marsh man Posted January 29, 2023 Report Share Posted January 29, 2023 On the 31st of January it will be the 70th anniversary of 1953 East coast floods which were and still is the biggest peacetime disaster since the 2nd world war , all down the coast from the Wash to Essex people lost there lives and 100s if not 1000s suffered severe flooding ,in Yarmouth where I lived there were 10 people who lost there lives and we had five feet of muddy water in our house and lost everything that was downstairs , my mother had five of us and was expecting my younger sister so we had a house full , my dad at the time was in South Africa while serving in the R N , I was only six but I can remember being helped down the ladder from the upstairs bedroom and getting into a rowing boat , we were all taking to a waiting coach and taken to a holiday camp , this was a eye opener for all my brothers and sisters as we had never been away anywhere on holiday , I can't remember how long we were there but my dad was flown home on compassionate leave and as he only had a short time left to serve he never went back . The first job when the water reseeded was to wash the mud of the walls and get our two small solid fuel fires a light , then to speed up the dying process we had the help of the R A F , they brought large generators and blew hot air through pipework into the damp homes , in those days we had no food banks or any other form of help , once the word got out that a lot of people on our island needed some help we got help from everywhere in the UK by the very kind people , as an example we got lorry loads of coal from people who lived in the London area and masses of clothes and food were sent to our village hall . In time we all went back to our flooded houses and to be honest they were always damp and the salt was for ever more coming out of the brickwork , after that storm serge we had a few very close scares over the years and if it hadn't been for constant new flood defences we would had certainly been flooded again , now I have moved to much higher ground and we will never be flooded again by high tides but the memories from that spell in my life will never fade , tomorrow I will go and have a look at an exhibition the town have put on and no doubt I will see photos that I had never seen before like the last one I went to which was ten years ago when I saw one of my neighbours rowing a big double gun punt down what was then the main road , minus the punt gun of course but I am pretty sure that in those times nobody would had blinked a eyelid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker570 Posted January 29, 2023 Report Share Posted January 29, 2023 I have vague memories of news items covering it. Thirteen at the time and I believe we had just got ourselves a TV or I saw it on the 9inch model my grandfather had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted January 29, 2023 Report Share Posted January 29, 2023 no was still in dadsbag at the time......when i lived on cobholm island i was doing some decorating in the hall and found the tide mark from that time.......that was on mill road.....mill road has been flooded a few times....and was finally sorted when some bright spark at the council thought cobholm could do with a non-return outfall flap....no floods since then........... where i am at dersingham now there is a chiselled line on the wall of the church about 6ft upthe wall denoting a flood level.............. with my luck i will end up being called swampy soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted January 29, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2023 27 minutes ago, Walker570 said: I have vague memories of news items covering it. Thirteen at the time and I believe we had just got ourselves a TV or I saw it on the 9inch model my grandfather had. With the modern technology of this day and age we would , or should know well before the event would happen , in those days they didn't know what was happening down the next road let alone 60 odd miles up the coast , at Kings Lynn the tide times are about two hours ahead of us and they were getting flooded with a severe tidal surge while the folk in Yarmouth were getting ready to go out on a Saturday night , one bloke was saying he went to the flicks and they were showing High Noon , half way through the film the manager came on the stage advising people who lived over the bridge at Cobholm and Southtown had better make there way home as the water is now running down the roads as the banks of Breydon estuary have been breeched and the river is lapping the top of the defence , no one knew a thing as mobiles were light years away and no warnings were given , after that we had a flood siren put on the roof of the village school and I can remember a few times the siren went off and we all had to make our way back home , even now they test it once or twice a year to make sure it still work alright , now we are well warned of the date and times in case people start putting there belongings up the stairs , just to be on the safe side so to speak . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old farrier Posted January 29, 2023 Report Share Posted January 29, 2023 No recollection of the incident although it is interesting history coincidently a friend showed me this a few days ago and I’m sure he won’t mind me sharing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted January 29, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2023 23 minutes ago, Old farrier said: No recollection of the incident although it is interesting history coincidently a friend showed me this a few days ago and I’m sure he won’t mind me sharing Nice one O F , is the club still going , the club I am in was founded in 1955 and still going strong . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old farrier Posted January 29, 2023 Report Share Posted January 29, 2023 45 minutes ago, marsh man said: Nice one O F , is the club still going , the club I am in was founded in 1955 and still going strong . Don’t know hull and east ryding founded by Stanley Duncan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dm672 Posted January 29, 2023 Report Share Posted January 29, 2023 too young to remember but my uncle was in the police at Yarmouth and won a medal for rescuing some people possibly in Cobholm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted January 29, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2023 22 minutes ago, Old farrier said: Don’t know hull and east ryding founded by Stanley Duncan Yes by all accounts they are still going strong . 4 minutes ago, dm672 said: too young to remember but my uncle was in the police at Yarmouth and won a medal for rescuing some people possibly in Cobholm Interesting , I know a fireman got a high ranking medal and an American service man , possibly a George Cross , I will have a look tomorrow to see if any policemen got a medal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnfromUK Posted January 30, 2023 Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 I read the Prince of Wales attended a memorial service. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-11689521/Prince-William-makes-surprise-appearance-memorial-service-Snettisham.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Boggy Posted January 30, 2023 Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 Interesting story John (MM) I can just remember the floods, I was 5. We lived on higher ground but walked into Herne Bay (North Kent coast) and remember seeing beach huts floating out to sea. Got a photo somewhere of the milkman rowing up the high street loaded with milk doing his rounds. A pub on the seafront (The Divers Arms) had its cellar flooded which washed all the labels off the bottled beer, so it was anyone’s guess what they were getting as a bottled beer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince Green Posted January 30, 2023 Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 The only reason I know about it is because a workmate years ago bought a house there that had been flooded in 1953 for his retirement. There have been a couple of programmes on TV about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted January 30, 2023 Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 1 hour ago, Vince Green said: The only reason I know about it is because a workmate years ago bought a house there that had been flooded in 1953 for his retirement. There have been a couple of programmes on TV about it. yes ive seen them..........one of them about a very brave american serviceman who put his life in danger to save others Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyefor Posted January 30, 2023 Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 I was only one month old at the time and (thankfully) far away from danger either in Scotland or deepest Buckinghamshire but there are two thought provoking 1953 flood markers I have seen regularly - one on a wall near the quay at Wells-next-the-sea and the other on the front wall of the Harbour Inn pub on the side of Blyth river in Southwold. Frighteningly high marks. Did they blame these floods on global warming? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discobob Posted January 30, 2023 Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 59 minutes ago, Eyefor said: Did they blame these floods on global warming? SSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHH....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derbyduck Posted January 30, 2023 Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 I remember going on holiday to Skegnes in the summer of that year and my dad took a walk up the sea front , the thing that still stands out in my mind was amount furniture thrown out on the gardens also the debris washed up against walls Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
London Best Posted January 30, 2023 Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 1 hour ago, derbyduck said: furniture thrown out on the gardens also the debris washed up against walls Skegness is still like that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted January 30, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 3 hours ago, Eyefor said: I was only one month old at the time and (thankfully) far away from danger either in Scotland or deepest Buckinghamshire but there are two thought provoking 1953 flood markers I have seen regularly - one on a wall near the quay at Wells-next-the-sea and the other on the front wall of the Harbour Inn pub on the side of Blyth river in Southwold. Frighteningly high marks. Did they blame these floods on global warming? I have seen both of those flood marks and the one at Wells stand head and shoulders over any flooding before and after that event , I was looking at some photos at an exhibition this morning and in one place the tide mark was getting towards the top of the downstairs sliding sash window , just up the coast from us the American airman saved a lot of American personal that were sitting on top of the chalets roof , sadly several got washed off and drowned , we were in a low laying area and got between five and six foot of water in our house and one bloke who lived down the marsh track from us was found dead when the water went down , he was found in the side of a dyke and it was assumed he tried to cross the flooded marsh's and went into one of the deep dykes. It was reported that the wind speed got to 113 miles and nobody got any warning , you imagine if that was this day and age when we get a Yellow weather warning when a dark cloud is due to be heading our way . MM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
39TDS Posted January 30, 2023 Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 Didn't they suffer similar across the channel at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derbyduck Posted January 30, 2023 Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 57 minutes ago, London Best said: Skegness is still like that! yes you aint wrong ,not been for years and thats why ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted January 30, 2023 Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 19 hours ago, ditchman said: no was still in dadsbag at the time......when i lived on cobholm island i was doing some decorating in the hall and found the tide mark from that time.......that was on mill road.....mill road has been flooded a few times....and was finally sorted when some bright spark at the council thought cobholm could do with a non-return outfall flap....no floods since then........... where i am at dersingham now there is a chiselled line on the wall of the church about 6ft upthe wall denoting a flood level.............. with my luck i will end up being called swampy soon As you have moved closer to Royalty, think it would be more like Ditchingham. Have you had an invite for afternoon tea yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_b_wales Posted January 30, 2023 Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 (edited) 21 hours ago, marsh man said: On the 31st of January it will be the 70th anniversary of 1953 East coast floods which were and still is the biggest peacetime disaster since the 2nd world war , all down the coast from the Wash to Essex people lost there lives and 100s if not 1000s suffered severe flooding ,in Yarmouth where I lived there were 10 people who lost there lives and we had five feet of muddy water in our house and lost everything that was downstairs , my mother had five of us and was expecting my younger sister so we had a house full , my dad at the time was in South Africa while serving in the R N , I was only six but I can remember being helped down the ladder from the upstairs bedroom and getting into a rowing boat , we were all taking to a waiting coach and taken to a holiday camp , this was a eye opener for all my brothers and sisters as we had never been away anywhere on holiday , I can't remember how long we were there but my dad was flown home on compassionate leave and as he only had a short time left to serve he never went back . The first job when the water reseeded was to wash the mud of the walls and get our two small solid fuel fires a light , then to speed up the dying process we had the help of the R A F , they brought large generators and blew hot air through pipework into the damp homes , in those days we had no food banks or any other form of help , once the word got out that a lot of people on our island needed some help we got help from everywhere in the UK by the very kind people , as an example we got lorry loads of coal from people who lived in the London area and masses of clothes and food were sent to our village hall . In time we all went back to our flooded houses and to be honest they were always damp and the salt was for ever more coming out of the brickwork , after that storm serge we had a few very close scares over the years and if it hadn't been for constant new flood defences we would had certainly been flooded again , now I have moved to much higher ground and we will never be flooded again by high tides but the memories from that spell in my life will never fade , tomorrow I will go and have a look at an exhibition the town have put on and no doubt I will see photos that I had never seen before like the last one I went to which was ten years ago when I saw one of my neighbours rowing a big double gun punt down what was then the main road , minus the punt gun of course but I am pretty sure that in those times nobody would had blinked a eyelid A sad time, and a great write up. Edited January 30, 2023 by steve_b_wales Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted January 30, 2023 Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 38 minutes ago, old'un said: As you have moved closer to Royalty, think it would be more like Ditchingham. Have you had an invite for afternoon tea yet? do you know about Ditchingham roundabout ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted January 30, 2023 Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 Just now, ditchman said: do you know about Ditchingham roundabout ? no? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted January 30, 2023 Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 1 minute ago, old'un said: no? google chicken rounderbout ditchingham.....its got its own wiki page Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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