Mexborough and Swinton Times, May 27th, 1932
Stories Of The Flood
Week-End Despatches From All Areas
Mexborough
On three sides Mexborough was surrounded by floods; the waters of the River Don and South Yorkshire Canal combining to form a raging torrent on the south side and joining with the flood waters of the Dearne, which came along the north side at the Pastures where a huge lake was formed. Only the main Doncaster-Barnsley road was clear; floods inundated the Pastures road to a depth of several feet, while the roads to Swinton, Bolton and Barnburgh were impassable early on Monday. Owing to the flooding at Rotherham Road and Wath stations, a skeleton service was inaugurated on Sunday on the L.N.E.R., passengers from Sheffield being taken via Chapeltown. At Wath the trains were diverted to the goods line which was also under water.
Houses in Cresswell Row and the Clayfield Lane district, especially Hewitt Street, were flooded on Sunday, the water coming from the higher parts of the township. The house and shop of Mr. P. Beaumont, in Main Street, met the full force of water rushing down “Gentlemen’s Row” and the Fire Brigade was called to pump the buildings clear. Considerable damage, however, was done. Houses in the vicinity of the ferry were in danger and one, that of Mr. A. Atkinson, marine store dealer, was threatened by the flood water. At 4.30 a.m. on Monday, they decided to “flit” and boarded up the doors, plastering clay on the outside.
At noon on Monday, the river Don at the ferry had risen nearly eleven feet above normal, the highest point reached since historic May 1886. The water was still rising. At that point the river had broadened to over 160 feet, but several hundred yards further towards Denaby allotments, fields and gardens were flooded by both river and canal to make a raging torrent. A peculiar feature was that an old barge, sunk some years ago in the river, to support the bank, suddenly decided to return to the surface. It took a last trip and ended in a garden. The Ferry Boat allotments were entirely submerged and it is estimate that nearly £300 worth of seeds were ruined. Further along, the sub-station of the Yorks. Electric Power Co., was surrounded and at the Toll Bar the sewage works of the Urban Council were flooded.
The rainfall in Mexboro; during the weekend totalled 3.81 ins., of which 2.9 ins. fell on Saturday in 15 hours.
Considerable damage was done to property, especially roofs, by the torrential rain. Another cause of damage was the starting of springs which have appeared unexpectedly in cellars and tenants had difficulty in keeping the water from flooding lower rooms. The flood brought the inevitable humorous incidents to lighten the gloom.
A hen in the Makin Street area, which was “sitting” eggs when the flood started stuck to her job though up to the neck in water!
Several pig-keepers had to carry their animals to safety. On the Ferry Boat allotments one holder had taken considerable trouble and not a little expense in decorating his hut. He said:
There is not a better kept or painted and furnished place in Mexboro’. Now it’s an ark for rats.
Swinton
Parts of Swinton which have never before been affected by flood suffered last week-end. In all parts the flooding was worse than ever before within memory.
The Don fields were quickly covered to a depth of several feet but, unlike last September, there were no crops there and little loss will be suffered. Allotments received the greatest damage; half the Wood Street gardens were swamped but only one holder had livestock; some fowls which he got safely away. The gardens near the river, east of the L.N.E.R. station, though often threatened, have never been so completely under water as they were on Monday. Much stock is reared on these gardens and there was considerable activity removing and finding fresh homes for fowls and pigs. The White Lea Road – Rowms Lane allotments were reached by the flooding from the district near the railway bridges which gets more serious with every storm.
Ellison and Mitchell’s chemical works were surrounded by water, fed by a dyke which has its course at the upper end of Swinton. The sewage works on the Don banks were similarly flooded. Fortunately, the motors were not damaged; the paddles were kept working and the storm water would do more good than harm to the system.
Residents just within the Swinton boundary at Roman Terrace had the discomfort of flooded cellars from the dyke which forms the boundary, and Sunday joints were soaked. In all parts cellars which have hitherto been considered immune have suffered this week and at unexpected points, spring have appeared.
Heavier rainfall has been recorded in Swinton, but nothing so serious in effect has occurred and it is certain that conditions will become worse.
Subsidence is largely the cause, but the lower end of Swinton is only about 45 feet above sea level. It is impassable with the present drainage for the storm water to get away quickly enough. Swinton will have the problem of drainage to tackle.
From Friday to Tuesday almost four inches of rain were recorded. Of this 3.09 inches fell between 7.a.m. Saturday and 7 a.m. Sunday.
Denaby
The floods have caused much distress and damage. Denaby was not affected directly so much by flooding as by the heavy rain on Saturday evening. Many people were troubled by rain coming in through the roofs of bedrooms; some by water entering the cellars. The Fullerton Hospital and the Co-operative Stores in Hickleton Street, were affected in this way. The new drainage system is not yet completed, but it is hoped when it is done less inconvenience will be felt. The water drains down from the hill side here, and the neighbourhood suffers much through heavy rain. Around the school on Sunday morning was like a lake. It was impossible to enter the Large Hall for a considerable period.
The park was almost inundated, and the Parish Church was partly flooded. The floor of the Baptistry and halfway down the Church was covered in water. The cellar was flooded and the Church could not be heated.
The gas supply, which is from the Colliery Company, was cut off late on Sunday evening, not, as was at first thought, through the flood, but because of the bursting of a gas main in the Tickhill Street area.
Part of the Denaby Colliery yard was affected by the overflow of the river, and near the gas works and washery the water rose to a good height. The men were withdrawn from the Denaby Colliery during the morning shift, owing to difficulties caused by incoming water affecting certain machinery.
The scene between the bridges, near the colliery, was unlike anything seen here for over forty years. The number of sightseers to this spot during the day must have run into four figures. The tunnel which leads to the wood and round to Vyner’s Pond was almost filled. The tenants of Bone Mill Cottages were compelled to leave their homes. Doncaster Road to the Colliery land sale office was throughout Monday a promenade of sightseers.
Conisboro’
May 11, 1886, was a date which older residents recalled as the occasion on which Conisbrough was visited by a great flood. Other floods have been and gone, but nothing comparable to that one – till last weekend, when residents of the lower portions of Conisboro’ had the most trying time they can recall.
Eight months ago, Kearsley Brook rose so rapidly that houses adjoining its banks were flooded, much damage was done and many fowls and other livestock were lost: the Don rose phenomenally and many houses in Burcroft were inundated. But that happened in a night and many were taken unawares. There was a repetition of this at Kearsley Brook during the night of Saturday-Sunday and again much damage was done. The inhabitants of Burcroft escaped during the dark hours only to watch the waters rise throughout Sunday morning and gradually creep towards their houses. Soon after noon the water entered, but by that time such furniture and other property as it was possible to save had been transferred to upper rooms. Chests of drawers and similar heavy articles were mounted on chairs in the lower rooms, but it was of no avail.
Before the waters receded, they reached nearly to the ceilings of several houses and there stayed till Tuesday. After the last flood a relief fund was opened by the Urban Council and just over £50 was raised: this had just been wound up when distress and misfortune overtook the people. But this time conditions are much worse.
As in September flood water entered the sup of the retort house at the Gas Works and the tar lime for loading barges on the river was used to pump this water back. Through Sunday the pump held its own, but at three o’clock on Monday morning the flood water won and entered the valve chamber, so that Conisbrough’s gas supply was cut off. On Wednesday it was still off. For household illumination and cooking residents have been under a severe handicap, and there has been a great run on candles. This is the first time since the 1886 flood that gas furnaces have been extinguished.
Horses, cows and pigs were seen floating down the river and many fowls were drowned.
A number of gardens were completely washed out. In many instances a foot or two of gardens, complete with growing produce, disappeared.
Crowds visited the scenes and when the Flood Distress Fund is re-opened, as we assume it will be, we hope that those fortunate to be spectators only will remember what they saw and contribute generously.
Thurnscoe
Several parts of Thurnscoe suffered severely from the floods last Sunday morning. Houses in John Street received the overflow of a dyke and the water whirled in at the back and out at the front doors. The region in the neighbourhood of the Park was badly affected. Water flowed into houses to a depth of two feet. Furniture had to be carried out and some of it was taken to the baths to be dried. Eleven pigs were drowned on the low-lying land near the Rectory. Some of the houses in Houghton Road were flooded and in the neighbourhood of the “Big Lamp” the water was nearly three feet deep. The point that attracted most sightseers, however, was on the Hickleton Road, where as late as Sunday evening the water was over the railings. Roads and pathways have been damaged and many gardens that were awash have suffered much damage.
Occupants of bungalows in Park Road were awakened at 4 a.m. on Sunday to find water a foot deep in their houses, and were forced to find temporary quarters elsewhere. The dyke adjacent to Lancaster Street overflowed, and a low brick wall yielded to the pressure of water. Streets were flooded to a considerable depth, reaching seven feet round Lidgett Wood. Gardens and playing fields, including the Hickleton Main cricket field, and meadows were swamped and fowls and pigs were rescued with the greatest difficulty. Part of the railway line near Hickleton Main was also affected.
Wath
Hundreds of acres were under water at Wath and in the low-lying lands around. Wath Main Colliery was again surrounded and a pontoon bridge was erected to enable the men to get to and from the pit. Residents of Midland Terrace were forced to the upper storeys of their houses and impromptu rafts were made to convey travellers to and from the L.M.S. station.
Except for a shallow flood in the booking office and the approach to the platforms, the L.M.S, railway suffered little damage; but on the L.N.E.R. line the water reached a height of five feet six and the station master’s house was flooded to a depth of eight inches. Throughout Sunday Mr. W. Groves, the stationmaster, was engaged piloting trains through the floods and a side line had to be employed owing to subsidence of the mainline where the ballast was washed away. Waiting rooms, yardmaster’s house, concentration yard and goods sidings were flooded. Wagons in the flooded fields gave the illusion of shallow flat-bottomed barges.
The water rose to its highest point on Sunday about nine p.m. when a large volume of water began to come down from the Penistone area. The Dearne District Light Railway service was able to ply only between Wombwell and the old Holt and Barnsley station at Wath, and on Monday a large rowing boat was taken down to Midland Terrace by the Urban Council, both for the relief of the residents there, and to convey people across the flooded area.
The Athletic Ground and the old recreational ground were a lake. The water flowed over the road by the dyke on Sunday evening but began to subside in the early hours of Monday morning when the road as far as Midland Terrace became negotiable by motor vehicles. The lower part of the children’s pleasure park was under a few feet of water.
The town dyke rose over five feet above normal depth and residents at Town End were forced to take refuge upstairs till the flood receded and a channel could be made in the gardens of the houses to allow the water to escape.
The houses in the Tan Yard near the Wath Golf Clubhouse became flooded when the dyke, which is normally fairly deep at that point, overflowed and spread over the fields. At one point it flowed over the Flatts Fields like a river, carrying with it piles of brushwood. A small part of a stone wall, a foot thick, was washed away. On Monday a debris of pebbles, boulders and other refuse remained as evidence of the damage done.
Fowls were trapped in their coops. Some residents at Tanyard were up in the early hours of Sunday morning endeavouring to rescue chickens which had been caught by the flood. All the low-lying land round the golf course was flooded to a considerable depth.
Two clay pits, belonging to Manvers Main Colliery, were flooded to a depth of 30 feet. Few people anticipated a repetition of September’s flood, but the flooding of last week-end was much more extensive than any for years. Trouble began to brew during Saturday night when torrential rain filled the Battersey Dyke. The rush of water was too much for this channel and parts which not previously affected received the overflow. At Town End Bridge the water rose rapidly and rushed over the road. Water accumulated and stood from the National School round the corner to the bottom of Church Lane. Water even extended up the Vicarage drive and the vicar had to take a circuitous route to his early morning service. The old cottage at Town End was again badly affected and water rose to five feet in the lower rooms.
Higher up the stream swept over the bank at the bottom of the Grange and parts of the Tan Yard were affected. Here chickens were drowned. The Old Mill in Mill Lane, which might be expected to be immune, was the scene of more damage, largely due to the rush of water from Newhill rather than the natural flow from Hoober.
With such scenes in the higher course of the stream, it was inevitable that the effects in the lower course were very serious. As the water rushed down to the culverts, it washed away parts of the bank and after passing through both culverts under the canal piled up on the path. The water from the Dearne channels also accumulated in the low-lying land in the vicinity of Wath Main, and Midland Terrace was early isolated.
During Sunday morning the rush abated, but later the level of water again rose, fed from the Dearne area, and there was a steady rising till late on Sunday evening when it was about two feet higher than that of the previous flood.
The extent of the damage is inestimable. Furniture was ruined in many homes and the receding water has also left a trail of mud and slime. Livestock losses were considerable., particularly of chickens. In some cases, the police were able to give the alarm and it was possible to save poultry pigs and horses.
Wombwell
Wombwell suffered the brunt of the floods which paralysed industrial South Yorkshire. The district of Aldam was badly affected. About eight o’clock on Sunday morning the occupants of houses near the canal and Dews stream were alarmed to hear a man shouting that the reservoir at Worsboro’ had burst. The reservoir is a matter of three miles away but the weather swept over the countryside taking trees and stone walls with it. The torrent rushed upon Aldam with terrible force.
Mr. Wm. Dean, relating his experiences, said most of the people were about to sit down to their breakfasts when a man gave the alarms.
We tried to gather what articles we could but the water came on us too quickly. It gave us no warning. We rushed from our homes leaving everything. Since then, we have lived with relatives and friends in Wombwell.
Several houses at Aldam are one-storey places, and the fields were swamped. The water quickly rose to a depth of five feet and furniture floating on the surface.
There was a touch of irony in the fact that in one house, the table was temptingly set for breakfast. The table was floating!
During this week venturesome youths returned to the cottages and, wearing bathing costumes, retrieved what articles they could. A poultry farm at the rear of Aldam Cottages was almost completely submerged, with only the roofs of the pens visible. Many fowls were drowned. The floods at Aldham extended for a considerable distance and a garage several hundred yards from the houses was marooned. The canal could not be seen and there was a possibility of the water extending to Mitchell Main colliery. For several days the bridge at Aldam was blocked and traffic from Barnsley to Doncaster was diverted through Hoyland and Darfield.
As a result of the River Dearne bursting its banks, the whole area between Wombwell and Darfield was inundated.
The floods extended far beyond Broomhill and householders were surprised when they awoke on Sunday morning to find cellars and lower rooms waterlogged. Several of the inhabitants cooked their breakfasts with the water over their boots. The whole of the Welfare Ground was submerged to a depth of several feet and traffic on the Rotherham-Pontefract road was stopped owing to a flood five feet deep at Cathill Bridge, Broomhill. A motorist who boldly attempted to drive through got stuck in the middle.
The works of Isaac Spencer and Company, fertiliser manufacturers, Broomhill, were under water. The firm was to have left the district next week and some of the machinery had been taken away. Water entered the offices and caused damage.
No less destructive was the flood at Mapplebeck Village on the Wombwell-Wath boundary. The water rose to a considerable height in the area surrounding the Junction Inn, and up to the middle of this week beer barrels were floating in the cellars. Sunday was a “dry” day for most of the customers of the inn. Much poultry was lost and a former Wombwell councillor, Mr. J. Wright, had difficulty in saving a number of his pigs.
Low Valley was turned into a lake and the whole of the stadium in Station Road was under 4 ½ feet of water. Speedway racing was to have been resumed next Monday, but the track will undoubtedly be ruined. A pony which sought safety on an elevated patch of land was marooned on the track for several days. On Sunday morning the water had extended to the houses on Station Lane and houses near the speedway were isolated for a considerable time.
Darfield
The flooding in the Darfield area was the worst in living memory. During the whole of Sunday Darfield was separated from its neighbours, Wombwell, Houghton and Broomhill by stretches of water. Children in the poorer quarters of Low Valley who have never seen the sea, woke up on Sunday morning to find a miniature representation of their dreams lapping the doorstep.
Millmoor Terrace and George Street were the worst affected in this district and many thrilling stores of “quick flits” were told. Mr. Wistow, newsagent, George Street, Low Valley said:
I was awakened about 3 a.m. on Sunday by the barking of my dog. For a time, I took no notice; but the barking continued and on going down I found my shop full of water. The “Reveille” was sounded and people in the surrounding houses were roused from their beds. We had a hectic time removing furniture from the ground floor to the bedrooms, getting anything of value out of reach of the water. People were shouting, floating dustbins etc. were causing deafening noise. Allotment holders were concerned about the safety of their poultry. Many were saved when floating, but a large number was lost. At Darfield Main about fifty yards of the colliery siding was washed away, and a number of full and empty wagons were carried off the way. About 8 a.m. people were carried from Millmoor Terrace to higher ground.
The Roman Catholic Church at Low Valley was almost surrounded by water, but Mass was celebrated. Large numbers of people were conveyed to the church on flat carts and motor lorries.
Morning service at Low Valley Wesleyan Church was cancelled. A herd of cattle was driven through deep water to safety. Scarcely less exciting were the incidents at the other end of Darfield. Residents of Darfield Bridge and Church View were driven to their bedrooms. The water rose steadily through the greater part of Sunday and crowds of people assembled to watch the passage of large cars through the water. Spectators had a greater “thrill” at Darfield Bridge on Sunday about tea-time, when about twenty yards of the wall backing Seal’s Terrace was washed away by the torrent. A party of youths just about to cross had a very narrow escape by making quick jumps for safety. As a precaution people standing on Darfield Bridge were transported to safety. A party of cyclists caused some amusement by stripping off part of their clothing and carrying their cycles above their heads. People in Church View were completely isolated for some time.
The flood subsided rapidly and by tea-time on Sunday Low Valley was nearly clear. Later the same day ordinary vehicular traffic was resumed at Darfield Bridge. On Monday patches of green showed in the flooded meadows between Darfield and Broomhill. A cockerel and four pullets which perched precariously on the top bows of a bush near the river at Low Valley for over thirty hours were able to descend to dry land.
The damage done was considerable and much of it must be borne by the local authority. Cliff End, resurfaced after the flood of last September, was almost as bad as ever. Long stretches of stone wall were washed over in this locality. The whole length of causeway between the bridge and Station will need repair. Residents suffered damage to furniture and carpets.
Great Houghton
Houghton Green is the area which suffers most from excessive water and by 3 a.m. on Sunday morning the inhabitants were roused and had to commence to carry furniture up to their bedrooms. As the morning advanced so did the flood, and the spectacle of ducks swimming into the houses was seen. As the waters subsided a quantity of silt was left piled half way up the doors.
The Little Houghton area took on the aspect of a miniature Lake District.