Russethouse

Could it be because she is older...

Some of you may have seen Longridge at Marlow on the news tonight...( they are situated at the foot of the woods said to be the inspiration for 'the wild wood' in the Wind in the Willows' ). They are a charity who provide 'outward bound' activities for children of all abilities....they have pretty much lost everything ..after only refurbishing last year., they have no insurance and they are broke...there's a whole list of stuff they need on their web site: http://www.longridge.org.uk/news. I know there are lots of deserving cases, but this really touched my heart.

If this wind keeps up the waves on the flood water will be doing even more damage.....it's really seriously gusty...stay warm and dry Betty...

Its blowing a hooley, and raining too but on the whole this area is OK....Sonning is likely to be closed until the summer, Henley traffic is sometimes horendous, both my offspring are home (daughter in her own place ) so I can breathe a sigh of relief ....the worst local news is that  there was a dreadful accident in Purley last night with two cyclists killed which is simply awful : http://news.sky.com/story/1211473/two-cyclists-die-in-police-incident-crash

[quote user="idun"][quote user="NormanH"][URL=http://s253.photobucket.com/user/bfb_album/media/ns_zps0b6391c5.jpg.html][IMG]http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh80/bfb_album/ns_zps0b6391c5.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/quote] Don't I remember that Sheffield didn't do too badly with coverage, but no one cared about Kingston-upon-Hull, that really had the forgotten flood victims. I have heard it said up here, that there was lots of coverage about Somerset as  there are lots of well off people there and then I heard it said that there was even more about the Thames area as the folks were even richer still. I am not making personal comments about this, just mentioning what has been said during the last few weeks. [/quote]  Somerset has a lot of agricultural workers which are not always (or ever !) well off, and the Thames Valley has a very diverse population, however most riverside properties carry a premium, but its not always just them thats affected

[quote user="dwmcn"] Russet, I thought William was busy hunting wild boar and deer in Spain while trying to save wild animals from extinction. David  [/quote] I think it was a short trip..but the two things aren't really comparable, Boar need culling and the meat is eaten...only ***** (fill in your own word ) shoot and kill endangered species without good reason.

Slough, like Reading has the advantage of having nice places around it and it being easy to get out of [:)]

[quote user="You can call me Betty"] I think they've gone....They ran out of things to sandbag. Gardian, Staines became Staines-upon-Thames only very recently [url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-18118309[/url] There are rumours that Slough might change its name to something completely different to shake off the legacies of Betjeman and Gervais... [/quote] I once had quite a funny moment when en route for Wexham I was driving round the roundabout shown as The Office opens and they played the theme tune on the radio....it was kind of weird....

According to the Guardian you have Royal help now Betty.....Harry & Wills are busy filling sand bags at Datchet Golf Club [:-))] I received an email earlier from Waitrose promoting helping with : The Prince's Countryside Fund, to help those affected by flooding in the UK....

Still dry Betty ? Sounds as if it's an incontinence enquiry, sorry....:-)

Apparently there are soldiers in both Maidenhead and Cookham...and as it happens it's my day for visiting my mother ......:-) Stay dry Betty..... Btw...there has been such a good local response for things like toys, sheets, towels, food for flood victims that people have been asked to stop donating.....

Just watching Newsnight, I hope I never fall foul of Jeremy Paxman...

 I suspect that the flooding appoached these levels in the early 50's and thats mainly because I remember my grandfather rowing over land that was  where his allotments were, but many people may not have seen flooding of this magnitude in their lifetimes. I can certainly cannot ever remember Cookham being a vitual island (and my parents have lived there since 1957) nor the river at Marlow being level both sides of the weir. Now they are forecasting that it may be May before the flooding caused by groundwater, subsides...can you remember that length of flooding before ? I can't.

But it's been winter and wet before without this happening

According to FB there are intermittent power cuts in Betty's area so her ability to post might be affected.

I wonder if there's a certain irony in having a child called Marina...sorry, just my weird sense of humour....

Without holding back the Thames by sluices and the Thames Barrier holding back the tidal surges this map shows what London would get. Well look on the bright side, that would finish Eastenders !

 In that case who would have been on TV during the recent floods ? There was an elderly couple from Marlow who were interviewed today, maybe they should have refused too? The fact is that things have moved on, for example you are obliged to declare any disputes with neighbours you may have...and just FWI many people check what their insurance liability is likely to be, even my daughter who is just renting and only moved about a mile away knew that her postcode was rated differently to ours for burglary etc. In addition, if you were up to your eyes in 'muck and bullets' or several feet of flood water, would you really care ? Somehow I think priorities may be different !

Guys, can we take religion out of this discussion please, and the personal comments about other members too. Whatever your believes it doesn't really add to the discussion. Thanks

There are fairly often questions on a local forum I belong to about flood risk and insurance and in some cases the areas being asked about are several hundred yards from the river...our first home in Reading was fairly close to the river and neighbours had a mark well above head height where it flooded in 1947 ! Postcodes are often the key even when they cover a decent sized area

The crypt at Marlow Church is flooded as is the churchyard.....the weir, normally with a decent drop, is level. I don't remember that happening before...

Good for them..however  I think the key was that they knew the house floods when they bought it, for many of the people being shown on TV it is a new experience and they feel that various changes have impacted the way the water behaves. Lack of dredging in Somerset is obviously a factor and not everyone is a fan of the Jubilee flood relief scheme in Berkshire, building on the flood plan is a common gripe.... What difference does it matter who she tells her house floods, firstly I believe you are obliged to declare it when you sell and secondly the insurance companies will soon let any potential purchaser know....

There's a Facebook page where people from the Maidenhead area are organising help...which seems to coming in the direction of wraysbury and your village too I expect.... Flood Help - Maidenhead Marlow Cookham & Surrounding Villages Horrid weather again, fingers crossed

Quite right, that's really not playing the game...I hope you gave said water a stern look and it receded.....

Good Luck Betty, Perhaps your neighbour with the big house well above the water has a few rooms to spare, as well as ample electric..;-)