£10,000 landmark near for Doncaster floods book project as update meeting announced

The organisers of the project, which is being co-ordinated by five residents in the village, hope that the book will be published in the spring and have planned an online meeting to update supporters.

Justin Smith, of Fishlake Nab is one of the team working on the project, and was among those flooded during the disaster. He ended up spending the night on the floor of his local pub after his own home had flooded, one of a number of people who were helped by the landlord that night.

He was later visited by Prince Charles when he came to the village the following month.

Mr Smith said: “We are still in the process of finalising the book. We’ve started looking at publishers and got quotes from printers.

"The aim is to have it ready by early May – that is the goal at the moment. We have a lot of pictures and are deciding which ones to use. It is an ongoing process.”

A number of villagers are contributing their stories to the project, and some are still in the process of writing their accounts.

They will hold a Fishlake Flood Book annual general meeting on Saturday February 20, starting at 11am

Log onto http://bit.ly/3pXgn1h to attend.

Fishlake was one of a number of villages to suffer flooding in November 2020, when after record rainfall, the banks of the River Don overflowed – leaving households under water.

As well as Fishlake, parts of Bentley, Conisbrough and Tickhill also ended up under water.

Experts say 2019 was the wettest autumn on record. Doncaster had a month’s rainfall in just one day.

There were 47 flood warnings and alerts issued across Doncaster. Seven of these were severe flood warnings, meaning there was significant ‘danger to life’, with areas badly affected by flooding from rivers and surface water.

There are some people who have still not completed work on their homes which was needed as a result of the disaster.

Flood repairs at Fishlake since the disaster have included returning the embankments to their designed height, and making other improvements to make flood defences more resilient going forward.

In these confusing and worrying times, local journalism is more vital than ever. Thanks to everyone who helps us ask the questions that matter by taking out a subscription or buying a paper. We stand together. Nancy Fielder, editor.