Margaret Mills joined me again this afternoon to relate  the story of of the Essex tornado which took place on the afternoon of Thursday, June 24, 1897 – a special day as people were getting ready to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee.

The storm, about 9 miles wide, appeared almost from nowhere.

Some places like Ilford and Romford stayed fine and clear but just to the north of Brentwood, there was a scene of total devastation and many farmers were bankrupted.

Twenty four hours after the storm, there were still hailstones a foot deep in Ingatestone with one hailstone measuring over four inches across.

Chelmsford looked like it had been through a war and the strawberry crop at Tiptree was totally destroyed, whilst the storm had completely blown itself out by the time it reached Colchester.

Listen here to Margaret’s description: –

I’ll see you again next week,
Scott