greatest Upchurch disaster of the 1960s. As driver Myles Murr was driving Barbara Webb home to Drakes Close after the carnival procession a vehicle approached from the opposite direction. Myles Murr braked and steered the float onto the side of the road. Because the right side of the float was passing over a dip in the road the throne on which Barbara Webb was sitting toppled over causing her to fall over the side of the vehicle and under one of the wheels which killed her. The incident proved disastrous for the Webb family and for the 1964 carnival but the event continued in future years.
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Click photo to enlarge. The Barbara Webb Memorial Tree was planted at Upchurch Village Hall during a ceremony held on Friday 8th August 2014, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of her death. |
The incidents outlined show that disasters are a possibility given certain circumstances. Fortunately, these have occurred infrequently in Upchurch over the centuries.
About David
David Wood was born, raised and still lives in Upchurch today. He is able to write from personal experience about village life and the changes that have taken place over the years, making ‘Memories of Upchurch’ a very readable book and detailed historical study of the village.
David's book, ‘Memories of Upchurch’ is available direct from David at: david3702001@yahoo.co.uk or from us here at Upchurch Matters.
Price £12 + £3.50 postage and packing.
David Wood
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