Matlock and Matlock Bath : Matlock's Floods

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Matlock's Floods

Exceptional rainfall or rapid thaws after heavy snowfalls sometimes caused a problem for Matlock

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The River Derwent has flooded many times in the town's history and there have been several flood relief schemes. The most recent has proved very effective and has largely withstood the effects of the very heavy rainfalls experienced in Great Britain during October and November 2000 when the River Derwent broke its banks in many places. Although central Matlock was affected, and some premises were flooded because of water coming up through the drainage system, the walls that have been built alongside the river and the enclosure of the Hall Leys Park withstood the torrents and largely contained the swollen river.

The footbridge over the River Derwent that connects the Hall Leys Park with Dale Road, shown in the photograph on the right, marks two severe floods that occurred in the twentieth century and within living memory of many residents. On Sunday 4th December, 1960 the flood water reached the lower mark. Some five years later, on Thursday 11th December, 1965, the flood waters reached even higher. Many of the shops in the town centre were flooded and water went up into Firs Parade, where the writer's father had to try to rescue and remove stock before the waters came in.

Susy Cytko remembers these floods.
"In Matlock Green a lorry decided to rush through the water and made such waves that it broke the window at Aunty Dolly's sweet shop and all the jars of sweets floated out, which was exciting to us as we were children at the time; we did try to catch them but my mum would not let us go down stairs so we tried to catch them with a bucket on a rope but it never worked.

Some one came with soup in a boat and we let the bucket down to collect it, and bread. Of course we kids hated the soup as it was onion, but our parents were grateful. ... One person drowned across the road^[1]".

Though flooding has occurred because of exceptionally heavy rainfall, as in 2000, the town has also flooded because there had been extremely heavy snowfalls which were followed by very sudden rises in air temperature and rapid thaws, sometimes accompanied by heavy rainfall.

Twentieth Century Flood Heights
Scan © Ann Andrews 2001

Where the floods reached
© Ann Andrews

So snow falling in the hills of the Peak melted quickly and formed torrents which drained into the Derwent, causing water levels to rise dramatically. This happened on Sunday 29th December, 1901. Having risen very quickly, by 7a.m. on the Tuesday the flood water covered Crown Square and was standing four to five feet high in the Railway Hotel. According to Benjamin Bryan, there was by then bright sunshine which reflected in the newly formed lake. The flooding caused considerable damage in the town^[2].

Bryan also described other nineteenth century floods. In the first week of October 1880 there was a storm with very high winds which caused the river to burst its banks. Several months later, just before the 1881 census was taken, snow, high winds and a rapid thaw caused further flooding in February.

"So high did the waters rise that the railway was flooded, and no train was permitted to proceed northwards beyond Matlock Bridge. The consequence was that numbers of passengers had their journey arrested, and upwards of 150 persons had to be accommodated at the Queen's Head Hotel and elsewhere^[2]".

"The footbridge across the river to Matlock Town was washed down and wrecked ; whilst lower down the bridge leading to the paint works and the High Tor Grotto was also destroyed. There was a strong current of water three to four feet deep running along the roadway, as if it were part of the river, to and through Matlock Bath^[2]".
Also see Matlock: Dale Road, Boat House Hotel & Quarry

There was further flooding in March of the same year, and again during October, so 1881 was not a good year for the town. On 16 May 1886 the "Weekly Dispatch" reported serious flooding and "Great Destruction of Property" in many parts of the country. "At Matlock vehicular and pedestrian traffic was totally stopped along a large portion of the highway, and the houses on The Green were submerged to the second storey". November 1890 saw further flooding: , "On the road to Matlock Bath there was a depth of four to five feet of water^[2]".

Postcard showing the bottom of Bank Road under water in 1921
Image rescaned © Ann Andrews 2007

Original image scanned 1998, re scanned 2007

The postcard above is dated 18th January, 1921 and the area under water is just off Crown Square, at the bottom of Bank Road. One of the entrances to the Crown Hotel is clearly visible on the near left. Ten years later, on the 11th September, 1931, the town flooded again.

One particularly tragic accident occurred to two members of the Cumming family when the river was in flood in January 1852. The subsequent problems, following the loss of the family's head, were reported in the newspaper.
Cumming biographies
Newspaper report
Sadly, these weren't the only fatalities to occur in the Matlock section of the River Derwent.

There is an interesting, if somewhat obscure, cutting from the High Peak News, dated Saturday, April 22, 1916, about flood prevention.
Read the article

Whilst flooding can cause misery and damage, Matlock's inhabitants were not without a sense of humour. Colin Goodwyn writes of an escapade during a flood that affected Hall Leys, Matlock Green, etc., in 1866. "Some wags hung a five bar gate on the lamp post at Matlock Bridge as a make believe that the flood had been that height and left it there^[3]".

References:

^[1] Thanks to Susy Cytko

^[2] Bryan, Benjamin (1903) "History of Matlock - Matlock, Manor and Parish" London by Bemrose & Sons, Limited, p.70

^[3] "The Derby Mercury", 21 Nov 1866, with thanks to Colin