Boscastle - North Cornwall

Tucked away along the banks of the River Valency lies Boscastle. For hundreds of years this sleepy little village has been a fishing port and before that was important in the area for importing limestone and coal and exporting slate and other local produce. As you travel inland from the harbour a second, deep valley splits off from the Valency Valley and holds the River Jordan and both of these valleys drain the water from the high hills that surround the area.

Boscastle is a popular tourist destination with the usual combination of tea-rooms, pubs and pottery shops. However, one its more unusual attractions is the Museum of Witchcraft, founded by Cecil Williamson. It has one of the largest collection of artifacts dedicated to witchcraft and Wicca in the world. It was originally located on the Isle of Man and moved to Cornwall in 1960.

On the afternoon of 16 August 2004 Boscastle was thrown into world news after the typical, unpredictable British weather nearly wiped the village away.

At midday a thunderstorm began to form across the South-West, the remains of Hurricane Alex which had travelled across the Atlantic. At the height of the storm 89mm (3.5 inches) of rain fell in 60 minutes on a very concentrated area of high ground above the village, while a few miles away the rain meters only measured 3mm all day.

The large amount of water was channelled straight into the steep valleys and the rivers Valency and Jordan causing them to rise 2m (7ft) in one hour. At one point all the debris being washed down the valleys collected at the old, stone bridge at the top of the village. It acted like a dam causing the water to build up behind it and eventually the weight of water caused the bridge to collapse. A 3m (10ft) wave of water travelling at 4m/s (10mph) swept trees, cars and the village’s visitor centre down the main street into the harbour and out to sea. Visitors’ and locals’ cars were later found washed up on beaches along the coast. It has been estimated that 20 million tonnes (4440 million gallons) of water flowed through the village that day.

The flood happened so quickly that many locals were forced to climb up on to the roofs of their houses to escape. With the help of two Royal Air Force Sea King rescue helicopters from RAF Chivenor A total of 91 people were rescued but, thankfully, there were no fatalities.