Most collectors remember vividly the very first postcard which started their collection – that card that kindled the enthusiasm and started the search for the next related card, whether it be another topographical card of the same area or another artist-drawn card in the series. In my case, this occurred when I was on holiday with my parents in North Devon, in 1960. We visited the small coastal village of Lynmouth which, only 8 years earlier, had suffered from a devastating flood, which had claimed 34 lives and swept away over 80 homes and other buildings. The card I purchased, from a holiday postcard shop, was of the “then and now” type, published by Frith of Reigate. The upper half of the card showed Lynmouth in pre flood days, as a quiet and quaint fishing and tourist village, with narrow streets and old world charm; the lower half showed the post flood Lynmouth of the day, with open spaces where buildings had been swept away by the floods, widened streets and a widened, concrete-sided river channel. I was fascinated by the changes visible on the card and the idea of collecting Lynmouth flood cards had taken root.
The Frith card that started my collection of Lynmouth flood cards. The upper half shows the pre-flood village and the lower half shows the post flood changes. Card no. LYH 139.
Pre-flood Lynmouth on a printed card from Jarrold & Sons of Norwich, numbered LY 104.
The month of August 1952 had been unusually wet in North Devon and the hills of Exmoor were saturated, the heather-covered peat having absorbed vast quantities of rainfall. A downpour of torrential rain occurred on Friday August 15th; it rained heavily all day without stopping and then at 8.30 pm there was a cloudburst. In a single hour 5 ins. of rain fell on the area drained by the East and West Lyn rivers, which converge at Lynmouth. In fact 11 ins. of rainfall was measured in 24 hours.
The small streams of Exmoor became raging torrents which overflowed their banks. These streams fed into the East and West Lyn rivers, which, as they near the coast at Lynmouth, descend 800 ft. through gorge-like narrow valleys with precipitous rock-faced sides. As the valleys became constricted the force and speed of the water increased with the result that trees were uprooted and huge boulders were torn from the valley sides.
A number of bridges cross the rivers upstream of Lynmouth and these acted as dams initially until the force of water and debris was so great that they progressively collapsed. Of the 38 bridges spanning the 2 rivers, 28 gave way. At 9 pm, when the third bridge broke, a great wall of water and debris, 30 ft. high, descended down the East Lyn valley onto Lynmouth. Any building in the path of the flood was broken and swept away like matchwood. The water rose so quickly in Lynmouth that the residents were given very little warning of the impending disaster.
At 10.45 pm Barbrook Bridge gave way and the West Lyn river demolished the 12 adjacent cottages. At midnight one wall of the Lyndale Hotel collapsed, the terrified residents escaping by climbing out of the first floor windows directly onto the pile of debris banked up against the building.
Pre flood view of the Lyndale Hotel, real photographic card by Harvey Barton & Son of Bristol, numbered 26015.
This real photographic card, also by Harvey Barton (no. 41850), shows the pile of debris banked up against the Lyndale Hotel, which provided the escape route for the residents trapped on the first floor by the raging torrent. The hotel was so badly damaged that it had to be demolished. In the foreground soldiers are erecting a temporary footbridge.
At 1 am the last bridge collapsed and the onslaught started to subside, after taking 34 lives, 61 homes, 18 shops and 5 hotels.
Some of the boulders in the debris weighed up to 10 tons. Another RP card by Harvey Barton, numbered 41852.
The road to Lynton, cut at Lynton Hill Corner. RP card by Frith, numbered LYH 36.
Severe damage to the Lyn Valley Hotel is depicted on these two real photographic cards. The horizontal card is another by Harvey Barton (numbered 4). Postally used on October 3rd 1952, it bears the message “Just arrived at Lynmouth for a second visit. The damage is terrible. We’re at the side of the little river that caused it all.” The vertical card is by Photochrom of Tunbridge Wells and shows the scene a few days after the disaster, with the dangerous overhanging masonry removed and a temporary fence erected.
This RP card, by Harvey Barton, is numbered 44345 and shows the post flood, rebuilt town of the mid 1950s. A wide, concrete-lined river channel has been excavated at a distance from the buildings on the right, which previously stood on its bank and a new bridge has been constructed.
Further Reading
“The Lynmouth Flood Disaster”, by Eric R. Delderfield (1953)
The Postcards Published and a Suggested Valuation
Francis Frith & Co., Reigate
LYH 29 “Back of Lyndale Hotel”, horiz. R.P. £6
LYH 30 “Watersmeet Valley”, horiz. R.P. £6
? LYH 31
? LYH 32
LYH 33 “Glen Lyn”, horiz. R.P. £6
LYH 34 “The Main Street”, horiz. R.P. £8
LYH 35 “East Lyn”, horiz. R.P. £4
LYH 36 “Lynton Hill Corner”, horiz. R.P. £12
? LYN 37 – LYH 40
LYH41 “Lyndale Hotel from Lynton Hill”, horiz. R.P. £8
LYH 42 “View from the Quay”, horiz. R.P. £6
? LYH 43
LYH 44 “Harbour and Quay from Lynton Hill”, horiz. R.P. £6
All the above are thought to have been published also as printed cards. Value 50% of R.P. prices.
LYH 139 “Old Lynmouth / New Lynmouth”, vert. RP £6
Harvey Barton & Son, Bristol
41850 (Lyndale Hotel and temporary footbridge), horiz. R.P. £15
41851 (Lyndale Hotel entrance), horiz. R.P. £8
41852 (Houses at bottom of Lynton Hill), horiz. R.P. £15
41853 (West Lyn Hotel and Lyn Valley Hotel), horiz. R.P. £15
The above 4 RP cards were also published without the border and given the serial numbers 1 – 4.
Unnumbered multi-view of above 4 views with central pre-flood view in oval,
horiz. R.P £6
41854 “August 15th 1952 / Lynmouth / August 16th 1952”, then and now
comparison of West Lyn Hotel and Lyn Valley Hotel, vert R.P. £12
46268 “Lynmouth 1952 / Lynmouth 1953”, then and now comparison of
harbour, vert. R.P. £6
46269 “Lynmouth 1952 / Lynmouth 1953” R.P., then and now comparison
looking seawards, vert. R.P. £6
Photochrom Co. Ltd., Tunbridge Wells
“Lynmouth after the Floods, August, 1952, The Electric Power Station and Flood”,
horiz. R.P. £8
“Lynmouth after the Floods, August, 1952 , The Cottage Tea Gardens and Café, River Side”, horiz. R.P. £10
“Lynmouth after the Floods, August, 1952 , Lynn Valley Hotel”, vert. R.P. £15
“Lynmouth after the Floods, August, 1952, Site of Shelley’s Cottage”, horiz. R.P. £18
“Lynmouth after the Floods, August, 1952, Lynn Valley Hotel”, vert. R.P. £15
“Lynmouth after the Floods, August, 1952, Site of Eight Cottages washed away”,
horiz. R.P. £12
E.A.Sweetman & Son, Tunbridge Wells
C10412 “Old Lynmouth / New Lynmouth”, then and now comparison, looking inland,
vert. R.P. £6
? C10413
C10414 “Old Lynmouth / New Lynmouth”, then and now comparison, looking seawards,
vert. R.P. £6
? C10415
? C10416
C10417 “Old Lynmouth / New Lynmouth”, then and now comparison, looking seawards
from the new bridge, vert. R.P. £6
Anonymous
“Lynmouth Floods August 15th 1952”, 5 different horiz. views, with letters
N or M in the stamp box R.P. £10-15
Blackmore Series
“Lynmouth Disaster Aug. 15-16 1952”, R.P., with footbridge in foreground and
Lyndale Hotel entrance on left, horiz. R.P. £15
- Ditto, same title, looking seawards, with debris in foreground and bulldozer in middle
distance, horiz. R.P. £15
- Ditto, same title, looking inland, with ruined building in right foreground,
horiz. R.P £15