The Abercynon Tornado

Just two weeks after the Senghenydd disaster Monday the 27th of October 1913 was
an almost unseasonably warm day. That afternoon as warm air from the
Mediterranean met a cold front, which had blown down from Iceland, a storm formed
in the skies above Devon.

Retired civil servant W. A. Willock noted in his diary that his car journey near Exeter
had been interrupted by “very black cloud from which…I do not think I ever saw such
rain out of the tropics”. Despite the heavy rain there were no reports of damage on the
south side of the Bristol Channel.

Instead the storm travelled into Wales, eventually making landfall near Llantrisant. As
it progressed along valley the area’s geography led to the winds becoming cyclonic. It
is estimated that during this period the storm reached level T6 on the scale produced
by the Tornado and Storm Research Organisation with winds probably exceeding
160mph.

While Llantwit Fardre escaped with only slight damage to out-buildings and light
structures it was a different story further up the valley.

It was approaching six o’clock in the evening when the tremendous force of the
tornado struck Treforest lifting people from their feet, dislodging tiles and levelling
unstable structures.
 A man poses next to an uprooted tree.

At Cilfynydd many houses were damaged and the roof of the Co-Operative Stores
was eventually found on the common halfway to Abercynon.

Haulier Evan Prosser was blown 30 yards into the Glamorganshire Canal and was
fortunate to escape with his life. Not so lucky was Thomas Harries, a collier, who was
killed when he was swept, by the force of the gale, from the Merthyr Road and carried
almost 400 yards. His battered body was found in a field the next day.
 A wall damaged on the road from Travellers Rest to St Cynons.

With winds still over 100mph the tornado hit Abercynon. It’s force focused on the 13
houses of Fairview Terrace. Every house in the street lost its roof and many of the
partition walls of the upper rooms were also destroyed.

The police, led by Police Inspector Angus, rescued some people trapped inside their
homes. The Western Mail reported that in the aftermath of the storm “thousands of
people arrived on the scene and there was no lack of willing helpers”. Local
councillor and colliery agent Bruce Jones opened up the offices of Abercynon
colliery, turning them into a temporary lodging house for the affected.
Mr Evans a collier who lived in number 1 Fairview compared the noise the tornado
made to the sound of a train rattling through the Severn tunnel. His wife managed to
pull their daughter out of the way of a partition, which was falling without warning,
hurting her back in the process.

The rear of Fairview Terrace.

In a field behind Fairview Terrace stood Old Station House the home of Mr and Mrs
Alfred Blake (86 and 74 respectively). Mr Blake had been employed as an inspector
of the Taff Vale Railway Company and at the time was reportedly the oldest
inhabitant of Abercynon.

(Old Station House, was once the location of Incline Top Station. From here
stationary winding engines hauled railway carriages up the steep incline from the
bottom of Glancynon Terrace. A diversion, along which the current railway runs, led
to this method, along with the station, being abandoned in 1846.)

The tornado inflicted significant damage on Old Station House causing the roof to fall
in trapping Mr Blake and his son, Alfred J. Blake in a back room of the property.
Hilda Pearce, a 16 year old employed as a maid by the family, was also trapped
inside. Mrs Blake who had been in the parlour when the storm struck managed to
escape into the garden to summon help.

The remains of the bungalow known as Old Station House.

Having seen his home and shop in Fairview Terrace destroyed moments earlier
George Blake heard his mother’s cries for help. Pausing only to ensure that his own
family were safe George bravely led friends and relatives in a rescue effort.

After around 45 minutes the group forced their way in through the kitchen to the back
room and were able to rescue Mr Blake and his son. Miss Pearce was rescued from
another part of the house soon after.

While Alfred J. Blake and Hilda Pearce were able to recover from the ordeal Mr
Blake succumbed to his injuries two days later.
 The storm damaged interior of the Blakes’ bungalow.

In addition to this destruction a nearby T.V.R. signal was damaged and the east side
of Abercynon was stripped of its trees. The Royal Oak and two other nearby
dwellings were almost demolished while both Goitre Coed Old Farm and Goitre Coed
New Farm suffered damage.

Less than five miles away the tornado reached Edwardsville. Here Mr B. P. Evans,
headmaster of the local senior boys’ school and fellow of the Royal Meteorological
Society, reported stones, slates, pieces of timber and lumps of cement being hurled
against windows like missiles while chimney pots and pieces of roof were dashed
onto the pavements below. He also recorded that the “rain fell in torrents. The
lightning set fire to the tar which had been sprayed some three weeks previously on
the main Cardiff and Merthyr road, some 12 yards from our house door. A distinct
smell of sulphur pervaded the air.”
 Residents inspect the remains of Fairview Terrace.

Nearby the players of Ton Pentre F.C., after fulfilling a fixture against Treharris, were
making their way to the station. Club captain Francis Woolford and the team’s trainer
Walter Breeze were a short distance ahead of the rest of the rest as the winds struck.
Both men were blown against a wall and while the unfortunately named Breeze was
lucky enough to escape with a broken rib, Woolford suffered a fractured skull and
was killed.

Ultimately three people were killed and over a hundred injured while numerous
houses and a chapel were wrecked. A Met. Office investigation concluded that the
geography of the south Wales Valleys, combined with a sudden one percent fall in
barometric pressure was responsible for the anti-clockwise tornado. It remains
Britain’s deadliest tornado.