[Report 1906] / Medical Officer of Health, Weymouth & Melcombe Regis Borough.

  • Weymouth and Melcombe Regis (England). Borough Council.
Date:
1906
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1906] / Medical Officer of Health, Weymouth & Melcombe Regis Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    CLIMATE. From the point of view of health, Climate must be judged by its equability. In this respect Weymouth is highly favoured. Extremes of heat and cold are practically unknown. When practically all England was suffering from the effects of an unusually severe blizzard, Weymouth had bright, clear, bracing weather, and brilliant sunshine. As far as one could judge from newspaper reports, it seemed the only place in England that had no snow. The Easterly aspect of the Bay tempers the heat of Midsummer and early Autumn, preventing the distressing lassitude, which is so common in many of the Watering Places in the South of England. The Mean Maximum Temperature is about, if not, the lowest, on the South Coast. The double advantages of an Easterly outlook, and mild breezes from the West, where the waters of the English Channel are mingled with the warmer waters of the Gulf Stream, preserve an equability, which is unique. The prevailing Westerly winds and the sheltered position of the town, give to the Winter a mildness and salubrity which it is to be regretted are not more widely known. The Winter temperature of Weymouth is only slightly lower than that of the Channel Islands, and is higher than any other of the South Coast. The Winter days are few when there is not at least some degree of sunshine, and fewer still when it is not possible for even invalids to sit out of doors. This fact should be borne in mind by those in search of open-air treatment. The Rainfall is one of the very lowest in Great Britain. In the number of rainy days the record is the lowest. The Relative Humidity is a stable one, and is low. The Record of Bright Sunshine is high and not surpassed by any place. Some towns may shew a higher record, but the recording instrument used is only too frequently one not accepted by the Meteorological Society. Richly endowed with natural beauties, and with a climate which for salubrity is unsurpassed, Weymouth could, if she will, take her place in the first ranks of English Health Resorts. POPULATION. As in all years, except the Census year, this has to be estimated, and in this Borough owing to the extension of its boundaries, and the lack of statistics con¬ cerning the added portion ; it is a matter of difficulty to calculate this by means of the usual method, that is, that the rate of increase from decennial period to decennial period, is a normal one. Last year, not being familiar with the district, I adopted this method ; but am positive, from further information, that the population was much under¬ estimated. Even the natural increase from the difference between the birth rate