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Windblown: A Portrait of The Great Storm
The Great Storm of October 1987 is etched firmly into the national memory: a fatal storm, it struck the British Isles without warning, claimed eighteen lives and uprooted over 15 million trees, transforming the landscape of southern Britain forever.
In the great tradition of English writing about our relationship with the natural world, Tamsin Treverton Jones weaves her own experience of the storm with those who were there to create a unique portrait of an extraordinary event.
In the great tradition of English writing about our relationship with the natural world, Tamsin Treverton Jones weaves her own experience of the storm with those who were there to create a unique portrait of an extraordinary event.
288 pages, Hardcover
Published October 5, 2017
About the author
Tamsin Treverton Jones
3 booksTamsin Treverton Jones is a writer, poet and literary publicist. She studied French at Bristol University and went on to be Head of Press at the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal Court Theatre and Bath Literature Festival. She has produced and presented features for radio, programmed literary events for digital broadcast and published two oral histories for The History Press.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 22, 2018
"Earlier on today, apparently, a woman rang the BBC and said she heard there was a hurricane on the way... well, if you're watching, don't worry, there isn't!" - Michael Fish
He was technically correct too, what hit the north of France and the UK on the night of the 15th & 16th of October in 1987 was a violent extratropical cyclone, in fact, post analysis of the way that the storm rapidly developed means that nowadays it would be classified as a weather bomb. Regardless of what it is called, the winds were hurricane force, gusting over 100mph with a peak of 120mph in Shoreham on Sea and then it broke the anemometer. Over the period of one hour, the sustained wind speed was recorded at 75mph. The last time a storm like this had hit the UK was 300 years ago.
The devastation though was immense. Caravan parks were trashed, cars crushed, homes lost roofs, roads and railway lines were blocked, power lines failed and 22 people lost their lives. That night too fifteen million trees were flattened, Kew Gardens lost historic specimens, the grand gardens of the National Trust were equally devastated and six of the seven oaks in Sevenoaks were lost. A ferry was blown ashore and another cargo ship capsized. It reached the point where the people at the National Grid made the decision to shut down the grid to stop catastrophic damage to the power network.
The thing is though, I slept through the whole storm that night! I woke up to carnage the following morning and can still remember how long it took to get to work in the morning, passing fallen trees, doubling back because of roads being closed and seeing one home with a tree that had fallen onto it. Memories of this Great Storm were bought back to Tamsin Treverton Jones after she found a photograph of a mural that her late father had designed and was carved using wood from Kew Gardens by an incredibly talented sculptor called Robert Games who carved it at the startlingly young age of 16. This mural still hangs at Kew and starts the process of tracing the woodcarver to find out what had happened to him after producing this artwork. Going through the motions of finding Games, opens a series of other questions about the people and place that were affected that night, prompting her to visit orchards, grand gardens to see the recovery that they have had since and to discover what they have learnt for the next storm.
I can't believe it is now over thirty years since this storm happened, I also remember heading out the weekend after to go mountain biking in the hills around Leith Hill in Surrey. We did get some cycling in, but there were an awful lot of trees to clamber over carrying a heavy bike. Treverton Jones' own journey through the places and memories of her past is written with a wistful melancholy. She remembers the legacy of her late father Terry Thomas and travels around the country to meet with the families and friends of those who were tragically killed in the storm. There are positives too, at Kew and other large gardens she learns about the new techniques that they have developed in managing trees and woodlands to make them far more resilient when the next storm hits. When you remember the images of the flattened woodlands and majestic trees in parks in the days after, the changes since then have been quite dramatic.
He was technically correct too, what hit the north of France and the UK on the night of the 15th & 16th of October in 1987 was a violent extratropical cyclone, in fact, post analysis of the way that the storm rapidly developed means that nowadays it would be classified as a weather bomb. Regardless of what it is called, the winds were hurricane force, gusting over 100mph with a peak of 120mph in Shoreham on Sea and then it broke the anemometer. Over the period of one hour, the sustained wind speed was recorded at 75mph. The last time a storm like this had hit the UK was 300 years ago.
The devastation though was immense. Caravan parks were trashed, cars crushed, homes lost roofs, roads and railway lines were blocked, power lines failed and 22 people lost their lives. That night too fifteen million trees were flattened, Kew Gardens lost historic specimens, the grand gardens of the National Trust were equally devastated and six of the seven oaks in Sevenoaks were lost. A ferry was blown ashore and another cargo ship capsized. It reached the point where the people at the National Grid made the decision to shut down the grid to stop catastrophic damage to the power network.
The thing is though, I slept through the whole storm that night! I woke up to carnage the following morning and can still remember how long it took to get to work in the morning, passing fallen trees, doubling back because of roads being closed and seeing one home with a tree that had fallen onto it. Memories of this Great Storm were bought back to Tamsin Treverton Jones after she found a photograph of a mural that her late father had designed and was carved using wood from Kew Gardens by an incredibly talented sculptor called Robert Games who carved it at the startlingly young age of 16. This mural still hangs at Kew and starts the process of tracing the woodcarver to find out what had happened to him after producing this artwork. Going through the motions of finding Games, opens a series of other questions about the people and place that were affected that night, prompting her to visit orchards, grand gardens to see the recovery that they have had since and to discover what they have learnt for the next storm.
I can't believe it is now over thirty years since this storm happened, I also remember heading out the weekend after to go mountain biking in the hills around Leith Hill in Surrey. We did get some cycling in, but there were an awful lot of trees to clamber over carrying a heavy bike. Treverton Jones' own journey through the places and memories of her past is written with a wistful melancholy. She remembers the legacy of her late father Terry Thomas and travels around the country to meet with the families and friends of those who were tragically killed in the storm. There are positives too, at Kew and other large gardens she learns about the new techniques that they have developed in managing trees and woodlands to make them far more resilient when the next storm hits. When you remember the images of the flattened woodlands and majestic trees in parks in the days after, the changes since then have been quite dramatic.
October 5, 2017
I was lucky enough to be given an advance copy of this and also to read it in Studland within sight of the Dorset cliffs where the storm first arrived.
I don’t read much non-fiction, but Windblown is something slightly different and I loved it. The way the different stories are brought together into a coherent narrative is compelling, and there were many touch points where the individual elements of the narrative touched on to times, places and memories which have been important in my own life. I suspect that this will apply to many others.
The prose was rich, dense and artfully descriptive throughout, but without becoming cumbersome or cloying. There were also a lot of fascinating snippets which were new to me.
Observing the life cycles of the two ships – The Herald of Free Enterprise and The Earl William – was strangely moving and the way they dovetailed into the story of the storm was plotted perfectly.
The ways in which man and nature interact are brought into sharp focus by an event of this scale and I think the author is right to remind us that we generally don’t know the best way to respond – at least not straight away.
The book is about an act of nature, but remains deeply human and personal to the author. Windblown is held together not only by a combination of well-researched facts and carefully-planned structure, but also by Tamsin’s deeply personal relationship with the storm and its consequences.
A great read.
I don’t read much non-fiction, but Windblown is something slightly different and I loved it. The way the different stories are brought together into a coherent narrative is compelling, and there were many touch points where the individual elements of the narrative touched on to times, places and memories which have been important in my own life. I suspect that this will apply to many others.
The prose was rich, dense and artfully descriptive throughout, but without becoming cumbersome or cloying. There were also a lot of fascinating snippets which were new to me.
Observing the life cycles of the two ships – The Herald of Free Enterprise and The Earl William – was strangely moving and the way they dovetailed into the story of the storm was plotted perfectly.
The ways in which man and nature interact are brought into sharp focus by an event of this scale and I think the author is right to remind us that we generally don’t know the best way to respond – at least not straight away.
The book is about an act of nature, but remains deeply human and personal to the author. Windblown is held together not only by a combination of well-researched facts and carefully-planned structure, but also by Tamsin’s deeply personal relationship with the storm and its consequences.
A great read.
February 26, 2023
Shame it wasn’t more about the storm
February 19, 2019
Loved it... it takes a big event and then takes lots of side roads off it. Very enterprising and imaginative on the part of the writer. And a good starting point for a few more books if someone is curious about the fall out from any major and unusual happening.
May 7, 2023
The author's father was the artist who designed the Kew Gardens' mural commemorating the Great Storm. Discovering a photograph of the completed mural sends Treverton Jones on a journey to discover the impact that the storm had, chiefly on England. She interweaves this story with memories of her father and his art.
I usually enjoy books like this, which take an object or event and use it as a springboard to explore various interconnecting themes. This book was no exception. I would have preferred a little less personal memoir and a little more Great Storm, and I could have done without the 'poems' at the start of each chapter, but otherwise, I enjoyed this.
I usually enjoy books like this, which take an object or event and use it as a springboard to explore various interconnecting themes. This book was no exception. I would have preferred a little less personal memoir and a little more Great Storm, and I could have done without the 'poems' at the start of each chapter, but otherwise, I enjoyed this.
July 29, 2019
An intriguing book
I found this book very intriguing- insofar as so many events and lives were affected by the Great Storm of 1987. Despite the appalling devastation it was heartening to read of positive outcomes as well as the tragic ones.
I found this book very intriguing- insofar as so many events and lives were affected by the Great Storm of 1987. Despite the appalling devastation it was heartening to read of positive outcomes as well as the tragic ones.
April 6, 2021
Really enjoyed it
August 15, 2023
A very emotional personalised portrayal of the storm of 1987. Now I understand the death in paradise reference
February 3, 2024
Excellent book, full of interesting facts about the 1987 storm, linked in with family history, nature writing and some social commentary. Recommended.
July 20, 2020
I didn't really know what I was getting myself into when I read this, so I went in blind but was so pleasantly surprised! This book follows the events of the 1987 storm, and examines the destruction left behind. The focus was on how although nature had caused the chaos, nature also suffered in it's path.
The book focuses on how it wasn't just man-made structures which were damaged, but also how nature recovered and was rebuilt. Reflections were made on what was learnt from the consequences of the storm, and how our relationship with nature and trees changed.
With this new found knowledge of trees, there's a strong sense of being rooted to the ground. By blending nature and nautical themes, this is a great read for those who are based in southern UK, or perhaps travel to our European neighbours. The writing itself is perfect combination of history, science, and poetry.
This was totally different to anything else that I would usually read. With some of the chapters touching on how my hometown was impacted, I felt somewhat personally connected to this book too. I gave it a four star review on Goodreads.
The book focuses on how it wasn't just man-made structures which were damaged, but also how nature recovered and was rebuilt. Reflections were made on what was learnt from the consequences of the storm, and how our relationship with nature and trees changed.
With this new found knowledge of trees, there's a strong sense of being rooted to the ground. By blending nature and nautical themes, this is a great read for those who are based in southern UK, or perhaps travel to our European neighbours. The writing itself is perfect combination of history, science, and poetry.
This was totally different to anything else that I would usually read. With some of the chapters touching on how my hometown was impacted, I felt somewhat personally connected to this book too. I gave it a four star review on Goodreads.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews