On Friday 7th January 2005 . . .

. . . we woke up to find we had no electricity and this was soon followed by no water. We had had a lot of rain, but as we live quite high up, we were not too concerned about it. We assumed that the high winds that had accompanied the rain were to blame for faults in the power supply. Eventually we found a radio and some batteries, tuned into the local radio, and discovered that Carlisle was flooded.

Carlisle is at the confluence of three rivers, Eden, Caldew and Petteril, and the heavy rain, together with other factors, such as saturated ground, meant that flooding devastated a large part of the centre of the city. In all around 1700 homes were flooded. There is a lot of information and pictures on the Internet if you want to know more about it.

As a result there was a huge investment in flood alleviation schemes in the city. As the walls and gates were erected, tracks and paths were added to enhance the environment. And a series of decorative plaques were situated along the floodwalls. Designed by a range of people and communities, they tell the story of the floods. Unfortunately this project has not been well publicised and, as years have gone by, it is getting more and more difficult to trace any of it.

Apparently there are forty of these plaques and today I managed to find four of them. This picture shows part of the floodwall and the river Caldew below. As the river is so far down at this point, railings have been added so there is a view of the river from the track. This plaque is called A Long Day's Night and reflects the hours and days of living with flood water that many people were forced to do.

We should maybe think now about those who are currently suffering from flooding or who fear they may suffer in the future.