On Boxing Day 2015 the gardens were swamped by undoubtedly the worst flood in living memory. The river burst its banks and inundated the site. Very few gardens were left untouched and many were left devastated.
Unlike previous floods, such as in 2000, where the water rose relatively slowly along the length of the bank, this one created a surge or tidal wave that swept through the plots on the river side of the main track.
Polytunnels and greenhouses were literally washed away, as were huge quantities of top soil. At its peak the water completely submerged many areas with depths of up to 6 feet on riverside plots and four feet in the the far corner of the ‘boot’ area. The site was left littered with broken glass, sheets of plastic, twisted metal and broken buildings.
In the wake of the floods, there was an initial clearing-up operation. The worst affected tenants had a huge job on their hands but everyone helped as best they could, including volunteers from Bingley Scouts. Bradford Council was also very supportive by taking away large quantities of accumulated debris.
However, it was clear that we needed to do more to help restore the worst hit gardens.
We were fortunate to get two grants: one to help with clear-up costs and a Flood Resilience grant to help reduce damage from similar events. With the first, we bought in over 100 tons of top soil, provided extra glass skips and repaired the main track. We used the second grant to build a new barrier at the point where the waters broke through. We raised the banking by around five feet along a length of over 40 metres and planted shrubs to help bind it.
To everyone’s credit the gardens are now virtually fully recovered although there are still pockets of silt and small bits of debris coming to light every year. It is a testament to the resilience and determination of our tenants that it has returned to its best.
Looking at the gardens today it is hard to believe the level of destruction that happened in 2015.
