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The Storm: A History

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We Didn't Expect This!

During the night and day of 26 and 27 December 2005 North Yorkshire was struck by the worst gales for over a century with winds gusting between 90 and 120 mph. Every farmer in the county was on alert for flying feeding troughs and roofs and buildings taking on a life of their own. The following set of photographs illustrates what happened to us when an 80ft 100 year old beech tree decided that the wind was too strong. The barn and its contents were complete write-offs including the hay feeders, feeding troughs and water troughs and implements. Worse still was the fact that stock were sheltering in the barn from the severe weather. 10 sheep were injured, 1 killed outright and 1 put down by the veterinary surgeon.
It was not a good day.

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Consolation we thought would come with the completion of an insurance claim form. After all, all our payments were up to date and we were, so we thought, covered for everything. How wrong we were. 

Imagine our surprise to find that our insurance policy specifically excluded storm damage which, we were later told, is only included if we specifically request it. No amount of negotiations would shift the insurance company’s position. Lesson learned. We are now, at great expense and after insurance company inspection, covered for the next storm in 2105!

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Inspecting the storm damage.

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Clearing up after the storm.