[Report 1917] / Medical Officer of Health, Torquay Borough.

  • Torquay (England). Borough Council.
Date:
1917
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1917] / Medical Officer of Health, Torquay Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    4/32 (page 4)
    THE BOROUGH. Physical Features and General Characters. The Borough is situated on a promontory being surrounded by the sea on three sides. This promontory is formed by hilly ridges, running N.E. and S.W. It rises in places about 450ft. above sea level. Thus a large proportion of the district is protected from the cold winds of North and East. Geology. The higher areas are composed of Lower Devonian grit and slates and of the Middle Devonian limestone. In the St. Mary- Church and Chelston areas are found rocks of the Permian formation consisting of beds of Breceia—a conglomerate—and sandstone of a deep red colour. There is very little clay in any portion of the district. METEOROLOGY. Full details of the Meteorology of the Borough will be seen in the appended Annual Keport of Mr. F. March, F.R. Met. Soc., M.P.S., Borough Meteorologist, but the following resumfc of the climatic conditions may be of interest:— 1913. 1914. 1915. 1916. 1917. Highest Maximum Temperature 76-0 79T 73-4 79-7 77.3 Lowest Maximum ,, 30-3 29T 271 270 24.9 Mean Maximum ,, 58T 58-3 56-9 56-8 55-5 Mean Minimum ,, 47-4 47T 45-7 46-2 44-9 Mean of Maximum and Minimum 528 52-7 5T3 57-5 50-2 Difference from Average 1-5 1-4 — 0-3 IT No. of days on which rain fell 176 173 188 194 173 Total fall in inches 33 17 38-30 41-43 4T53 25-5 No. of hours of bright sunshine 1526T 1796-2 1704-2 174-2 1716 CLIMATE. Briefly the winter climate may be described as mild and equable—from its position, it is in most parts, protected from North and East winds. The most important feature is the large amount of sunshine experienced during the winter months. In summer, the fallacy that Torquay is exceptionally hot has long been exploded, statistics show that on the hottest days the temperature here is five to ten degrees lower than that recorded in London. From its insular position, it is invariably fanned by wind from the sea or Dartmoor in the rear. In fact, it is an ideal holiday resort.