COLUMNIST
Join WILLIAM THOMSON on his journey each month exploring a Shipping Forecast region
Lundy is an island near the entrance to the Bristol Channel, due west of Woolacombe in Devon and 180 degrees south of Tenby in Wales. Although it is an integral part of the Shipping Forecast today, its remote nature means that it wasn’t originally part of the very first storm warning system - which constituted a series of cones and barrels placed around the coast to warn mariners of impeding danger at sea.
The system was simple; a cone facing up meant there was probably a gale coming from the north, a cone facing down meant a gale was probably coming from the south, a barrel meant successive gales, a cone facing up above a barrel meant dangerous winds, probably at first from the north, while a cone facing down below a barrel meant dangerous winds, probably at first from the south.
Notice the word probably; this was the very early days of weather forecasting (1861) and the instrumentation was far from precise, using brand new technology. Still, it was something of a marvel at the time it was introduced.
Even the cone and barrel arrangement which would seem so simple to us in this day and age brought together some of the most advanced technology of the day - all achieved through the vision and determination of Robert Fitzroy (see my column in last month’s issue for the full story of his pioneering work to improve sea safety).
Firstly, he had to collect live weather information from around the British Isles - something nobody had ever done before. With this he then pioneered a system of making charts predicting conditions in the next 24 hours - again something which nobody had done before.
Then he found a way to send warnings to the regions where gales were expected - again, something which nobody had ever done before.
The warnings were sent to stations where gales were expected, with simple messages like ‘north cone’ or ‘south cone’. These signals would then be hoisted along that coast.
But it was more than just a warning system; Fitzroy used his political clout in the nation’s circles at the time to make sure the country’s fishing fleets didn’t go out in adverse conditions where disaster was likely.
This was unpopular with the fleet owners and in the Tyne region the ‘stay at home’ orders were ignored, resulting in considerable loss of life. After that disaster, future restrictions which were imposed were followed with less hostility; after all, Fitzroy’s mission was to prevent unnecessary loss of life at sea.
But Fitzroy was fighting a losing battle, or at the very least he had to fight
