Location within the British Isles

Boscastle (Cornish: Kastell Boterel) is a small town on the north coast of Cornwall, in the extreme southwest of Britain. The name of the town derives from Bottreaux Castle, of which few remains sMedia:Example.oggMedia:Example.oggMedia:Example.oggMedia:Example.oggMedia:Example.oggurvive. A flash flood on 16 August 2004 caused extensive damage to the town, but much of the damage was repaired by the following year. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1802x2589, 189 KB) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1802x2589, 189 KB) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The British Isles consist of Great Britain, Ireland (usually) and a number of much smaller surrounding islands. ... The Cornish language (in Cornish: Kernowek, Kernewek, Curnoack) is one of the Brythonic group of Celtic languages that includes Welsh, Breton, the extinct Cumbric and perhaps the hypothetical Ivernic. ... Cornwall (Cornish: Kernow) is a county at the extreme South-West of England on the peninsula that lies to the west of the River Tamar. ... Lower Antelope Canyon was carved out of sandstone over millions of years by flash floods A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas, rivers and streams, that is caused by the intense rainfall associated with a thunderstorm, or multiple training thunderstorms. ... August 16 is the 228th day of the year (229th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The Boscastle floods were the worst floods on record in Cornwall. It was caused by heavy rainfall in a localised area further upstream. The rain was, in turn, caused by Hurricane Lili

National Trust property

Much of the land in and around the town is owned by the National Trust, including both sides of the harbour, Forrabury Stitches, high above the Boscastle and divided into ancient "stitchmeal" cultivation plots, and large areas of the Valency Valley, known for its connections to Thomas Hardy. The standard of the National Trust The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as The National Trust, is a British preservation organization. ... Thomas Hardy, OM (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was a novelist, short story writer, and poet of the naturalist movement, who delineated characters struggling against their passions and circumstances. ...

The Trust runs a shop and a visitor centre in the Old Smithy. A visitor center is a place where visitors to a location can get information on the areas attractions, lodging, maps, and other items relevant to tourism. ...

Flooding in 2004

Boscastle suffered extensive damage on Monday 16 August 2004 after a flash flood caused by an extraordinary amount of rain that fell over the course of 5 hours that afternoon. The floods were the worst in local memory, and a study commissioned by the Environment Agency from HR Wallingford concluded that it was the worst known flood in the village, among the most extreme ever experienced in Britain, and the chance of such heavy rainfall in any given year was around 1 in 400. The last time Boscastle had suffered notable flooding was in 1996 as a result of Hurricane Lili, but earlier floods are recorded in 1847, 1957, 1958 and 1963. Fifty-two years earlier, to the day, the town of Lynmouth, a small town some miles further east along the north coast in Devon near Exmoor, suffered extensive damage in a catastrophic flood, in which 34 people lost their lives. August 16 is the 228th day of the year (229th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Lower Antelope Canyon was carved out of sandstone over millions of years by flash floods A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas, rivers and streams, that is caused by the intense rainfall associated with a thunderstorm, or multiple training thunderstorms. ... (see also the List of environmental organizations) The Environment Agency (Welsh: Asiantaeth yr Amgylchedd) of England and Wales was created by the Environment Act 1995, along with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. ... B C D E F G H I J K L M Categories: | ... Lynmouth is a village in Devon, England. ... Devon is a large county in South West England, bordering on Cornwall to the west, Dorset and Somerset to the east. ... Dunster Yarn Market (a covered market for the sale of local cloth, built in 1609) and Dunster Castle, Exmoor Exmoor National Park is a national park situated on the Bristol Channel coast of Devon and Somerset in South West England. ...

The rainfall on the afternoon of 16 August 2004 was very heavy. 181 mm (7.1 in) of rain fell over the high ground just inland from the village. At the peak of the downpour, at about 15:45 GMT, 24 mm of rain (almost one inch) was recorded as falling in just 15 minutes at Lesnewth, 2.5 miles (4 km) up the valley from Boscastle. In Boscastle itself, 89 mm (3.5 inches) of rain was recorded in 60 minutes. The rain was very localised: four of the nearest 10 rain gauges, all within a few miles of Boscastle, showed less than 3 mm of rain that day. The cause of the very heavy localised rain is thought to be an extreme example of what has become known as the Brown Willy effect. August 16 is the 228th day of the year (229th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A millimetre (American spelling: millimeter, symbol mm) is an SI unit of length that is equal to one thousandth of a metre. ... Mid-19th century tool for converting between different standards of the inch An inch is an Imperial and U.S. customary unit of length. ... Time zones of Europe: Dark colours indicate countries observing daylight saving Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is a term originally referring to mean solar time at the Royal Greenwich Observatory in Greenwich in London. ... Standard Rain Gauge Tipping Bucket Rain Gauge Recorder Close up of a Tipping Bucket Rain Gauge Recorder chart A rain gauge is a type of instrument used by meteorologists and hydrologists to gather and measure the amount of liquid or solid (snow, sleet, hail) precipitation over a set period of... The Brown Willy effect is a meteorological phenomenon that sometimes occurs in the south-west peninsula of Great Britain. ...

The torrential rain led to a 2 m (7 ft) rise in river levels in one hour. A 3 m (10 ft) wave — believed to have been triggered by water pooling behind debris caught under a bridge, and then being suddenly released as the bridge collapsed — surged down the main road, travelling at an estimated 40 miles per hour (65 km/h). It is estimated that 2 million tonnes (440 million gallons) of water flowed through Boscastle that day. Around 50 cars and 6 buildings were washed into the sea, along with uprooted trees and other debris. In an operation lasting from mid-afternoon until 2:30 AM, a fleet of seven helicopters rescued about 150 people clinging to trees and the roofs of buildings and cars. Amazingly, no major injuries or loss of life were reported. metre or meter, see meter (disambiguation) The metre (in the U.S., chiefly meter) is a measure of length, approximately equal to 3. ... A foot (plural: feet) is a non-SI unit of distance or length, measuring around a third of a meter. ... The hour (symbol: h) is a unit of time. ... Miles per hour is a unit of speed, expressing the number of international miles covered per hour. ... Kilometre per hour (American spelling: kilometer per hour) is a unit of both speed (scalar) and velocity (vector). ... A tonne (symbol t), sometimes referred to as a metric tonne, is a measurement of weight. ... The gallon (abbreviation: gal) is an English unit of volume. ... The Bell 206 of Canadian Helicopters Robinson Helicopter Company (USA) R44, a four seat development of the R22 A helicopter is an aircraft which is lifted and propelled by one or more horizontal rotors. ...

In addition to six buildings being washed away, many other buildings suffered serious flood damage or were reported unsafe. Most of the tourist attractions and shops are in the oldest parts of the town, in the areas most affected by the flood at the bottom of the river valleys. The visitor centre was half demolished, and the Museum of Witchcraft was also severely damaged. The ground floors of many buildings were covered with many inches of mud washed in by the flood waters. Following the rescues on 16 August 2004, emergency services cleared debris that had built up beneath and over the bridge at the centre of the village, and waters receded. Several buildings were demolished as a result of damage caused by the floods. A tourist boat travels the River Seine in Paris, France Tourism can be defined as the act of travel for the purpose of recreation, and the provision of services for this act. ... August 16 is the 228th day of the year (229th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Co-incidentally, a BBC film-crew was recording a series following the life of the new local parish priest, the Revd Christine Musser, at the time of the flood. The series A Seaside Parish records the events of 16 August and its aftermath in the following months. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC, sometimes also known as the Beeb or Auntie) is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world, founded in 1922. ... A parish is a type of administrative subdivision. ... August 16 is the 228th day of the year (229th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ...

One year later, much of the damage has been repaired. A temporary visitors centre has opened in a Portakabin, and most of the businesses have reopened. The number of day visitors is running near to usual levels, although fewer people are staying overnight. A Portakabin is a relocatable, stackable temporary building, most often used as site offices on a building site, or anywhere else where constructing an office is not practicle or is pointless. ...

Trivia

Private Eye are queer Private eye may mean: Look up Private eye on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Private Eye a fortnightly British satirical magazine-newspaper, edited by Ian Hislop (as of 2005) A private investigator, a private detective for hire (see also crime fiction and detective fiction) Private Eye, a song by Alkaline Trio...

See also

• [[Media:Example.ogg]]

External links

• About Boscastle
• Boscastle information at the National Trust
• Photos of Boscastle from Cornwall 365
• Photos of Boscastle from Views of Cornwall
• Museum of Witchcraft

• Boscastle gets rebuild go-ahead (BBC News, 12 January 2004)
• Weather statistics for Boscastle area (Met Office, 16 August 2004)
• Prince sees Boscastle devastation (BBC News, 18 August 2004)
• Boscastle flood study findings (Environment Agency, 12 January 2005)
• Boscastle - the flood (North Cornwall District Council leaflet, PDF, 864 kB)
• Flooding in Boscastle and North Cornwall, August 2004: Phase 2 report (HR Wallingford report, PDF, 244 pages, 22 MB, May 2005)
• Boscastle's mixed recovery (BBC News, 15 August 2005)
• 'Ghost town' fears over Boscastle (BBC News, 16 August 2005)Media:Example.ogg