Winds of Change

Weather oxfordtimes.co.uk WINDS OF CHANGE Richard O Smith meets Storm Force author Andrew Beattie Oxford-educated Andrew Beattie been buried by sand storms. He started keeping a daily record has written a book about something The reason homes are usually more in Oxford in 1337 and continued until invisible that has shaped Britain’s expensive on the western rather than 1344 by which time he had become a landscape – literally as well as socially, eastern side of a city is due to the wind rector in Lincolnshire. Pioneering Oxford economically and metaphorically. (west to east being the predominate wind physicist Robert Hooke formalised an Storm Force describes how the flow direction of factory chimney stacks). approach to collecting metrological wind has affected these isles. Cardinal Wolsey deliberately data in his 1663 work Method for “I have always been interested in located Hampton Court to the South Making a History of Weather. meteorology and the effects of weather West of London to inhale fresh air But it was the great storm of 1703 on people and landscape,” says Beattie. rather than wafted city stink. that prompted first-hand accounts “No other aspect of the weather can And Storm Force reveals of the destructive violence contained have such a wide-ranging influence on both the windiest and least within the winds unleased on an human activity. The influence of wind windiest places in Britain. Oxford church and college. ranges from energy generation to the Oxfordshire features a lot: for “Several sheets of lead curled off the sculpting of the physical landscape starters there’s the Bicester Twister. roof of a new building at The Queen’s (eg sea cliffs) to destruction in the “The Bicester Twister is a tornado College and were hurled across Queen’s form of storms and tornadoes.” that swept across a swathe of Lane where they smashed through Then there’s the science behind the countryside to the west and north of the west window of the church of St causes of air movements – covered in Oxford on May 7, 2012,” says Beattie. Peter-in-the-East, breaking an iron Storm Force in highly readable detail. “It affected a number of towns, bar in the process,” says Beattie. “It’s fascinating, as is the place of wind including Kidlington and Witney.” Such was the defenceless bombardment and storms in our popular culture, from As for the terminology? “We know England suffered on November 27, 1703 the Shipping Forecast with its iconic ‘twisters’ as ‘tornadoes’ on this that a young writer yet to establish his opening words “warnings of gales”. And side of the Atlantic because of the reputation called Daniel Defoe decided to it’s the possibilities that a discussion increasing migration of American publish The Storm – a book of reportage of wind lends to a variety of topics – usage to Britain – not least through recounting the events of that fateful day. economics, culture, landscape evolution, the 1996 film Twister,” he explains. It was a boldly original concept. war and the history of science – that There are plenty more Oxfordshire Tracking down eyewitnesses to the led me to write the book,” he says. connections with historical weather firsts. storm damage, interviewing them and The wind blows through British It seems likely that the first transcribing their testimony may all be history. A storm is referenced in Englishman to log a daily journal standard journalistic techniques today, every single Shakespeare play. recording the weather was Merton but they were innovative at the time. Entire Scottish villages have College fellow William Merle. Beattie has a strong Oxford connection 104 Oxfordshire Limited Edition August 2016 Lightning across Stanton Harcourt in Oxfordshire oxfordtimes.co.uk Weather Picture: Nigel Conniford Seven sisters DID YOU KNOW? Weather forecasts have been around for a surprising amount of time, but the first to formalise them into scientifically analysed bulletins was ship’s captain Robert Fitzroy. In 1860, Fitzroy – who attended that year’s famous Darwin debate at Oxford’s Natural History Museum armed with a large Bible for whacking, rather than quoting, in case matters turned violent – initiated the world’s first weather forecast. Six months later he too: he read geography at Mansfield Beattie arranged a year’s issued the first ever storm warning to mariners. College. Since 1992 he has split his time sabbatical from teaching to write Nowadays the Shipping between teaching geography at a London and research Storm Force, travelling school and various writing projects – Forecast is broadcast on Radio extensively in the process. 4. Is it under threat in the age authoring travel and historical guides and The book reveals the windiest contributing to the Rough Guides series. of modern communication? “I have also written a number of places in the UK. “The Shipping Forecast was actually broadcast on Radio children’s plays, one of which, Arthur: Cairn Gorm and the Butt of 2 until 1978, as it needs to be Boy King of Britain, was performed Lewis make a joint claim to be broadcast on long wave as last year at Christ Church Cathedral the UK’s breeziest spot, although these signals go furthest. It School in Oxford,” he says. both are uninhabited. continued on page 107 needs to be picked up across a vast swathe of the Atlantic stretching from the seas off Iceland to those off Portugal,” says author Andrew Beattie. “In 1978 the BBC reorganised its frequencies so the Shipping Forecast was transferred to Radio 4. It is arguable, with modern technology, whether the forecast still needs to be broadcast, as ships can pick up information via the internet. But internet connections at sea are less reliable than long wave radio.” The current Master of St Peter’s College, Oxford and former controller of BBC Radio 4 Mark Damazer refused to remove the station’s four daily forecasts, citing “one day the broadcasts A storm hits may save someone’s life”. Oxford August 2016 Oxfordshire Limited Edition 105 oxfordtimes.co.uk Weather Continued from page 105 So where is the windiest place in Britain where people (obviously of the very hardy variety) actually live? The answer is the 750 dwellers who live on – or, more accurately, cling onto – Tiree in the Western Isles. “I visited the island of Tiree,” says Andrew. “It’s the windiest inhabited place in Britain.” Tiree is a small island between Mull The island of Tiree in the Inner Hebrides is and Barra off Scotland’s west coast. the windiest inhabited place in Britain Plans for a vast wind farm just off the coastline – which seemed as logical as building a coal mine above Britain’s richest seam (only without the resultant than reasonably chance the inhabitants of and rustling paper as scientific units CO2 emissions) – were inexplicably dropped Blighty would be conversing in Spanish today. of measurement. Beaufort’s coherent recently. Yet the wind’s power has been The far superior Spanish Armada, illustrative descriptions, devised in 1805 harnessed for centuries in the UK. regardless of whether Drake’s bowls fixation by naval officer Francis Beaufort and still The Somerset Levels and the Fens of is likely apocryphal or not, meant the used today, grades wind levels that include: Lincolnshire, Cambridge and Norfolk English fleet would not have stood a chance “Dust and loose paper raised” (no. 4) and were initially drained by wind power. were it not for a wind blowing the entire “umbrella use becomes difficult” (no. 6). In the 16th century Queen Elizabeth 130 Spanish ships so much off course they What place does Beaufort’s scale have I was petitioned by several landowners ended up in the North Sea. The Spanish in modern forecasting: quaint and archaic expressing their intention to dig drainage fleet sustained such damage bobbling along or provides jargon-busting clarity? ditches. Windmills were built as power pumps the swirling seas that many ships were “Both. This sort of description provided drawing water from the land into those newly smashed to matchwood. Remember it is the early weather observers with something dug drainage channels. The enterprising wind, not the sea, that creates its waves. specific to record on tables: a figure, rather Earl of Bedford devised an interconnecting However, on other occasions the wind than a wordy description,” answers Beattie. drainage network, designed by the Dutch has not favoured Britain militarily – the “They could observe the weather conditions and powered by the English wind. D-day landings being a case against. that were current and then judge the “No other country has had such a long Elsewhere Beattie recounts how appropriate wind level. This might be useful history of harnessing the power of wind Britain’s landscapes – especially that if they did not have a reliable instrument to grind corn, drive industrial machinery, defining trademark of Britain the white that could measure wind velocity.” pump water or generate electricity – cliffs of Dover – were formed by the As for the UK’s least windiest spot? with the arguable exception of Denmark, wind, the driving force behind the sea. Well, the book names two places, which pioneered the generation of “Much of the drama of our coastline is though their status as Britain’s least electricity by the wind,” Beattie states. the result of windblown waves’ impacts breeziest place is not official. Windmills remained the cutting edge on coastal scenery,” says Beattie. Unsurprisingly neither are seaside technology for centuries after their Each year the Shetland Islands locations, it’s a probable dead heat introduction to Britain in 12th century records over fifty gales. between Stockport and Chesterfield. made bringing us our daily bread a In order to constitute the description of “That both locations are a fair significantly easier task.

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