The Herald Digital Archive Project took a pile of cuttings and back copies to Frensham Fayre the weekend before last.

Many people enjoyed spotting familiar faces and stories in the newsprint – and the ‘Great Storm’ edition published on October 23, 1987, was of particular interest to Tim and Zenny Penycote (pictured).

Tim and Zenny’s daughter Rachel Elizabeth was born two days after the storm, and her birth notice featured on the front page of that week’s paper!

The birth notice announcing the arrival of Tim and Zenny Penycate's first child Rachael Elizabeth
The birth notice announcing the arrival of Tim and Zenny Penycate's first child Rachael Elizabeth (Daniel Gee)

Having lost electricity at home because of the storm, Tim took his heavily-pregnant wife to St Mary’s Hospital, Portsmouth, as a precaution on the Saturday – and their daughter arrived that night.

Rachel Elizabeth is herself now expecting... here’s hoping for fair weather!

A notice posted on the front of Farnham Station in the wake of the Great Storm in October 1987
A notice posted on the front of Farnham Station in the wake of the Great Storm in October 1987 (Daniel Gee)

Also of interest to Tim was the photograph of a notice on the same front page, carrying the now sadly-familiar message: "All trains are cancelled until further notice".

As well as preparing for the arrival of his first child, Tim was at the time working in the signal box at Haslemere station, and so was 'in the thick' of efforts to keep the trains running too.

After a long career on the railways, he plans to retire next year.

The Herald Digital Archive Project is currently on the lookout for a fundraising lead to join its steering group and help us raise the money needed to digitise and make free-to-access our archive. To find out more, please email [email protected]