Disastrous Flood Strikes Again

Scenes all too familiar to Mytholmroyd residents when floods struck with particularly devastating speed in 1954.

Nearly eight years after the Valley suffered the worst floods in living memory disaster struck once more on August 21 1954.

Mytholmroyd bore the brunt: the River Calder rose so rapidly householders and shopkeepers had no time to save precious possessions. The river rose six feet in less than two hours - two feet in the last 15 minutes! - and Elphin Brook rose 10 feet above its normal level.

It was early on a Saturday morning when the siren sounded. Traffic was brought to a standstill and a coach taking 40 holidaymakers to Blackpool was stranded at the junction of Burnley and Midgley Roads.

The passengers were rescued by police and firemen, wading waist high in the flood water to carry them to safety.

The rain ceased at 11.30 a.m. when the water receded as quickly as it had risen. By lunchtime the main road through Mytholmroyd was passable.

The full story is told by Molly E. Sunderland in "It's Water Under the Bridge", the story of flooding in Mytholmroyd and available from local stockists, price £4.

Read the full story in Milltown Memories, issue 9. If this or other stories stirs a memory, we'd be happy to know - send us your memories and comments.