Blown Over for a Second Time
Posted: 5 April 2022
At 08:31 last Thursday morning I took my usual Weather Watcher image. Unusually, I had even added a wind direction to my report. That indicates I was conscious that the winds were unusually strong that day. However, it showed everything was normal with the Ruston Bench. Here's a close up of part of that image...
It was mid-afternoon when I realised the scene had changed and took a further photograph...
The bench had escaped Storms Corrie, Dudley, Eunice and Franklin earlier in the year but the unnamed winds at the end of March had managed to topple the Ruston Bench shelter for the second time. Only the "Beast from the East" at the beginning of March 2018 had managed it before.
However, we were due to be in Warrington the following day for the weekend and did not have time to attempt to erect the shelter before we left.
That accounts for us not managing to get a close-up of the bench till today, the following Tuesday morning. I sent the final photograph to band members who were due to come to a rehearsal later in the day, warning them that I'd be asking for help to re-erect the shelter when they arrived.
The shelter is now upright again. There was some minor damage to the rook, but we have decided that it is minor enough not to be worthy of any further attention.
