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Floods come to Cookham 

(11 November 2000)

Having watched the sufferings of the rest of England on television, the Thames has broken its banks and floods have now hit Cookham Moor. The Environment Agency has issued a Floodwatch on Saturday 11th November at 6.50pm at  Cookham and Cookham Dean, also Marlow, Bourne End and Maidenhead.  They say flooding is possible. There will be showery weather that could become heavy overnight.  Flood levels have risen slightly, but are not at the levels experienced last week. They are urging people in areas where warnings are in force to prepare for flooding, heed the flood warnings and take extreme care in flooded areas as flood water can be dangerous and may be contaminated.

You can contact their Floodline telephone information service on 0845 988 1188 for recorded flood warnings in force at any time.

The problems came when Oxford opened the Thames sluice gates to stop Oxford being flooded. The result was the water came down the river to Cookham. Bourne End and Maidenhead.

Cookham is fortunate in that we have the Causeway across the Moor. The Victorians had floods on the Moor too. Thames Valley Police were stationed each end of the Causeway and were allowing single file traffic through across the Causeway by a walkie talkie system, until the Council were able to install traffic lights. There was a minor problem during the afternoon when a bus was allowed through from the Pound only to reach Cookham Village and discover that it would not fit through the gate at the end of the Causeway. This meant that the bus and all the cars behind it had to reverse back to the Pound!

Les Bullion, our Community policeman, was stationed near Spencers. He said that people were blaming him for the problem. It was obviously those rain dances you have been performing Les!!

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