Bustling coastal tourist town of Lynmouth, Devon, England, complete with ice cream parlour, in the summer of 1952. This photograph was taken approximately three weeks before the Lynmouth flood disaster, which occurred on the night of Friday 15 August 1952.
Lynmouth, Devon, England: the main street towards the end of July in 1952 with slow-moving traffic (including a Morris 1000 and a motorcycle sidecar combination). This photograph was taken “approximately three weeks before the Lynmouth flood disaster”, which occurred on the night of Friday 15 August 1952, according to a hand-written note by the photographer. Local residents and / or holidaymakers are enjoying the summer sunshine, blissfully unaware of the tragic disaster that would devastate this picturesque town. Lynmouth on the north Devon coast lies at the mouth of the River Lyn and at the edge of Exmoor National Park. The Bath Hotel with its RAC sign, centre left of this image, has been in the same family since 1951 and is still open for business. Sadly, the Priors Cottage ice cream parlour selling Eldorado, on the right, is no longer trading. On Friday 15 August 1952, just over 9 inches (230mm) of rain fell, 6 inches (150mm) in a few short hours in the afternoon / early evening. The top of Exmoor was unable to absorb the rainfall and Lynmouth was overwhelmed. Rainfall flooded into the many tributaries of the East and West Lyn rivers and as a result, tons of water, soil, boulders and vegetation descended through the narrow valleys of Exmoor, demolishing bridges as it went. A wall of water and rubble hit Lynmouth in the late evening and 34 people died. Effectively, Lynmouth was destroyed that night and took six years to rebuild. The photographer was either Kathleen or George Blenkhorn, a married couple living in Yorkshire.
Size: 8502px × 5668px
Location: Lynmouth, Devon, England, UK
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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