3-071-129 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Storm at Dover, Tuesday, January 18, 1881. 'On the Admiralty Pier after the Storm; Wreckage thrown on the Quay by the Sea; A Drencher at the Lord Warden; The Parade after the Storm...[Scenes from] The great tempest of east wind and snow...was felt equally...on the Channel coast and in the Solent, as far as Ryde...At Dover, before noon, the wind had risen to a hurricane, and, coming from the south-east, blew right into the harbour, doing great damage to the fishing craft. Three Dover luggers were smashed to atoms against the quays, their fragments blocking up the public street. At high water, the waves opposite the Esplanade were as high as the clock tower...The mail- boat from Calais arrived at the Admiralty Pier before daylight, and landed mails and passengers, but, being unable to get into the harbour, she ran back for Calais, where she arrived safely...The injury done to the Admiralty Pier is very extensive. All the substantial iron gates at the entrance to the pier have been carried away, while not a vestige remains of the gate-house and telegraph-box. A great deal of damage has been done to the promenade of the pier, where huge masses of flag-stones, weighing not less than a ton, have been displaced and carried away by the sea'. From "Illustrated London News", 1881.