garrywhiting 7 Posted February 10, 2014 Report Share Posted February 10, 2014 We lived on Burleigh Road West Bridgford until 1962, when we moved to Bramcote. I have a memory of my father taking me down Gordon Road to Tudor Square to see the flooding that had reached as far as the Gordon Road shops, it wasn't very deep at that point, perhaps an inch or two, I guess this would have been sometime between 1953 and 1958, but does anybody know precisely when please ? I do remember my father pointing out that this was a very good reason why you should never live close to a river, and that even a few feet of elevation would save you from flooding, it must of made a strong impression on my then young mind, as I have adhered to it ever since and never had to suffer the misery of being flooded out. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
darkazana 1,736 Posted February 10, 2014 Report Share Posted February 10, 2014 Apparently the present flood defences in Nottingham were constructed in 1947 after the bad floods. Though I'm sure further along the river it was around 1953. I know this was the year that a village I used to live in called North Clifton last flooded, before they built all the flood banks along the Trent Valley. The older residents told us about how they used to row up and down the village streets during that flood. Since the building of the two flood banks along that stretch the worse it got was in 2000 when the river came over the first bank, flooded the fields and was about 18 inches from the top of the second which protected the village, and was a few feet from the first houses. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,457 Posted February 10, 2014 Report Share Posted February 10, 2014 We lived on Burleigh Road West Bridgford until 1962, when we moved to Bramcote. I have a memory of my father taking me down Gordon Road to Tudor Square to see the flooding that had reached as far as the Gordon Road shops, it wasn't very deep at that point, perhaps an inch or two, I guess this would have been sometime between 1953 and 1958, but does anybody know precisely when please ? I've done a bit of digging around in a couple of West Bridgford books I have, and there are a lot of references to - and photos of - floods in 1932 and 1947, but no mention of anything exciting in the 1950s. It must've just been a bit of a heavy downpour on the day you went out with your dad. Certainly nobody seems to have taken any photos of it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BulwellBrian 107 Posted February 10, 2014 Report Share Posted February 10, 2014 I remember seeing the 1947 floods, from the River Leen, in Bulwell Main Street. I was 5 at the time. There is a Marker in the wall at Trent Bridge showing the flood level. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
StephenFord 866 Posted February 10, 2014 Report Share Posted February 10, 2014 When we lived at Roosevelt Avenue, Sawley we also had a marker on the wall - every time you stripped the wallpaper there was a distinct tide-mark in the plaster, at about mantelpiece level. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
garrywhiting 7 Posted February 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2014 I've done a bit of digging around in a couple of West Bridgford books I have, and there are a lot of references to - and photos of - floods in 1932 and 1947, but no mention of anything exciting in the 1950s. It must've just been a bit of a heavy downpour on the day you went out with your dad. Certainly nobody seems to have taken any photos of it. Odd isn't it, the memory is so vivid, but appears to be of an event that perhaps didn't happen ! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DAVIDW 1,681 Posted February 10, 2014 Report Share Posted February 10, 2014 I've looked in the newspaper archives and can't find anything but they only go up to the early 50s . There are some pictures on Picture The Past of the 1947 and 1932 floods of Tudor Sq . Start on this one and click on next image for the others . http://www.picturethepast.org.uk/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;NCCS002046&pos=1&action=zoom&id=48397 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
darkazana 1,736 Posted February 10, 2014 Report Share Posted February 10, 2014 The storm of 1953 happened on January 31st and affected mainly East Anglia, but also Lincolnshire and up to the Shetlands, 307 people died. You can read about it on the Christian Science Monitor site. www.csmonitor.com/world/europe/2013/0131/a-flood-of-memories-60-years-on-britain-recalls-a-deadly-storm Quote Link to post Share on other sites
garrywhiting 7 Posted February 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2014 I've looked in the newspaper archives and can't find anything but they only go up to the early 50s . There are some pictures on Picture The Past of the 1947 and 1932 floods of Tudor Sq . Start on this one and click on next image for the others . http://www.picturethepast.org.uk/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;NCCS002046&pos=1&action=zoom&id=48397 Thank you all for your contributions, given that there was not in fact a flooding event up to Tudor Square in the 1950's, I do wonder if say as a 5 or 6 year old in 1953/54 , my father gave me such a vivid description of the 1947 event, that it has remained with me as if I actually witnessed it. That would appear to be the most logical explanation. I do apologise if the thread title is now misleading and hope that it does give rise to confusion. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
OLDACE 196 Posted February 10, 2014 Report Share Posted February 10, 2014 There was flooding in the 50's. Trent Fields, which is the flood plain, was flooded regularly, and some houses on Holme Road and Julian Road were badly affected, our house on Trent Boulevard had water rising up the cellar steps, on one occasion it almost rose up to the ground floor. Work was done on the river about 1958/9 and that seemed to stop it. Tudor Square was not affected in the 50's as far as I can recall. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mess 616 Posted February 10, 2014 Report Share Posted February 10, 2014 When we lived at Roosevelt Avenue, Sawley we also had a marker on the wall - every time you stripped the wallpaper there was a distinct tide-mark in the plaster, at about mantelpiece level. I bought a 1930's house in Long Eaton off the Tamworth Rd in 1974 and the kitchen floor was rotten. The neighbours said a lot of houses in the area were flooded in 1947. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Michael Booth 7,364 Posted February 10, 2014 Report Share Posted February 10, 2014 darkazana (#8), I was wondering how someone who gets around on a broomstick would read the Christian Science Monitor site...lol 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Trevor S 2,003 Posted February 10, 2014 Report Share Posted February 10, 2014 Like OLDACE (#10), I can remember the fields and parts of the roads around Grans house at 8 Holme Road, WB covered in water and the back road between WB and ROT, Adbolton Lane was impassable. It was in the mid 50s or thereabouts that there were a couple of winters with higher than normal floods and it was exciting to check out Grans cellar steps to see how high the water was - remember it once was only about 4 steps from the top. Black water just laying there. Going down into the cellar when there were no floods and it was always cold, damp and smelt mouldy....wonder why? This old thread gives an insight into one such flood in the 50s...http://nottstalgia.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=9956&hl=%2Bgravel+%2Bpits #12. It was also quite common back in those days to cross over Trent Bridge and see the river up high enough to be over the Victoria Embankment steps and on to the grass areas on both sides. I checked out PTP under the heading 'floods' + '50s' and got a few pictures of floods in that decade, eg. http://www.picturethepast.org.uk/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;NTGM006740&pos=2&action=zoom&id=58186 Some floods were probably man made (Nut Brook)but others such as the River Leen flooding in Basford; as well as floods in Bulwell seem natural. One would imagine that the Trent would be effected as well but strangely no photographs from that decade of a flooded river. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
darkazana 1,736 Posted February 10, 2014 Report Share Posted February 10, 2014 There used to be a photograph of the flood of 1953 in the Pub, the Red Lion, at South Clifton, but as it says in the article it seems to be a flood that has been forgotten. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
albert smith 803 Posted February 11, 2014 Report Share Posted February 11, 2014 http://=http://s1055 photobucket.com/user/bootneck5/media/flood195501 zps7fbadf2b. png.html 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
albert smith 803 Posted February 11, 2014 Report Share Posted February 11, 2014 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
albert smith 803 Posted February 11, 2014 Report Share Posted February 11, 2014 Hi I've found these two pics. in my album dated March 1955, memory is not too good but I do know the Trent was widened by the removal of the Lovers Walk side of the river in/about 1952-3 as 2 of my mates worked on the scheme. One of them , Jack Thompson, got his name in the E.Post when the Agent i/c authorised the removal of the bank before extracting the piles embedded in the river. As they couldn't be reached from the 'new' riverbank Jack "volunteered" to drive a crane down the Embankment steps onto a barge borrowed from the Trent Navi., first try he overshot the barge & finished up in the river, he succeeded next day but to see him extract those piles from that unstable platform was very much against H & S rules nowadays! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ashley 288 Posted February 12, 2014 Report Share Posted February 12, 2014 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Trevor S 2,003 Posted February 12, 2014 Report Share Posted February 12, 2014 Memories just flood back Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.