Lightening strikes bring chaos to Northumberland towns

Jun 17 2009 by Peter Taylor, The Journal

TEN thousand people were left without power as 1,000 lightning strikes in the region brought summer chaos.

Pubs and businesses were forced to close as a result of the storms.

In Corbridge, Northumberland, businesses had to shut their doors from shortly before 3pm on Monday when power was cut to most of the town.

Tourists were unable to visit favourite haunts and drinkers faced a dry spell until power came back in the village centre towards 7pm.

But many homes there and in surrounding areas of Tynedale were blacked out until around 10pm.

The Black Bull, which was hit by flooding as well as a blackout, was unable to trade from 3pm to 7pm and it was a similar story in other pubs.

Linda Peel, landlady of the Golden Lion, said: “The power did not come back on until 6.45pm.

“We serve food from 5pm to 9pm and I wasn’t going to put it on but the people who live in the village were coming in and asking if they could eat because they didn’t have electricity. Three guests supposed to be coming from the Hexham area rang to cancel.

“I presume the lightning had struck a pylon.

“A lot of shops were shutting.’’

Without power, pubs were unable to serve beer and meals but bottled beer was served as attempts were made to resume trading in the evening.

At the Black Bull, staff had to mount a mopping-up operation as the bar was flooded by rain.

But once power came back on shortly before 7pm it was business as usual serving scores of diners.

Pupils at Corbridge First School were sent home shortly before 3pm yesterday.