Flooding of the railway on the Somerset Levels

[raymw]

I think it was about twenty years ago, the 'Somerset Broads' was given a lot of local publicity. I could have had a vested interest, so found out a bit more about it than was being published at the time. A few things I can remember - expensive locks required where the level changed, soft (peat?) banks being eroded by wash from the boats, most of the year you wouldn't see anything, due to water level being low in the drains,

 

wrt Dutch, a few of the sluices around here are named clyces, I don't think the Dutch were involved in much drainage here- it's a different planet. 

 

Ray

[Fat Controller]

I think it was about twenty years ago, the 'Somerset Broads' was given a lot of local publicity. I could have had a vested interest, so found out a bit more about it than was being published at the time. A few things I can remember - expensive locks required where the level changed, soft (peat?) banks being eroded by wash from the boats, most of the year you wouldn't see anything, due to water level being low in the drains,

 

wrt Dutch, a few of the sluices around here are named clyces, I don't think the Dutch were involved in much drainage here- it's a different planet. 

 

Ray

Parts of the Somerset drainage dates back to the monks of early Medieval times, rather before the Dutch had started exporting their skills.

[lmsforever]

Network Rail and their contractors have put the Environment Agency in the shade with regard to the work carried out in the south west they have delivered quality projects on time and kept everyone informed as to what was happening .The silence form the EA is deafening and their propsed works very much a patch not a fix ,if I lived on the levels I would be seeking ways of putting my house on stilts!

[PhilJ W]

Parts of the Somerset drainage dates back to the monks of early Medieval times, rather before the Dutch had started exporting their skills.

Some of the Fenland drainage even predates the Somerset levels.

[GordonC]

This might be a daft question, but I dont know the area well.

 

With all thats been said on the news about much of the Somerset Levels being below sea level and about the Parrett and Tone rivers that flow through the area needing dredging. Based on that, presumably the levels of the Parrett and Tone are below the level of the ground round about, so as water cant flow uphill itself, when those rivers flow to the sea, do they need pumped up somewhere to reach sea-level to flow away?

[Coombe Barton]

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-26080597

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somerset_Levels and see the section on pumps

 

Also think tides and the sea level twice a day

[buffalo]

Long stretches of the rivers and some of the drains flow between levees (raised banks) and their level is above that of the surrounding land.

 

Nick

[talisman56]

Long stretches of the rivers and some of the drains flow between levees (raised banks) and their level is above that of the surrounding land.

 

Nick

 

FYI, the local name for the 'drains' is 'rhynes' (pronounced 'reens')... places to avoid after a few pints of 'zyder'.

[buffalo]

FYI, the local name for the 'drains' is 'rhynes' (pronounced 'reens')... places to avoid after a few pints of 'zyder'.

 

Thankyou, but as a native of Somerset, albeit somewhat further north, I was well aware of that but used generic terms for the benefit of non-native speakers. Mind you, where I come from we usually spell cider correctly even though it might sound a little different when spoken, perhaps increasingly so with intake

 

Nick

[ZiderHead]

Network Rail and their contractors have put the Environment Agency in the shade with regard to the work carried out in the south west they have delivered quality projects on time and kept everyone informed as to what was happening .The silence form the EA is deafening and their propsed works very much a patch not a fix ,if I lived on the levels I would be seeking ways of putting my house on stilts!

 

On the contrary, the EA has been doing excellent work on flooding for years. In addition to all their spending on flood defences which have saved hundreds of thousands of properties from being flooded, their flood map for flooding from rivers and seas, and the flood map for groundwater have been available for anyone to check for free for years, and the NaFRA dataset is astonishingly accurate. You can also sign up to their flood warning service free of charge to receive flood warnings by Phone/Text/Email.

 

Of course this is no use at all if people don't bother to check their property on the flood maps and don't sign up for warnings, as very few do. Even worse, almost nobody does anything about preparing for flooding by fitting flood guards, toilet bungs, raising electrical sockets and fuse boxes, not installing new wooden floors and carpets etc. etc. etc. 

[The Stationmaster]

On the contrary, the EA has been doing excellent work on flooding for years. In addition to all their spending on flood defences which have saved hundreds of thousands of properties from being flooded, their flood map for flooding from rivers and seas, and the flood map for groundwater have been available for anyone to check for free for years, and the NaFRA dataset is astonishingly accurate. You can also sign up to their flood warning service free of charge to receive flood warnings by Phone/Text/Email.

 

Of course this is no use at all if people don't bother to check their property on the flood maps and don't sign up for warnings, as very few do. Even worse, almost nobody does anything about preparing for flooding by fitting flood guards, toilet bungs, raising electrical sockets and fuse boxes, not installing new wooden floors and carpets etc. etc. etc. 

While I definitely wouldn't defend their strategy on the Somerset levels I heartily concur with your comment about flood guidance maps which have several times been proved to very accurate for parts of the River Thames floodplain (not that such mapping was difficult - but they have a least done it).  And you're dead right in your final comment - despite such mapping people have continued to build and buy houses on the floodplain and as recent events have shown are also remarkably noisy in drawing attention to their own ignorance when their houses are flooded, in precisely the places identified on flood maps.

[Fenman]

Some of the Fenland drainage even predates the Somerset levels.

 

In fact, it was one of that annoyingly long list of things that the Romans did for us - or, at least, they got it started.

 

Paul

[TheQ]

Rhynes  are probably related to the Norfolk word for the for the river Bank "Rhond", Most boats carry a rhond anchor which looks like half a traditional anchor, you are supposed to hammer it into the bank. It's quite funny seeing tourists throwing it overboard and hoping to stop!! The only thing any good is a mud weight in the river /broads,  a large lump of something heavy.

 The Q

 I don't care how cider  / cyder /cidre is spelt it all goes down the same way, but I do prefer it from Somerset not Norfolk.

[Foulounoux]

My parents once looked at buying a property being developed by a zummerset farmer and that's how he spelt it in the letter to them

 

One of my regrets is that the letter got lost because it was a great peice of writing. Written as the farmer spoke

 

Colin

[PhilJ W]

In fact, it was one of that annoyingly long list of things that the Romans did for us - or, at least, they got it started.

 

Paul

Yes I nearly forgot the Fossdyke.