Flood, January 2021

With the Mersey at a dangerously high level as a result of heavy rainfall during Storm Christoph, the Environment Agency opened the sluice-gates at Millgate Fields, east Didsbury, and water rushed into the deep-sided channel directing it into the Didsbury flood storage basin. Within a matter of hours, the whole of the basin was filled – including Fletcher Moss Park, Simon Field, Bradley Fold allotments, and Withington golf course. This action was taken as part of an operation to prevent the river from over-topping and flooding thousands of homes, businesses and properties in Didsbury, Northenden and further downstream. Householders and residents were given warnings by the EA to be prepared to evacuate their homes – not an easy matter at any time, but especially at a time of lockdown and the increasing threat of the Covid-19 pandemic. Strange as it may seem, residents living on some local roads that had never been flooded before were given warnings – such as those on Ford Lane which is located on high ground and whose postcode perhaps suggested it was in danger. 

Prime minister Boris Johnson visited the area the following day. With Palatine Road closed to traffic, he travelled to the vicinity of Withington Golf Club and gave interviews to the press which were later televised on national news programmes. He thanked the EA officials for their work and dedication and said how important it was, together with boosting their morale. He also visited the sluice-gates at east Didsbury and saw at first-hand how the operation worked.

With the river level falling it was possible after a few days for the EA to begin pumping water from the fields and back into the river. At the same time, gates were opened near the weir in Northenden to let water off Withington golf course and back into the river – a task that was helped by the use of six of the EA’s six and eight-inch pumps. The residual water in Simon Field was also pumped into the Mersey, with the hose-pipes going up and over the top of the bank. Clear skies brought freezing temperatures and, for a time, the water in Simon Field had turned into a covering of thin ice although this was not a problem for pumping operations. The EA were keen to drain the flood storage basin as quickly as possible in preparedness for future use – especially as there was a forecast of milder weather due the following week and with it the possibility of more rain on an already saturated landscape. 

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