The year of 123 mph gales - when Hartlepool workmen fled from a collapsing factory chimney

In a week when weathermen are predicting winds of more than 40 miles per hour for the town, and after Storms Dudley, Eunice and Franklin, spare a thought for the people of Hartlepool in 1962.

It was 60 years ago this month when Hartlepool saw 9 men flee from a collapsing factory chimney which had stood 80ft high before it was felled.

That same day, bricks fell on to a bed in a house in Reed Street where two brothers had been sleeping moments earlier.

The drama did not end there. Amid winds which reached 123 miles per hour, windows were blown in at shops in Lynn Street.

But first, let’s start at the North works of the South Durham Steel and Iron Company. Nine men escaped when part of an 80ft-high steel furnace chimney collapsed.

In the darkness, the men could hear the chimney collapsing and ran for safety yet did not know which way to run to escape the debris.

Thankfully, they all chose the right direction. The upper part of the chimney had collapsed and sheared off girders as it tumbled into the building below.

Extensive damage was caused to the tool room and the fettling shop, but work went on as normal. Does this bring back memories? Were you working there at the time?

Shops and other businesses also felt the effects of the storm.

In Lynn Street, three windows were blown in at Hoggetts store and another was shattered at the nearby Blundells store.

Window blinds were torn loose in Lynn Street and Musgrave Street. The heavy wooden doors at the Hartlepool Co-operative Society warehouse were blown off and a tree crashed across the street near Jesmond Road.

Another tree missed the gatehouse of the caretaker’s lodge at St Francis Grammar school by inches as it fell, and the sign at the Woodcutter pub was smashed.

Three chimneys smashed through attics in Thornton Street and a council kiosk was lifted from its base and carried 15 yards down the road near the steelworks bridge.

Fencing was ripped to pieces and walls collapsed under the strain.

And in Reed Street, tiles and bricks had started to fall onto the bed in the room which two brothers shared.

A loud noise which sounded like a thunderclap then followed.

Bricks began raining in on the bedroom at 3.30am but the brothers managed to escape in the house they shared with the rest of their family.

It was a night to remember but were you around at the time? Get in touch and share your memories.

To jog them further, all this was happening in town as well.

l 100 men were being made redundant after the closure of the foundry and pattern shop at Richardsons Westgarth in Hartlepool.

l Plans to extend drinking time in Hartlepool’s pubs to 10.30pm were criticised as not in the best interests of town people.

l West Hartlepool councillors were due to consider plans to convert some town houses into a “three-in-one” project. It would mean houses having garages on the ground floor, flats for pensioners on the next floor, and a family home on the floor above it.

What are your memories of the worst storms you ever witnessed? Email chris.cordner@jpimedia.co.uk

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