South Pennine Boat Club

A summer of floods

Visitor moorings in York - Pic courtesy Anthony Hulse.

Visitor moorings in York - Pic courtesy Anthony Hulse.

2012 will be remembered for the wettest summer for awhile with river levels up and down like the proverbial yo-yo.

June's deluge brought the Rochdale Canal to it's knees with major damage in and around Hebden Bridge. The Huddersfield too suffered a closure because of silt washed in from the heavy downpours.

Some members spent at least one night loosening ropes at the Club moorings. Others had re-arrange holidays and boat movements with close attention to weather forecasts, the Environment Agency's web-based river level monitors and flood locks. Several of those who chose desinations along rivers were stranded as orange became their favourite colour.

A prolonged deluge at the end of September saw some of the worst flooding for many years. The Yorkshire area was hit hard once again. Whilst the River Calder didn't quite reach the worrying heights of June, the Ouse in and around York certainly did. At least one boat-owner suffered the ultimate loss when his boat was overwhelmed by the rapidly rising river on the Museum Gardens moorings.

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