North Devon faired reasonably well in the wake of the St.
Jude’s Storm which swept over the UK overnight on the 27th October.
Almost 30 metres of rain fell in Devon with up to 75mph winds. Nearly 1inch of
rain fell in neighbouring Bude and there was localised flooding and fallen
trees. Meanwhile on the North Devon Coast up to a 10ft surf was predicted sending photographers and storm watchers racing to the coast to capture the waves. This
was followed by another stormy night on the 3rd November with
exceptionally high tides rolling in under a full moon. The wind had subsided the following day for our walk down to the beach, but there
was a definite chill in the air. Amazingly the old trees in the wooded valley
had survived. We were looking for Autumn colour but apart from the burnished
bracken there was more leaf fall than leaf turn. Down at the beach the colossal
Atlantic rollers had tossed a huge tree branch clear of the pebbles blocking
the path at the entrance to the beach. A
wooden pallet and piles of bleached driftwood were scattered on the tideline beneath the cliffs to
the left around the bend towards Clovelly and right towards Portledge and beyond. Amongst the
driftwood there were, thankfully, just a few bits of plastic debris, a sign of
the times. I thought it ironic that the largest item was a plastic bottle
entitled “Biological Toilet Cleaner”.Article & Photos copyright P. Adams 4/11/2013
After the rains, the waterfall always looks more dramatic. Photo copyright B. Adams
