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Online Geography Resources |
| Teachers' Notes |
Aim |
The aim of this minisite within geographyalltheway.com is to provide a geographical case study source based upon the Lynmouth floods of 1952 and the Boscastle floods of 2004. It is hoped that the two case studies could be used independently or comparatively. |
| Video Resources |
Lynmouth
Boscastle
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Additional Reading |
The Lynmouth Flood Disaster by Eric Delderfield This is an excellent resource on the Lynmouth floods, first published in May 1953. Copies of the book can quite easily be obtained through sites such as ebay, abebooks and amazon. Boscastle - 16 August 2004 - the day of the flood by David Rowe |
Thinking Through Geography - Mind Movie |
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The Lyndale Hotel, from beside the West Lyn, before the Floods. |
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The confluence of the West and East Lyn Rivers after the floods. The Lyndale Hotel is the building near the remains of the bridge. |
| About 9 p.m. the rising East Lyn river overflowed its banks and flooded the hotel cellars. Soon afterwards the West Lyn river broke its banks and isolated the hotel. Demolishing the Chapel, the Glen Fruit Shop and a garage in its rush, the debris piled up against the south side of the hotel. 'Debris' is perhaps too mild a word to use, for boulders weighing up to ten tons, whole trees and silt built up a large sloping mound some ten metres high, which reached to the landing windows.
When the Glen Fruit Shop crashed, four people were washed against the side of the hotel and hauled to safety through the lounge windows . The water quickly rose to the height of the reception hall. The guests were therefore advised to go to the first floor. Before any attempt at salvage could be made, the water forced the doors open and completely submerged the lower floor. At intervals in the hours that followed, the sixty occupants of the hotel mounted floor by floor until they were at the top of the building. Provided with rugs, blankets and eiderdowns but without light, heat, food or drink, they sat together as the interminable hours dragged by. It was an agonising period of suspense. In the direct course of the flooded rivers and in the path of the pounding debris, the hotel received a severe battering for hours on end. The very walls seemed to rock and the groaning and straining of timbers, together with the roar of the waters, the thunder, lightening, and the whimpering of terror-stricken children was a a nightmare experience. About midnight a fearful crash was heard above all other noises, and the building seemed to rock more violently than ever... Text adapted by The Lynmouth Flood Disaster by Eric Delderfield |
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