Monday 23 October 2023
Evil River
We buzzed off to Matlock today as all roads appeared to be open and it was forecast to be a reasonably fine day. As it turned out there wasn’t much sign of flooding apart from the A6 road surface being unusually clean.
Strolling by the river Derwent Mrs H observed how evil it looked and it certainly did. The river was still in spate after all the rain, deep brown and whirling its violent way under the railway bridge. It’s where folk sometimes practice their kayak skills during more normal flows. Today they would be lucky to survive.
Ugly streamers of trailing debris caught in the lower branches of riverside trees showed how high the river had risen when it peaked. Not a pleasant sight and yes, it did look evil, as if intent on drowning anyone unlucky enough to fall in. Even here, the natural world isn’t always nice and attractive.
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4 comments:
I've mentioned Rothley Brook before. It flows along a shallow river valley to the river Soar. At one time there were 7 water mills along its length but now there are only a few remains. But the river valley floor is mostly meadows - and they are regularly very wet in winter. Every few years the brook bursts its banks in periods of very heavy rain and despite flood remedial works fields just disappear under water. Including the Morrisons car park - Morrisons had to close for a few hours because although it is built on short brick pillars which raised it above the flood there was no pedestrian access.
Further downstream the rive Soar regularly bursts its banks on an annual basis, but again the flood is wide rather than deep. One road is regularly impassable because of the flooding... Slash Lane (ha ha).
When I heard of the flood warning for Derbyshire, I thought of you both and hoped that all was OK.
A K Haart,
Do they dredge the Derwent again now we've - supposedly - left the EU?
DJ - I'm visiting Mountsorrel tomorrow so won't be far from Slash Lane. Supposed to be going on a short walk but I assume we'll steer clear of the Soar.
DAD - we're fine thanks. Our house is 500ft above sea level, but Derbyshire is full of dips in the land where water is liable to accumulate during heavy rainfall.
Mac - I've never seen it being dredged, but whatever was done, we can assume they wouldn't increase the risk to Derby while aiming to reduce it in a less populated area.
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