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The Days After The Flood

As reported earlier, the day after the flood left us thanking God that we had not been badly affected by the water. The church porch was damp (!) and there was water in the Baptistry (perhaps one would expect that? Not on the floor!). Amazingly the Parish Centre was dry - but as it is dedicated to St Herbert, the hermit who lived on the island in Derwentwater, it is not so surprising? Whatever, it allowed us to look to other’s needs. The only casualty seemed to be the boiler which was completely drowned in the cellar as the water reached its top and poured in as a mirror of 2005 - a definite design problem! The one Mass celebrated in church on the first Sunday after the flood was life-less (Due to lack of open roads and closed bridges), lightless (due to the absence of electricity) and very cold and damp!

The Wet Reality

The insurance man arrived on Monday and was suitably relieved at how well our buildings had stood up to the deluge - however he warned that we take professional advice on what might be happening under the boards. This was good advice as it was through the next week that it was increasingly noticeable that the floor boards in church were buckling to the point that people were beginning to trip. By Sunday most people coming to Communion were distracted by their forced, staggering gait.

Our local joiners had put the floor down less than ten years ago and knew it well as they are also the local undertakers who had been regular visitors! On taking boards up it became evident that the water had been under the boards and risen from the ground. The boards were removed and he-humidifiers moved in in the absence of heat.

The removal of the floorboards allowed us the opportunity to move the boiler above water and across the main floor to the sacristy. A plumber with the right qualifications was found (not without some difficulty in the case of industrial sized boilers!) and, more importantly, they could start on the Tuesday after New Year. Grand ....

We celebrate Sunday Mass in the Parish Centre which has caused a number of very complimentary comments about how we can see there are other people there as the chairs curve around the altar. Christmas was fine as far as the liturgy was concerned - it was festive and warm - but devastated by the ice which engulfed us for nearly four weeks (Not much snow, though, you southerners) but that’s another story!

When New Year was cleared the plumbers were phoned to see if they had remembered to come. They had, but the firm had been declared to be in liquidation.... help.... but Richard spent all day looking for, and finding, an alternative who started a week later. Thanks you, God - Oh and Richard!

Presently the boards seem dry, the boiler is plumbed in and the electricians are busy at work. More of this later..... have a look at the pictures for now.

The putting down of the new new boards (with the new boards and the old boards) seemed to go on longer than expected. Even the delivery of some final boards took nearly a week! Thanks to all those who appreciated we needed to use the Centre for Mass at weekends and this took longer than expected. Whilst aiming for Easter seemed sensible and achievable in earlier weeks.... it now became a worry!

However, thanks to the hard work of many, we had the boards down the waxing of the floor, the benches back and a serious clean of walls, beams and carpets, we just made it back into church for Palm Sunday!!! A final polish and organise was still necessary to “own” the place by parishioners for Easter on Spy Wednesday.