High Tide

High tide this morning in the Harbour. It had been predicted that the spring high tide could be up to 2 feet above normal spring high tides. As it turned out it was only 1 foot higher than usual. But you can see how close the centre of Torquay came to getting very wet. A few minutes after this photo was taken I drove down Belgrave Rd to turn right on to the sea front. Two police cars blocked the road. What had I done? I could be stuck here for hours.

A small amount of water had made it over the sea wall but fortunately the wind was blowing from the west, had it been from the east we would have been in trouble. After a few minutes the police decided the water was going down and allowed me to turn right. If it hadn't I would have had to turn left up Sheddon Hill and round the town all over again.

During the night there were strong winds and heavy rain, A wind speed of 82mph was recorded at Berry Head in Brixham, which is the other side of the Bay. One concern was of course Rock Walk but a quick inspection at lunch time showed no rock falls. One noticeable casualty of the wind was some scaffolding around a building in East St which was blown down. We had to divert around this area for a few hours. Please note ISCA Scaffolding, the firm who built our Thin Blue Line did not erect this scaffolding.

Then guess what turned up at the Gas Works at about 09:15? Got it in one. Road works. Just what we needed. They were still there when I finished work so they could just be there tomorrow.

Tomorrow, Tuesday 11 March. The road between Cary Parade and Belgrave Road will be opened at 08:00. If I wake up in time I will go and get a photo of the event and keep it as my Desktop for a while. Also tomorrow there will be a Risk Assessment to see if it is safe to let buses use the road in both directions. If I miss the road opening I will get a photo showing how close we get to the trees. If we are too close I am sure the Council will cut the offending branches off.

Note to Councils everywhere: tree lined road look wonderful, I'm all for them, but please plant the bloody things a bit further away from the edge of the pavement