My house is 110 years old. It was registered in January 1901, in the final days of Victoria's reign.
Some years ago, my neighbour needed to remove the pots from our joint chimney stack and fit cowls, so that he could have a back boiler (a boiler behind his gas fire). He gave me my two to use as garden ornaments, as was the fashion.
Over the years I have placed plant pots in the tops of them for decoration. This year I put some tomato plants in one. They grew lots of leaves and not much fruit, and the first two tomatoes were nearing ripening thanks to our lovely summer.
Then yesterday's heavy winds came along.
They caused a lot of damage nationwide, though fortunately only one death. Even though our winds were lighter than the north, over 40mph can be devastating.
As my elderly chimney pot discovered, with the wind whipping through those leafy tomato plants and crashing the pot to the ground.
Luckily it missed the chicken run by inches. The shards are incredibly sharp, as my arm can testify. And so 100 years of history are smashed to smithereens.
As for the tomato plants...
...oops!