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The Appeal Fund for Penzance after the Storm

An appeal fund is set up for Cornish communities after significant storm damage.

News 1962 12 mins

From the collection of:

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Overview

News reporter Terry Fleet is in Penzance and Newlyn after severe storms hit the Cornish Riviera causing widespread damage and flooding to properties and infrastructure with a serious impact on livelihoods for those working in the fishing and tourism industries. An Appeal Fund has been set up to relieve immediate suffering for those who have lost homes.

Whitehall has sent Lord Waldergrave, Assistant Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAFF) and an engineer to assess the damage. Greville Howard MP for St Ives and William Stephenson of a local trawler-operating company explain the impact on the local economy. A village on the Laregan River, Wherrytown bore the brunt of what became known as the Ash Wednesday Storm. One mile of seafront including many guesthouses from Battery Rocks to Tolcarne was damaged as the promenade, railings and sea wall gave way to rising tides and gale force winds in Mount's Bay. The 1949 Coast Protection Act against erosion and encroachment by the sea proved inadequate to deal with such crises.