Recovery After The Flooding - Kirkstall, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England - 28th December, 2015

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• published: 28 Dec 2015
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After several days of heavy rain on already saturated ground, the River Aire (like many rivers in Northern England) broke its banks in several places in Leeds (as well as elsewhere). The Leeds suburb of Kirkstall was badly flooded with dramatic footage of floodwaters flowing from Kirkstall down Kirkstall Road, and through Burley towards Leeds city centre. The Kirkstall Bridge pub, Kirkstall Forge shopping centre and the Airedale railway line were all flooded. This film was taken around Kirkstall on Monday 28th December, after the flood water had subsided. It highlights the after effects of the flood and the ongoing recovery efforts by volunteers and professionals alike. The film begins at Kirkstall Abbey where huge puddles of water from the River Aire as well as a ‘tide mark’ of sticks and other debris mark the extent of the floodwater in the grounds of the historic building. The grass is covered in muddy silt in places, and several dead fish lay in the mud. Adjacent the River Aire is running at capacity, not in flood at this stage but very full. Following the path of the river is the weir, from here the high water mark can be seen in the trees and bushes as plastic bags and other debris are visible above the flowing water beneath. Beyond here the footage goes through woodland along the Goit (usually a small stream flowing from and eventually back into the River Aire). Emerging from the woodland, the film goes to the Kirkstall Forge shopping complex, which is fully in recovery mode. There are still large puddles and mud, but the clean-up operation is underway. Outside of the Card Factory shop, much spoiled stock is piled high. Further along, volunteers are disposing of spoiled items and cleaning up at the flooded Kirkstall Bridge pub. The view from Kirkstall Bridge is of a very full River Aire and beyond this, flooded fields. On either side of the river Aire is the clean up operation at the Kirkstall Bridge pub, and the pumping and recovery operation on the Airedale railway line by Network Rail employees and various contractors. Crossing the bridge, the River flows towards Leeds, as pumps from the railway line transfer the Aire’s water back to where it belongs. Comedically suspended from a tree branch hanging over the river is a washed up yellow plastic sign, which reads ‘Caution Wet Floor’! From here the film moves around to the still flooded pitch of the Leeds Rugby Academy. The final shot of the film was taken further away, up Kirkstall Road towards Horsforth, where a sign for the new Kirkstall Forge housing development reads ‘A brand new neighbourhood in a stunning riverside location’. I end the film with three question marks, which stem from my puzzlement at the questionable wisdom of building houses and concreted surfaces next to a river, which is evidently prone to flooding. According to the Environment Agency, the River Aire went on to reach 2.93 metres at Crown Point in Leeds city centre at 23:30 on 26/12/15. It's typical height is between 0.53 and 1.35 metres. A Yorkshire Evening Post article about the flooding can be found here: http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/latest-news/top-stories/picture-special-leeds-remains-on-red-alert-as-flood-warnings-issued-for-city-centre-1-7644085 . To see a film of flooding in Leeds city centre on 26th December, 2015, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-HzRcHxXU8 To see a film of flooding in Leeds along East Street on 26th December, 2015, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzhS-OPAeSk . To read more about the River Aire, click here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Aire . To read more about Leeds, click here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leeds . To read more about Kirkstall, click here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirkstall . If you liked this film, you can also find my travel films and photography updates on the following social media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mosstravel please like my Facebook page. WordPress: http://mosstraveltv.wordpress.com please follow my blog by clicking the +Follow link. Tumblr: http://stuartmoss.tumblr.com please follow my blog by clicking the +Follow button. Pinterest: https://uk.pinterest.com/mosstraveltv/ . Blogger: http://mosstraveltv.blogspot.co.uk please follow my blog by bookmarking the page. Google+ just add +stuartmoss . Instagram: stumoss - https://instagram.com/stumoss/ . You can follow my travels on Twitter @mosstraveltv or by visiting https://twitter.com/mosstraveltv .