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While the stormy weather has been a major talking point in the village so far in 2023, we can at least be thankful that we have been spared the more devastating weather events witnessed in the past. A good example is the tornado which swept through South Wales in 1913.<\/strong><\/p>\n In fact, although we might imagine them to be incredibly unusual weather events, tornadoes are more common in the UK than you might think. On average we can expect 33 every year. Thankfully they are usually nowhere near as destructive as those in the USA. We are also better prepared than we were in days gone by. The Vale has an official project plan aimed at preparation for the impact of climate change and the ever increasing risk of flooding in many of our communities. As a lead Local Flood Authority, the Vale has a statutory duty to investigate, log and report all instances of flooding. Fortunately for us, the Vale has also been proactive in dealing with the impact of the stormy weather, sending a team to deal with the recent flooding on the Old Port Road.<\/p>\n Such planning had not unfortunately taken place when one of the most devastating weather events hit South Wales on October 27th,1913. Just days after hundreds of miners were killed in Britain\u2019s worst mining disaster at Senghenydd, a tornado struck large parts of South Wales, causing widespread devastation. The Met Office confirmed that the tornado was the same power and severity of those more regularly experienced across the Atlantic in the United States. The South Wales event was in fact a \u201cmoderately devastating tornado\u201d (T6 on the TORRO scale) which means that the winds were, at its worse, in excess of 160 mph.<\/p>\n A tornado is defined as a violently-rotating column of air which spins around and upwards, similar to the action of a cork being pulled from a wine bottle. The 1913 tornado began over Devon in the mid-afternoon, as warm air from the Mediterranean struck a cold front blowing down from Iceland. As it progressed, it swept 11 miles through areas such as Trefforest, Pontypridd, Cilfynydd and Abercynon. The impact seems to have peaked at Edwardsville. There, the English Congregational Chapel was wrecked and the pews swept against the west wall. Nearby, a hayrick weighing several tons was carried for a mile and, near Pontypridd, half a ton of brick chimney was carried several hundred yards.<\/p>\n During the tornado six people lost their lives. One of those killed was Francis Woolford, of Edwardsville, captain of Ton Pentre football club, after being transferred from Swindon FC for \u00a325. Woolford , and the trainer, Walter Breeze, were walking to the station on their way home and were a short distance ahead of the rest of the team. Woolford was dashed against a wall, fracturing his skull, while Breeze was lucky enough to get away with a broken rib. Another fatality, Thomas John Harries, a 52 year old miner from Cilfynydd was thrown 300 yards by the winds and was found the next morning in a nearby field. He left a wife and three children. As well as the lives lost and the scores injured there was extensive damage to property estimated to be equivalent to around \u00a33million today. Worse still, a few days later the insurers refused to pay out, presumably because the tornado was considered an act of God.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n THERE ARE MORE TORNADOES PER SQUARE MILE IN BRITAIN THAN IN THE USA ! While the stormy weather has been a major talking point in the village so far in 2023, we can at least be thankful that we have been spared the more devastating weather events witnessed in the past. A good example is the tornado which swept through […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[334,228,1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6cWjO-3l5","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":16852,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=16852","url_meta":{"origin":12839,"position":0},"title":"Typical British Weather \u2013 A Myth Or Reality?","author":"Alan Williams","date":"30th April 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"ARTICLES of GENERAL INTEREST TYPICAL BRITISH WEATHER \u2013 A MYTH OR REALITY? This piece for Wenvoe What\u2019s On is being written on a glorious sunny day in April, but we wonder how long it will last. The phrase \u201ctypical British weather\u201d is so familiar that it has become almost meaningless.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Items for May 2026"","block_context":{"text":"New Items for May 2026","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=433"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Weather.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9722,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=9722","url_meta":{"origin":12839,"position":1},"title":"Please Help Me Raise Funds","author":"Alan Williams","date":"29th May 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"PLEASE HELP ME RAISE FUNDS FOR A HOMELESS CHARITY I am taking on this challenge to raise \u00a31000 for a homeless charity in Wales which is run by my daughter Bonnie. Housing Justice Cymru mobilises Christian action on homelessness and housing need through love, justice, advocacy and nurture. They really\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Event Notices"","block_context":{"text":"Event Notices","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=237"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16467,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=16467","url_meta":{"origin":12839,"position":2},"title":"The Cardiff Chain Ferry & Ely River Subway","author":"Alan Williams","date":"30th December 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"ARTICLES of GENERAL INTEREST SOME NOTES ON CROSSING THE LOWER REACHES OF RIVER ELY The Cardiff chain ferry and the Ely River pedestrian subway were two remarkable transport innovations that shaped Cardiff\u2019s docklands, reflecting both the industrial growth of the city and the ingenuity of engineers. The Cardiff Chain Ferry\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Interest Articles"","block_context":{"text":"General Interest Articles","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=334"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/River-Ely-Crossing-4-a.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10221,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=10221","url_meta":{"origin":12839,"position":3},"title":"Lessons From The Past And A Gathering Storm","author":"Alan Williams","date":"16th September 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"LESSONS FROM THE PAST AND A GATHERING STORM Extreme weather events seem to be on the increase as July brought us a mini heat wave followed by storms and heavy rain. On one recent occasion, 23 December 2020, the Vale experienced on average 33mm of rainfall over an 11 hour\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Interest Articles"","block_context":{"text":"General Interest Articles","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=334"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/1607.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4919,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=4919","url_meta":{"origin":12839,"position":4},"title":"School Holidays Too Long?","author":"Alan Williams","date":"16th September 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 FANTASTIC WEATHER AND SIX WEEKS OF QUALITY FAMILY TIME But were the school holidays too long? As the Vale\u2019s primary and secondary schools return for the Autumn Term, there are those who argue that the Summer holiday break has been too long and it would be less stressful for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Miscellaneous"","block_context":{"text":"Miscellaneous","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=127"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4418,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=4418","url_meta":{"origin":12839,"position":5},"title":"OUR FEATHERED FRIENDS","author":"Alan Williams","date":"28th March 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 OUR FEATHERED FRIENDS The recent spell of cold and snowy weather couldn\u2019t have come at a worst time for our native birds. By March stocks of natural food such as berries are dwindling at a time when birds are needing to be at their healthiest to breed and raise\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nature Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Nature Notes","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=49"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12839"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12839"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12841,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12839\/revisions\/12841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Picture1-1.jpg?resize=600%2C320\")
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