Floods prompt village help for stranded neighbours

Jennie Dennettand
Pamela Tickell,North East and Cumbria
News imageBBC Lillian Berry is standing next to a box containing a defibrillator that is on the pebble-dashed wall of a building. The box is circular, with the curved edge silver-coloured and the flat front green and yellow. The sign and logo are obscured by Ms Berry, who is wearing a sea green jumper, silver chain necklace and round glasses. She has chin length curly hair and is tentatively smiling.BBC
Resident Lillian Berry said the community spirit in the village had been fantastic

Flooded roads sparked a community rally-round to help stranded neighbours get where they needed to be.

Cumbria saw heavy rain on Tuesday, including at Ulpha village in the Duddon Valley, leaving trains cancelled and many roads impassable.

Resident Lillian Berry, who helps manage the community WhatsApp group, said this week's flooding had been "pretty horrendous".

There had been "major panic" with people saying "it's up to my wellies, it's beyond my wellies", she said.

The A595, which is one of the main routes through the valley, was submerged at Duddon Bridge.

Ms Berry said the school bus could not get through and the bin lorry could not get out.

News imageDuddon River Association River water is flowing over the top of the River Duddon's banks. There is a flooding warning road sign on the left of the road, with two dogs walking in the flood water. The River Duddon to the right is swollen to above the top of the bank.Duddon River Association
The River Duddon's banks overtopped on Tuesday

Another resident said her daughter had come home to relax before some important exams in London when she became stranded.

After a plea on the WhatsApp group, a man living nearby who had a large car offered to traverse the flood waters and drive her to one of the only stations where trains were still running.

"She's been revising for years and she came home to be looked after by her mummy and she got stuck here," her mother said.

"It was very stressful. She was having kittens."

On top of the flooded roads, a train that is thought to have been derailed by a landslip meant very few services were running in the area.

But Ms Berry said the community spirit had been fantastic.

"Farmers will come out in hail, rain and snow to help people who are stranded," she said.

Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.


More from the BBC