Rochdale - Hebden Bridge

[benfordboy]

Saw the News reports on the floods up North, including one of a 'Canal boat rescue' at Hebden Bridge.

 

http://www.itv.com/news/calendar/2012-06-23/floods-hit-todmorden-hebden-bridge-and-mytholmroyd/

 

Not familiar with the area , presume the river has flooded the cut ?

 

Usual case for us when we are planning a 'tight' trip ! . Last one we planned when we have trouble making it in the time , the Severn/Avon was in flood (2007) , but after the floods subsided we had a lovely autumn.

 

Hope everyones ok oop north , looking forward to some sort of summer...............

[Rod a mod from Tod]

Not to bad now. As usual for up here we just get on with it without any fuss and help one another out.

 

Our kid says there is a boat straddled across the canal above Stubbings with its bow in one of the overflows down to the river and its stern wedged on some kind of rocky outcrop and as the floods have subsided he/she is left more or less out of the water. Given its position in relation to where he was on the road he was able to ascertain that all was well with the crew so he carried on. As i live closer i'll pop round in the morning. Looking on the bright side a coat or two of blacking could be applied.

 

In the main the area and canal are back to normal so don't be put off in coming.

 

Desperately sad to see peoples possessions stacked up outside their houses, ruined.

[MartinClark]

Not familiar with the area , presume the river has flooded the cut ?

 

The valleys at Todmorden are narrow and steep-sided. When it rains exceptionally heavily, the rivers can't cope and it runs down the roads. On the other thread about this topic, a photo has been posted which shows the water pouring from the road into the canal.

[DJW]

BW have issued a stoppage for the rochdale in west yorks due to debris washed into the canal making it "unnavigable".

 

Waterscape says they are doing a full inspection tomorrow but the canal will be closed until middle of next week at the earliest.

 

We're in todmorden and walked down the towpath yesterday and there are some sizeable parts of the towpath which have been washed away into the canal

[The Bagdad Boatman (waits)]

http://www.canalworld.net/forums/uploads/med_gallery_14287_799_18637.jpg

 

 

 

The cricket pitch at Eastwood beside the canal is under 5 ft of water. I have been told that a retaining wall in the area has fallen onto a narrow boat and sunk it.

Edited June 24, 2012 by The Bagdad Boatman (waits)

[luctor et emergo]

The Avon at Hannam rose by about 3 feet overnight. Still rising fast this morning, we got of with the water less than an inch below the pontoon...

[Woodstock]

Shocking photos-and they put things onto perspective- I was moaning about the weather yesterday and not being able to get out on the boat- but at no point have we been in danger or under conditions that the photos show- so a lesson to me.

 

I hope conditions improve soon for our fellow boaters.

[DeanS]

The article said...."Firefighters used a rescue boat to help a number of people trapped by the rising waters. At Hebden Bridge, they came to the aid of a canal boat stuck in a dangerous position in a lock on the Rochdale Canal. Six people were brought to safety from the boat at 9pm on Friday."

 

I would have thought a lock would have been one of the safest places to tie up...level full...gates closed to stop the boat going anywhere....do you think they went in at normal height, dropped the level, and then go hit from an overflowing highlevel over the back gates.....making it impossible perhaps to open the front gates due to the level never reaching fully empty...? It's intersting to wonder what actually happened....I still think being in a lock, during flooding, is probably a good place to be? (level kept near full?) Am I wrong?

[adam1uk]

There are some pics of Todmorden on this blog, by some boaters who were there when the river flooded into the canal.

[Eveen]

Crickey I was on the rochdale last week, seems just missed it all!

[MartinClark]

The article said...."Firefighters used a rescue boat to help a number of people trapped by the rising waters. At Hebden Bridge, they came to the aid of a canal boat stuck in a dangerous position in a lock on the Rochdale Canal. Six people were brought to safety from the boat at 9pm on Friday."

 

I would have thought a lock would have been one of the safest places to tie up...level full...gates closed to stop the boat going anywhere....do you think they went in at normal height, dropped the level, and then go hit from an overflowing highlevel over the back gates.....making it impossible perhaps to open the front gates due to the level never reaching fully empty...? It's intersting to wonder what actually happened....I still think being in a lock, during flooding, is probably a good place to be? (level kept near full?) Am I wrong?

 

Yes! I have just been speaking with someone on another boat moored nearby who saw what happened. It would seem that the boat was going downstream and went into the full lock. The crew could then see that the canal below the lock was an impassible torrent, with the river flooding into the canal at great speed, so they decided to stay put in the lock.

 

They got frightened when the lock sides disappeared under water and called for help. There was no way to get away from the boat on foot. They would most probably have been safe had they stayed where they were, but they weren't to know that. The witnesses described them as "elderly hirers".

[Dr Bradley]

just discovered that my allotment in Sowerby Bridge was flooded. Not the disaster that some have had with homes flooded but still a disapointment. Last time it happened sheds floated away, crops wiped out and anything left loose diappeared. It took two years to recover fully and many plotholders gave up in despair. And I'm not able to get back yet to sort it out.

[Mac of Cygnet]

just discovered that my allotment in Sowerby Bridge was flooded. Not the disaster that some have had with homes flooded but still a disapointment. Last time it happened sheds floated away, crops wiped out and anything left loose diappeared. It took two years to recover fully and many plotholders gave up in despair. And I'm not able to get back yet to sort it out.

 

Will that help wash out all the toxic pollution in the soil, or will more have been deposited?

[Zayna]

How terrible, I'm so sorry for everyone who has been flooded out, it must be horrendous and very frightening.

[Dr Bradley]

Will that help wash out all the toxic pollution in the soil, or will more have been deposited?

 

Apparently there was a sewage overflow which will make anyu crops that survive inedible.