River Wye floods at Ross on Wye

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In recent days the south-west of England and Wales have experienced winter flooding. At Ross on Wye an elevated viewpoint on the cliffs by the graveyard offers a good view of the extent of the water near the town. The top panorama shows the large meander of the river at this point and the areas where the water has spilled out of its channel. When this photograph was taken the river gauge was registering a height of 3.9 metres above the datum point. The top of the river's normal range is 3.2 metres.

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The second panorama was taken two days later and shows the river at its highest point in the current flooding - 4.65 metres above the datum point. At this level no houses were affected but a pub and a couple of other properties were somewhat inconvenienced by the water. The highest the River Wye has ever reached at this location is 5.1 metres in February 2020.

photo 1 © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2
photo 2 © T. Boughen     Camera: iPhone

Floods, Ross on Wye

In recent days heavy rain in Herefordshire and on the Welsh Mountains caused the River Wye to break out of its channel and flood a number of areas, including Ross on Wye. This is a reasonably regular winter occurrence and with the river guage at Ross measuring 4.7m (the highest recorded is 5.2m) the flooding was pretty much confined to agricultural land and some minor roads. The green space, playpark and bandstand at Ross on Wye are by the river and are built with flooding in mind.

photos © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

The Severn Ham

The Severn Ham at Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, isn't a culinary dish but rather is 170 acres of common land, low lying pasture, in a bend of the River Severn with the River Avon as its border on the other side. The word "Ham" occurs in a number of English place names and derives from an old name for a piece of land located in this manner which often floods. The Severn Ham spends most of the year growing grass and a wide variety of wild flowers, as well as providing habitat for birds such as lapwings and curlews - it is a SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest). Parcels of 30 acres are rented out for the grazing of sheep. For the rest of the year the Ham is covered to a greater or lesser degree by water that might otherwise cause damage to the town. When this happens the common takes on the appearance of a large lake with only the line of telegraph poles that cross it indicating the water's temporary presence. The Abbey Mill and sluice control room (see previous post) can be seen on the left.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Abbey Mill sluice control room, Tewkesbury

In the 1990s the two old sluices at this location on the Mill Avon at Tewkesbury were replaced by a single "fish belly sluice". When in the "up" position this forms a weir: when "down", during a flood, water can flow freely. The control room for the new sluice was mounted on legs above the footpath that crosses the Mill Avon at this point. My photograph was taken during moderate flooding in mid-January 2020.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2