The Framers Forum

Hope everyone here is dry - I'm OK down here in 'God's Pocket' but there are plenty registered here that are in flooding hot spots.

Very thoughtful post, John. When the flood reports come in I worry about my friends in the UK. I see from the Beeb website that there are drinking water supply problems too. My heart goes out to all affected by the floods. DV all forum members are OK.

My son is currently in England on business and a couple of days ago was in the area where there was to be heavy rain. He was warned, so I hope he moved on before the floods arrived.
He wanted to visit stonehenge, but was told not to go there due to traffic issues and the weather.

It did rain hard on Friday - not just the occasional heavy shower but a constant day long torrent. High up in the Cotswolds we tend to export our water problems down hill - Poor old Gloucester and Tewksbury are having a terrible time.
In the village I live in the road always flooded under these extreme conditions - The parish council tried for years to get Gloucestershire Highways department to come and clear drains and reinstate ditches that had been dug out on an annual basis to allow excess water to drain away over the fields. This year the Highways dept dug out the main drain and ditches - we had no floods despite the severity of the weather.

Any framer in the locality who may be having problems please give me a call if I can help. 01666 505070

This time last year we were all basking in non-stop sunshine. Phew what a scorcher was the headline. This year, warm February, parched April and now it's pissing it down relentlessly, with no apparent end in sight.

Someone today on the news today suggested that it was all due to the northerly jetstream shifting to a more southerly track over the UK. Well if that's the case why so soon after the dry conditions of last year and the year before.

What of next year - no one could hazard a guess and no one has a clue.

Watch the met office forecast over the next five days - I have never seen so many wrong daily predictions.

Tomorrow is going to be a sunny day, except for those poor folk who have gone to hell in a hand basket and my heart goes out to them.

Friday/Saturday we travelled from Wales to Coventry to pick up the grandchildren - I've never seen so much water on the roads in my life! Parts of the M50/M5 were over a foot deep...... we were lucky and made both journeys in about 7 hours each way (normally a 4/4.5 hour journey, even with a teabreak) Some traveling later than us got stuck on the M5 overnight. We had just bought the new car that day! What a baptism!

What got my goat was the speed some people were traveling at - absolutely stupid, as was constant lane-hopping when it was obvious all three lanes were hardly going anywhere. Worst of all were the idiots zooming up the hard shoulder to get ahead

Hi Markw,

I was working in your locallity at Lucas TRW in Cirencester during the last lot of floods and I was very surprised how quickly large amounts of water appeared. There's a railway bridge over the road between Tetbury & Cirencester near the source of the Thames which I'm sure you will know, where the water was about 2 ft deep in the dip below it. I only just about got through it on my way home back to Devon without the engine cutting out.

I was staying in digs during the week at Fairford and had cross the bridge there each morning and evening while the river was flowing very fast over the bridge. Several of my workmates where close to getting flooded out. In the end I think they were all o.k., but mostly only just. You just don't realise how fast the water is moving, until you see a wheely-bin travel past you in the water at about 30 mph.

It's good to hear that things are too bad in your lovely part of Gloucestershire. Lets hope the wheather improves soon!

Not your average framer wrote:Lets hope the wheather improves soon!

I'm sorry - I just can't resist - I know this is not the time for humour or ribbing - friendly or otherwise. ..... but anyway

Is this what is meant by a bad spell of weather?

Dang - why do I do it?

MarkW and Foxy, glad to hear you are OK.

Echo Steve's sentiment re motorway eejits. The emoticon says it all.

I think when you consider the terrible effects this is having on peoples lives and the fact that a lot of this will not be compensated for, due the small print on their insurances, it's a good deal worse that just bad weather. My former workmates were worrying all day long for days about what they might find when they returned home.

I was quite serious in hope that things improve soon. Much of the storm which has caused this passed over where I live. Sure, we got plenty of rain, but most of it went elsewhere and I'm only too well of what we have escaped at someone else's cost. I live in Chudleigh along side a brook called Kate Brook, it has flooded in years gone by and it's 30 feet from our back window, (we live in the end of an old mill).

There has been some flood prevention work done, but so far it's not been put to the test. We can't get flood insurance, because of where we are. This will be the same for many of those less fortunate than us today!

Not your average framer wrote:... the terrible effects this is having on peoples lives and the fact that a lot of this will not be compensated for, due the small print on their insurances...

Also, I always think of the sentimentally valuable things that people lose. Insurance or no insurance, no amount of money can compensate for their loss. That, and the loss of peace of mind that their home is a safe place. It must be devastating...

I spoke to my son in England this morning and he has had to drive through floodwaters. He ended up being able to see stonehenge after all. It was a 6 hour drive to get there on his only free day and it was raining there.

He sent me a couple of photos he took of himself with stonehenge in the background and his glasses were wet.

Got to the 'henge!! Attaboy!

Delighted to hear that your son is OK, Ormond.

Osgood - why has your son got a no walking sign sticking in his shoulder - was he attacked by Druids?

Always wanted to get to Stonehenge... Must take some time to do that when the summer starts!

I'm off up to sunny Scotland at the end of this week. At least Ullapool has a chance of some sunshine. While I'm up there I'm going to be looking for jobs and houses within a commute to Glasgow.

Then in 5 more weeks I'm off down to Perranporth. Hopefully everywhere will be dry by then!

I'm glad everyone here has survived this one intact.

w00dward wrote:Always wanted to get to Stonehenge...

Not sure whether you've been to Avebury yet, but you could do the two sites in the one day.

FWIW, many people comment that the 'Henge is smaller than they expected. Be sure to touch the two types of stone used in the construction of the 'Henge. (Even if you're not allowed to walk through the Stones, they have a couple of examples for you to touch on the approach to the monument itself.)

I used to live in Amesbury and work in Warminster - drove past Stonehenge every day - only ever got round to visiting it a week before I moved on!

Sorry to continue 'off-topic' but have they done anything more about rerouting the road past the 'Henge?