Pipes were victim of storm
SIR - After contacting another Sidmouth man and talking with him, he remembers a lot about the work being carried out in 1961 and has helped me with some interesting information about the pipes.
I have had another look at the condition and size of the pipes on the beach and now think they are not as old as I first believed when I contacted the Herald last week, (October 7).
I now think the pipes were lost in the storms in March 1961 when Keir were the contractors for the new sewerage work. There were two days of very severe storms, the first one was overnight and a lot of damage was done to Keir’s plant and materials.
The gantry used to lay the pipes was badly damaged and never used again, also one of the two concrete barrages was washed out to sea and the second was washed up onto western beach.
Some of the sections of pipe had already been laid and we think some of the pipes were lost out to sea as well.
More information about the storms and workings are in my book ‘Sidmouth A history Jacobs Ladder to the Alma Bridge’.
John Ankins
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Tyrrell Mead, Sidmouth
