Comparisons to 2014 for 'exhausting' flooding in Marlow and Bourne End

Flooding in South Buckinghamshire has been compared to that of 2014 which saw many properties damaged as the River Thames burst its banks.

In the riverside towns of Marlow and Bourne End, rising waters impacted both homes and businesses with Environment Agency teams spotted using pumps to alleviate flooding.

The Thames downstream of Marlow lock was recorded at 4.68 metres on Monday, 5cm below its 2014 record according to the government flood tracking service.

Across the water at the Longridge activity centre in Bisham the flood waters had severely affected the site and Savannah Foister, from the centre, discussed the impact.

"It's breached all the buildings, it's exhausting. Everyone's saying it can't be worse than 2014 because we've got all these flood defences, but they live in Marlow," she said.

"We are on the floodplain though, so all those flood defences have redirected that water to us. It also came up so fast and although we've got pumps to help, it's at a time of year when there weren't that many people on site."

Savannah said Longridge had cancelled bookings for January but would be looking to reschedule where possible.

She added the centre hoped to put out a call for help clearing the site once waters receded, with volunteers asked to email reception@longridge.org.uk and keep an eye on its Facebook page. 

For Marlow town itself, Leader of the town council, Cllr Chris Funnell said although areas had been affected, defences had helped lessen the impact.

Cllr Funnel said: “In 2014 we had exactly the same thing happen, and this is comparable to that - the exception being that the flood defences that are now in place seem to have protected their areas and certainly if they weren’t there, it would be a lot lot worse."

Following the 2014 floods, the Environment Agency began work on an estimated £8.5 million scheme to protect the town, but Cllr Funnell advised there was still work to do.

Despite the defences, Environment Agency crews using pumps were deployed around Gosmore Lane and Mill Road to help drain flood water. The Two Brewers pub in St. Peter's Road also closed due to flooding. 

Higginson Park flooded too, but there was good news at The Compleat Angler where staff said it remained open to welcome guests.

“We [the council] will keep pushing hard now for the Environment Agency to come out and finish the job that will keep us more resilient for the future," Cllr Funnel said. 

A similar picture was painted in Bourne End as the Thames flooded Cock Marsh by Winter Hill, in addition to the marina side of the river.  

Bourne End Marina manager, Richard Wright said: “We’ve got it about six to eight inches deep in the office at the moment. I think it’s about a centimetre higher than in 2014.

“We sort of saw it coming so tied everything down to something that floats, just making sure everything’s in order before the disorder comes.

“All you can do is wait for it to go down, then you can start the clean-up mission.”

Further upstream, The Spade Oak pub and restaurant in Coldmoorholme Lane was also affected by the rising flood water as its car park disappeared underwater. 

Manager, Lauren Carroll confirmed the impact.

“Absolutely yes, massively, our carpark is completely underwater - it hasn’t actually affected the building luckily, it’s the car park and the lane nearby,” she said.

“We are still open – We’ve had quite a few local people come down just to take picture of the flooding and this is as far as they can get, so they’ve popped in to have a pint.”

You can view the latest flooding updates on the government flood alert service.