78 
THE WINDRUSH AT BIGGIN. 
in, the internal pressure of the wind burst the east door outwards 
and blew the tiles upwards “like feathers.’ 1 All the roof tiles and 
laths over the east doorway were stripped from the beams, and 
many on the west side. From the cow-shed both slopes w T ere 
equally cleared. The cart-hovel, open on the S.S.W. and sup¬ 
ported on that side by two brick pillars, had its roof and north 
wall blown over into the pasture, pillars and walls lying as flat as 
those of Jericho. 
The buildings on the south and east sides w 7 ere much less injured, 
especially the latter. The insurance estimate for these forms little 
more than one-tenth of the whole. They were obviously protected 
by the w 7 est buildings. 
Three or four apple trees in an orchard to the north-west w T ere 
broken, the largest being uprooted and carried 16 yards and over 
a hedge. Its line of flight was i8° N. of E. An oak 150 yards to 
the v;est and two at 100 and 200 yards eastward were also much 
broken. Yet of course all these trees were leafless. 
No other serious damage was done outside this stretch of 300 or 
400 yards in the immediate neighbourhood, but at Wistow, 3 miles 
distant E. by 15 0 N., a good deal of glass w r as broken among the 
allotment gardens. 
The time, estimated 14 months later, was put down at a few 
minutes to 12, but, from observations given below, probably half¬ 
past eleven would be more correct. 
The direction of the wind is indicated by the angles given above 
to have been W.S.W. (22|° S. of W.) 
Dr. G. A. Auden, who collected the facts used above, records 
that near Skelton, 3 miles N.W. of York, the wind w T as almost 
due West, and was accompanied by one thunderclap with heav)- 
hailstorm. Biggin is n miles S.S.W. of York. 
There is no doubt that this squall was an episode in the Line 
Squall which traversed the British Isles on the day in question, 
and which has been most exhaustively investigated by Mr. R. G. 
K. Lempfert, of the Meteorological Office." 
First recorded at Stornaway in the Hebrides at half-an-hour 
after midnight, it passed York at 11-12 a.m., (therefore Biggin at 
11-30 a.m.), London at 3, Hastings at 4, and Jersey at 5-45 p m. 
It was still violent as it traversed N.E. France, passing Paris at 
8-20 p.m. Sweeping onwards with a velocity of 38 miles per 
* See Q. J. R. Met. Soc., October, 1906. 
