Nottingham Floods Of Long Ago Poem by Joyce Hemsley

Our defences were down in 1947.

Drastic floods were here to haunt us
and plague our countryside;
towns and cities had lost the fight
to hold back the rising tide.

As we entered the twenty-first century
we could have been more aware
and taken heed from bygone times
when people lived through despair.

In the severe winter of 'forty-seven'
the Trent let Nottingham down...
waters stretched for miles and miles
marooning houses ~ flooding the town.

The river had reached its highest point,
animals were lost and deserted,
lifeboats were manned to give people help
as scouts and volunteers were alerted.

Looking down from top floor windows
the flood waters reflected the moon,
this gave a slight feeling of mystery
to relieve the depression and gloom.

At vital points along the Embankment
river 'width and depth' was increased;
sluices and channels were then set in place
and the worst of the flooding ceased.

Soon after, in the year two-thousand
we were in the midst of a real-life flood,
but the Trent was taking a back seat then
as York and Gloucester slid into the mud.