The Last Night

by Cesca Major

  The noise was so loud that shouting was pointless, so throughout the night desperate people used torch lights to signal for help. Residents spoke about the ghostly sight of motor cars rolling in the water, their short-circuited headlights like green eyes. It took days for the body of one woman to be found; she was still inside her car, which had been obscured by debris and rubble.

  ‘We watched a row of cottages fold up like a pack of cards,’ local fishermen Ken Oxenholme said. As the water rose, trees, telegraph poles, ten-ton boulders and even whole buildings were washed away. The next morning, trees could be seen in the sea, standing upright, their roots in the muddy water. Not even the foundations of some buildings survived the night.

  The Rhenish tower, originally built at the end of the harbour to guide fishermen home, was completely destroyed in the flood. It was reconstructed in 1954, using picture postcards to get the design right. The wrought-iron beacon on top of it was found amongst wreckage on the foreshore and can be seen today.

  The Pavilion

  There was a seven o’clock performance of Seaside Notions with Scottish comedian Al Raie in the Pavilion that night. When the lights went out performers and spectators started a sing-song, but during ‘Unforgettable’ an increasingly anxious audience left. The esplanade was awash, so some went back up the steps to Mars Hill and others headed for the hotels. Around the corner in the high street, they were hit with a knee-high torrent of water. A group of six women linked arms to get through the water. One woman, fifty-six-year-old Elsie Cherry, on the edge of the group was washed away.

  The Lyndale Hotel

  The Lyndale Hotel was in the direct path of the flood. When the West Lyn broke its banks it pushed rocks and debris against the side of the hotel. The guests had to move up from the first to the second and then the third floor. During the night, huddled on the top floor, they heard the floor below give way and one side of the hotel fall into the river. One guest described the building as ‘shuddering all night’.

  The next morning they walked out onto the debris and boulders that had been pushed up against the side of the hotel. The watermark here measured fifty-five feet above the normal river level. The only casualty was a budgerigar that had been swept out of the lounge in its cage.

  The Unknown Woman

  So who was the Unknown Woman?

  The coroner’s report produced the following description: ‘An unidentified female aged between 18 and 25, length 5´ 2˝, weight approximately 9 stone, well-developed, dark hair, natural teeth (some knocked out), well-kept hands and feet, was recovered from the sea on 21st August.’

  The short answer is that no one really knows. However, there are many theories. Most argue that she must have been a visitor to the village as all locals were accounted for. Some say she was an Australian, travelling in England and caught up in the flood that day. This seems plausible; certainly no one would have been able to identify her if she was only passing through. However, two other flood victims were Australian tourists, which made me wonder whether this was the case. Other people claimed she was one of the many Irish maids that lived and worked in the village, but it seems unlikely that no one would have identified her.

  The most compelling rumour I was told was that the unknown woman was from the Midlands and had been staying in a hotel with her married lover. It was suggested that the man, not wanting to confess, decided not to declare her. And when her sister back at home found out, she didn’t want to put a name to the body either, for the shame it would bring on the family.

  After some more research I discovered that in 2005 a local historian, Tim Prosser, was approached by a woman who believed her aunt was the ‘Unknown Woman’ on the plaque. She claimed her aunt had been disowned by the family for taking up with a married man. Supposedly he had also become estranged from his relatives and his wife was an in-patient in a mental institution. The woman claimed that her mother had received a postcard a week before the flood postmarked Minehead and stating that they were planning to head to Lynmouth as her partner remembered it being a pretty village. The family never heard from her again. Their circumstances would perhaps explain why their deaths weren’t reported.

  The truth is that no one seems to know who she was and to this day it remains a mystery.

  Acknowledgements

  As ever, I am indebted to a number of people who helped me produce this novel.

  To Les Newell for an enormously helpful guided tour of the workshop at Corwell; I was so impressed with the professionalism of their work. Any mistakes about carpentry and antique furniture restoration are down to me.

  Thank you to Dave Wilde who went above and beyond to answer my many questions about the Lynmouth flood including arranging an excellent coffee afternoon with some local residents and a fact-filled walk around the village. Thank you also to John Seymour and Trevor Ley for allowing me to steal some of the details from their childhood memories.

  I had a fascinating time trying to discover the truth about the Unknown Woman and the website www.familytree.co.uk was a great assistance in putting me in touch with journalist Bob Chaundy. His article about the flood, and his theory about the woman’s identity, was an incredible help.

  Thank you also to Immy Woods and David Bagnall for their advice about ghost stories.

  To the fantastic team at Corvus another big thank you for the work that goes on behind the scenes. Louise Cullen is warm, welcoming to new ideas and incredibly generous with her time. Her excellent editorial notes are invariably considered and add a great deal to the next draft. Lucy Ridout helped me with a very thorough copy-edit. Alison Davies, Fran Riccardi and all the Atlantic Books team continue to work tirelessly to ensure my books do well. Anna Morrison has triumphed again by producing the most glorious cover for the book.

  The angels at Darley Anderson are such passionate advocates of my writing and I am for ever grateful for their support and enthusiasm. To Sheila, Mary and Emma in the rights team, thank you for all you do. To Clare, my indomitable agent, the journey is so much more fun because I am travelling it with you.

  A very heartfelt thank you to the fantastic bloggers and reviewers who support my books. I was blown away by the cheerleading for my debut novel The Silent Hours. I am consistently amazed and overwhelmed by the generosity of this group.

  Lastly to my wonderful family. To my mother Basia for always being keen to read dodgy early drafts of my books (and still enthusing about them) and to my father David for telling me lots of facts about the 1950s and checking my grammar. This book is dedicated to him for so many more reasons.

  To my husband Ben who is always happy to discuss plot problems with me despite the fact I am not writing a heroic fantasy novel (one day maybe). And lastly to Barnaby for being the most gorgeous baby and allowing me to finish my copy-edit by sleeping peacefully in his sling. I love you both.

  About the Author

  Cesca Major read history at Bristol University. She went on to work in television before becoming a history teacher. She won, or was placed, in some prestigious short story competitions before having her first novel published. She has written regularly for the website www.novelicious.com and makes writing videos for www.writersandartists.com. She currently works as a housemistress at a boarding school in Berkshire.

  By the same author

  Also by Cesca Major

  The Silent Hours

  Copyright

  Published in trade paperback in Great Britain in 2016 by Corvus, an imprint of Atlantic Books Ltd.

  Copyright © Cesca Major, 2016

  The moral right of Cesca Major to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopyi
ng, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

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  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  Trade paperback ISBN: 978 1 78239 571 3

  E-book ISBN: 978 1 78239 572 0

  Printed in Great Britain.

  Corvus

  An imprint of Atlantic Books Ltd

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  26–27 Boswell Street

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