This is a short film about the Christmas day floods in and around Maidstone 2013. It shows a comparison of water levels during and after the flooding. The flood footage was filmed on Christmas day and the normal water levels were filmed two days later when the water had returned to a more normal level. The opening scene is filmed at The Mallows housing estate in Springfield. Making our way towards Maidstone town centre, we pass Maidstone Rowing Club and see the signpost on the towpath awash and looking over to LA Fitness we see the gym is also flooding. The town houses by Maidstone East Railway bridge are close to flooding. And boats moored by the railway bridge are well above their normal level. The high views above the river are taken from Maidstone East Railway footbridge and is a good comparison for how much the River Medway has swollen. The A229 is closed by police to road traffic and the Fremlin Walk Shopping Centre car park and surrounding area is also flooded. We then moved up to the old St Peters Wharf and you can see more of the Fremlin Shopping centre and a comparison of St Peters Bridge built in 1977, which normally has a headroom clearance of 3.7 metres. On Christmas day clearance is reduced to less than a metre. The older Maidstone Town Bridge built in 1879 and designed by Sir Joseph Basalgette, famed for designing London's Thames Embankment and the Victorian sewer system, which still serves London to this day. Maidstone Town Bridge is 3.7 metres above the normal water level at the peak of the centre arch and can normally allows boats of 2.55 metres air draft to pass safely. The Town bridge at the height of the flood has about 50cm clear at the centre arch and is holding back some of the water from flooding lower downstream. We now look further upstream towards the Archbishop's Palace which was built in the 14th century and would have seen the river flood here many times in it's almost 700-year history. The subways under Maidstone's busy roads are completely submerged and pedestrians are left to dodge the traffic in the one-way system overground. The pigeon that appears to look at the footpath closed sign before stopping made me laugh. In the second half of the film we head downstream to the normally idyllic location of Allington Lock, the tidal limit of the River Medway. The lock is well under water and a good comparison of water levels can been seen. The Malta Inn, originally built in 1784 to serve the sailors and bargemen bringing goods to Chatham Dockyard from the garden of England, was one of four such pubs named after oversea territories. The former Gibraltar Inn is located slightly further up stream and is now a private residence. The Malta Inn, currently part of the Beefeater group, has an upstairs kitchen and restaurant with views over the river. This allowed them to stay open and provide Christmas dinners, much to the relief of it's customers who had probably booked well in advance. Next we look at Allington sluice gate, which was commissioned in 1937 after severe flooding on the Medway in 1925, 1926 & 1927. There are marks by the doorway of the Environmental Agency (EA) office, carved into the stone showing previous floodwater levels. The EA manage the non-tidal Medway navigation. This flood was about the same height as the 1911 flood and it's interesting to note that the floods of 1927 are another 50cm higher. There is some lovely old achive film from Pathe News, which shows the opening of Allington sluice gate and can been seen on their website. The moored boats at Allington lock can been seen with mooring lines straining from the increased water level. One motor boat has broken it's mooring further upstream and has been washed up against the sluice gate buoys and eventually comes to rest below the gates in a capsized position. The former lifeboat, Dowager of London (previously named Rosa Woodd & Phylliss) is a Dunkirk Little ship veteran and has experienced far more hostile waters in her life, both at the hell of Dunkirk, where she made three return trips, and also during her 30 years service as a RNLI lifeboat, where she is credited with saving 143 lives. Further upstream, another motor boat cruiser can been seen flooded and wrecked, the owners will surely be heartbroken when they see their sunken dream. The llamas at Allington Castle are oblivious to the carnage on the river below and are enjoying the luscious grass that the rain has provided. The final view of a rainbow reminds us that even though nature can be a cruel mistress, she can also be beautiful. Thanks for watching Music is from the album 'Breaking Out' by Mick Nolan. Track 1. Red Moon Blue Sun Track 2. When I Close My Eyes

• published: 01 Jan 2014
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