What impact did Storm Desmond have at Wordsworth House last December?
This was the second big flood we’ve had in ten years. In 2009 we were flooded significantly; our garden terrace split in two, walls were down, trees were left close to collapse, and debris was strewn across the garden.
Two weeks before Storm Desmond arrived, we’d stocked up on sandbags after being warned of another storm. After 2009 the Environment Agency had put in many flood defence measures in Cockermouth, but by 4.30pm on Saturday 5 December, the river was flowing over the top of the flood gates adjacent to Wordsworth House.
The house is mostly closed over winter – but staff still came out to help move furniture and shop stock upstairs. John Wordsworth’s massive wooden desk, which William would have known when he lived here in the 1770s, was dismantled and heaved to the second floor.
By about 6.30pm we had to leave. It was pitch black and a stream was running through the visitor reception. In the back courtyard the floodwater was thigh-deep. Sandbags floated uselessly around our legs.
What have you been doing since December 2015 to fix the damage?
We couldn’t get into the house until Monday morning. The police had cordoned off the area and flood waters remained high.
I had to get in over the garden wall. The gardens and cellars were still underneath three feet of water. Our shop stock had been left floating in the flood water. When the floodwater drained away, our garden was left under a thick layer of mud.