Bewdley flood pictures
Public
Here are some photos I took this afternoon in Bewdley, giving some rough idea of what a reasonably major flood entails nowadays. (Much less "excitement" than in pre-barriers 2000, which is mostly a good thing, of course.) I've put most of them under a cut as I've posted the full things (800x600 resolution) rather than thumbnails; the first one was fairly small to begin with.
This is one of the two flood information boards in Bewdley: one on each side of the river. The forecast peak level of around 5 metres is fairly impressive; it's several years since we had a level that high. For comparison, the average winter level is 1.1 metres.
Beales Corner, on the eastern bank, taken with zoom from the bridge. The main Kidderminster Road (which comes in from the left and turns 90 degrees to continue away from the camera) is open, albeit with single file traffic controlled by lights, whereas Stourport Road, which follows the river off to the right, is closed.
The Stourport Road junction is in the distance in this photo, which concentrates on Riverside Gardens. Normally the river's edge is where those two large trees stand. It's a nice place to sit in the summer, when the benches are well out of the water!
A few years ago, you'd see literally thousands of sandbags in Bewdley during a significant flood. The barriers have helped enormously in recent times, but there are still a few areas which they do not protect, and so sandbags remain necessary for some. (Yes, this is where my userpic is cropped from.)
Here we see Dog Lane car park, on one of the few occasions there weren't geese begging for crumbs from locals! The grey posts in the middle distance mark the end of Severnside North's flood defences, which you will see in the next photo.
Severnside North, looking down from the bridge towards the posts mentioned above. The wet areas on the road are a combination of rain run-off and a slight seep from the barriers. They're not able to keep every drop out, but a few puddles in the gutter are nothing compared with the several feet of water we'd have otherwise.
Severnside South, from the middle of the bridge, and with the obligatory news van. You can just see the top of a red lifebelt holder, and of railings to its left behind which are several benches. Not that you can see them any more! This picture gives a reasonably good idea of the dangerous currents found in the Severn.
Here are some photos I took this afternoon in Bewdley, giving some rough idea of what a reasonably major flood entails nowadays. (Much less "excitement" than in pre-barriers 2000, which is mostly a good thing, of course.) I've put most of them under a cut as I've posted the full things (800x600 resolution) rather than thumbnails; the first one was fairly small to begin with.
This is one of the two flood information boards in Bewdley: one on each side of the river. The forecast peak level of around 5 metres is fairly impressive; it's several years since we had a level that high. For comparison, the average winter level is 1.1 metres.
Beales Corner, on the eastern bank, taken with zoom from the bridge. The main Kidderminster Road (which comes in from the left and turns 90 degrees to continue away from the camera) is open, albeit with single file traffic controlled by lights, whereas Stourport Road, which follows the river off to the right, is closed.
The Stourport Road junction is in the distance in this photo, which concentrates on Riverside Gardens. Normally the river's edge is where those two large trees stand. It's a nice place to sit in the summer, when the benches are well out of the water!
A few years ago, you'd see literally thousands of sandbags in Bewdley during a significant flood. The barriers have helped enormously in recent times, but there are still a few areas which they do not protect, and so sandbags remain necessary for some. (Yes, this is where my userpic is cropped from.)
Here we see Dog Lane car park, on one of the few occasions there weren't geese begging for crumbs from locals! The grey posts in the middle distance mark the end of Severnside North's flood defences, which you will see in the next photo.
Severnside North, looking down from the bridge towards the posts mentioned above. The wet areas on the road are a combination of rain run-off and a slight seep from the barriers. They're not able to keep every drop out, but a few puddles in the gutter are nothing compared with the several feet of water we'd have otherwise.
Severnside South, from the middle of the bridge, and with the obligatory news van. You can just see the top of a red lifebelt holder, and of railings to its left behind which are several benches. Not that you can see them any more! This picture gives a reasonably good idea of the dangerous currents found in the Severn.