Has broken its banks and flooded the playing fields
Mark Ryan ● 5095d22 Comments
If I Tell You What This Means You Have To Buy Me A Pint.Cost me a pint to find out :-)
Nigel Brooks ● 5091d
(waves a white flag....)
Bud Richards ● 5091d
Over the bar in The Crown, Harmondsworth.IITYWTMYHTBMAP
I know that one!!
ROTFLMAO !
f*** me sideways I should have known that(you did ask!)
Oh Go On!
FMSISHKT(I wouldn't ask!!)
Sorry, a bit of forum speak - slapping my wrist as I type.IIRC = if I recall correctly.
The best source would be Val Bott's bookhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/Flood-The-Brentford-1841/dp/0950802506but google can find some reports :http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=lKMsAAAAMAAJ&dq=1841%20Brentford%20Flood&pg=PA20#v=onepage&q=1841%20Brentford%20Flood&f=falseOn a Sunday morning the 17th of January 1841 the year the Prince of Wales was born a very serious inundation swept about a hundred thousand pounds worth of property out of Brentford in a few hours Near the centre of civilization one is apt to consider those great dumb aggressive forces of nature the hurricane the flood the earthquake and the volcano as disarmed and powerless and when they do come they appear more terrible from their long concealment The Brent swollen by half the brooks and rivulets of Hertfordshire and Middlesex and breaking up angrily after the cold imprisonment of a long frost bore down on Brentford with a furious and dangerous flood Boats were rowed up and down the streets to save life and property and the misery and confusion was incredible http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=8u4IAAAAIAAJ&dq=1841%20Brentford%20Flood&pg=PA197#v=onepage&q&f=falseJan 16 An unusually rapid thaw has been attended with fearful inundations which have spread havoc ami ruin attended with loss of life At Brentford the waters of the river Brent and the Grand Junction Canal were first observed to rise about half past twelve on Saturday night and still continued to increase until about four o clock a loud noise was heard to the northward of the town which every moment sounded nearer and it was soon ascertained that the narrow stream of the Brent had overflowed its banks and was rapidly pouring itself into the already increased waters of the canal Numbers of boats barges and lighters were torn from their moorings and driven through the bridge towards the Thames four barges immediately sank The accumulated waters having overflowed all the premises north of the high road burst through two avenues by the houses near the bridge and church filling the lower rooms and finally forced themselves an outlet by washing down a wall at the bottom of Church alley and another that joined the canal near its outlet to the Thames The escape of the men women and children from the passage boats as they passed the wall of the IJuke of Northumberland's grounds was almost miraculous A boy was the first that succeeded in getting over and fastened a rope to a tree by which means twenty one persons were saved who received every assistance from his Grace's gardener About five the water was at the highest and the only means of communication between the houses near the bridge was by boats but about six o clock it gradually began to decrease Many barges and lighters laden with com coals &c have sunk and many more rendered completely useless by the injuries they have received The Infant School Rooms were prepared for the reception of those whose boats were damaged or sunk and on the doors being thrown open 90 men women and children were admitted and supplied with food about 60 passed the night in the building The parochial authorities also provided the poorer inhabitants who have suffered from the flood with coals for the purpose of drying their dwellings Considerable mischief has also occurred on the banks of the river Ravensbourne between Deptford and Lewisham and on each side of the river Lea both in Middlesex and Essex including the Northern and Eastern Railroad The villages on the Win terbourne bourn in the vicinity of Salisbury Plain have experienced still more disastrous effect of the floods At Shrcwton 36 houses have been washed away and three lives lost a man a boy and a girl At Wylye not many houses but one life At Stoke about 30 houses have been destroyed At Tilshead seven houses At Chitterne two houses entirely destroyed and two partially the whole mass of waters sweeping away bridges in its resistless course and receiving every mile large additions to its bulk passed by Wilton and Salisbury where the cathedral was some feet under water .
Tim Henderson ● 5091d
Nigel,"IIRC" ?
Blimey, I'd forgotten that and meant to buy the book abut it last year.I think there were a number of fatalities and IIRC there was a plaque somewhere on the dock basin by the barge sheds.
Sounds intriguing Tim - care to share a bit more ? Was not aware of this....
And if the Welsh Harp gets overfull and the overspill erodes the earth dam, we'll have a repeat of the 1841 Brentford Flood !
Tim Henderson ● 5092d
Yes, Costons used to flood regularly. I used to go to Phoenecians (Drayton Manor playing fields) and the flooding used to be quite extreme.As an amusing aside, I spent six months persuading (successfully) the Environment Agency that my home was not on a flood plain. (Insurance is already expensive). They recanted when I pointed out that the nearest watercourse was the Grand Union canal around 500 metres away at the bottom of two slopes about 25 metres high in Elthorne Park. If my home was flooded then most of London would be under water as well and me being on a flood plain would be the last of their worries..
Nigel Brooks ● 5094d
Good story!!I don't think some people appreciate how bad it used to be.I remember Costons Lane being flooded and a lot of homes being affected. By the 6th green at Perivale Park golf course (opposite Drayton Manor playing fields) they built a structure in the river which stopped Costons Lane from flooding around 1980 I think. Even the Ruislip Road was affected.
Bud Richards ● 5094d
Perivale Lane was a real 'sod' in the wet.The first of us to pass a driving test (not me) had a Reliant Regal three wheeler and we hit the water at speed one night (it had been raining all day but the road was still open). Not only did it stall (cue rolling up of jeans to push the damned thing)and leak like a sieve but there was the distinct feeling that we were about to float off :-)
Nigel,Yep, I remember when Perivale Lane was like that. Some people still don't believe me when I tell them that it used to cross the A40 by Ealing Golf Club.Hopefully this flood has killed off a few of the rats that seem to be spiralling out of control in the Ealing Golf Club / Pitshanger Park area....
BudI believe that the Brent is used as a 'run-off' for the Welsh Harp Reservoir (by the North Circular just before Brent Cross) and also for overflow from the Grand Union Canal.Flooding of the golf course and the playing fields used to be a regular thing when I was younger and 'Perivale Lane' was a dangerous and winding long 'ford' at best and often closed every time that there was heavy rain.
Hi Mark,I'm a member at Ealing Golf Club and we have been impacted by this. It affects a number of our holes.I believe (but would welcome correction) that whether the river bursts its banks or not is dependant upon rainfall levels in North London.
Bud Richards ● 5095d
Wrong, wrong, wrong!Something trobled me after I posted this, the original Perivale Lane was to the right, not the left of the current road.
Nigel Brooks ● 5095d
MarkIt always used to when I was a kid.That is one of the reasons why the 'new' road was built; well that and the underpass. The original 'Perivale Lane' was (when looking towards Perivale to the left of the current road (largely where the footpath is now) and was on the 'other side' of Hanwell Town football club and was routinely under water after heavy rain.