Genuine emergency blip: flood alert!!!

No peace for the wicked as they say. This really is a genuine emergency blip of no photographic merit whatsoever, it is just for the record!

We have had torrential rain for almost 24 hours. I have watched the river rising most of the day, but at 2pm, it suddenly accelerated.

The river Wye runs through our estate and we have four water courses to maintain. It was all hands to the deck to clear debris, mostly weed and trees which can quickly block sluice gates and trash grids.

So far, we have hauled out two tree trunks and tons of weed. At one point I was leaning over a weir with a chain saw to free a train trunk which had become lodged. Not something I enjoyed doing but we succeeded. Both our weirs are doing their jobs very well.

If we fail to keep the water courses clear, the village could be in danger of flooding, and if we release too much water, Bakewell could be in danger of flooding. The Environment Agency phoned today to ask us to assist the flood defences. We opened our sluices and tried to gauge how much to release. The weir in this blip is normally free of water as it is an emergency escape. At the moment, the water is thundering over!! It is like a mini Niagara!

The good news is that the water looks to be under control. Our lawns have not yet flooded. We just have to be vigilant through the night and pray the heavens don’t open too much and preferably not at all.

If you look large you can see the river on this stretch is about to burst its banks.

They say if you want something doing ask a busy man, but sometimes I would like to have a rest!!

I still haven’t finished packing for our trip to South America on Thursday!!