Last updated at 12:29, Tuesday, 24 November 2009

Workington Reds’ stadium was only inches from disaster in the massive floods that ripped through the town over the weekend.

Good defence: The banks surrounding Workington Reds’ Borough Park held firm

Thankfully, the banks that protect Borough Park from flood damage held firm, saving it from a deluge that could have caused untold damage.

“The water was six inches from coming over, according to our groundsman,” said relieved chairman Humphrey Dobie. “We would have been devastated.

“But the people who built the ground showed quite a lot of foresight. It was built behind two large banks and they held.

“Where Reds used to play, Lonsdale Park, was flooded, as was the bowling club, and the cricket club was a bowling lake. On aerial shots, the only bit of green in the area was at Borough Park.”

Keswick Rugby Union club was not so lucky, with Davidson Park, swamped in the major floods that hit the county four years ago, again hit when the River Greta burst its banks.

Rugby development officer Alan Gray said: “I have been playing since 1973. We had a flood that year and they have been a regular occurrence ever since.

“But I can honestly say this was the worst, in terms of the height of the water. It’s the biggest river I’ve ever seen. I’ve lived in Keswick all my life and it was spectacular. The way the water came down our beck was phenomenal.”

The clubhouse was under four feet of water, but a magnificent effort on Saturday from members – up to 26 adults and 10 juniors – limited the damage, with tables, chairs, a pool table, three deep freezers and a fridge, plus playing kit, all saved.

Though inevitably there were losses – up to £500 of stock, plus glasses. And with the club so susceptible to flooding, there was no insurance cover on lost items.

The entire Cumberland League amateur RL programme was wiped out, but not because of adverse pitch conditions.

“We called them all off on Friday morning for safety reasons,” said Joan Blair, league spokesperson. “We didn’t want to put the lives of players who were travelling to games at risk.”

West Cumbria’s professional RL clubs got off relatively lightly. Workington Town’s Derwent Park escaped any structural damage, though the small bridge leading to the club car park has been closed for safety reasons, with access now from opposite the Reds’ stadium.

Whitehaven RL Club’s Recreation Ground is prone to flooding, though this time it was nowhere near as bad as in past torrential downpours.

It was under six inches of water on Friday, leading to the postponement of the Under-14 and 16 Cumbria Cup finals.

Despite the floods, sports clubs are keen to return to normality as soon as possible. The gas supply, cut off following the collapse of Northside Bridge, is expected to be restored to Borough Park early this week.

And Reds will play their FA Trophy match against visitors Solihull Moors, postponed on Saturday, on Tuesday next week.

Tomorrow’s Cumberland Cup clash with Greystoke is to be rescheduled, though the league visit of Eastwood Town at the weekend could go ahead.

“The pitch is quite good, and we will move heaven and earth to play the Eastwood game on Saturday, if police allow it,” said Dobie.

Reds generally train once a week at both Newton Rigg and Whitehaven Amateurs’ County Ground, though for the sake of convenience in the crisis, workouts will be restricted to Whitehaven.

Contrary to reports, the Cumberland League has not postponed any amateur RL fixtures for next weekend.

The Cumberland Cup semi-final between Broughton and Seaton, already called off once, is seen as a priority.

But Joan Blair acknowledged: “Sport takes a back seat at present.”

She added: “We’ll get on as many matches as possible, and we’ll be contacting teams later this week. We’ll double check to make sure clubs are okay about hosting games, and that opponents are fine about travelling.”

Keswick RU also remain defiant in the face of the crisis. With players who double as firemen, cooks and shepherds all fully occupied at the weekend, they were allowed to call off the trip to Aldwinians, though they hope to return to action at home to Wigton on Saturday.

“Our attitude is to get on with it,” said Gray. “What’s happened will have no effect on Keswick Rugby Club.

“That doesn’t make it any easier to accept, but it’s easier to recover from. We are not moaning about it. We are very resilient and very positive people.

“It’s a big, important game against Wigton, and somewhere along the line, we have to think about rugby.

“We had all kinds of people missing on Saturday, and the league understood the situation. We were stood down.

“We haven’t been playing on our first-team pitch this year because we’ve had new drains put in.

“But the best drains in the world wouldn’t have coped with water of that magnitude.”

On a sombre note, he continued: “We are completely aware that people in Keswick whose homes have flooded are in a worse position than us. We have been let off lightly compared to some folks.”

On Saturday, volunteers started to battle the clubhouse floods at around 8am, with the target of finishing the job in time to watch England’s televised international against the All Blacks at 2.30pm.

“We sat down at 2.29, still in our wet gear,” Gray said.

First published at 11:23, Tuesday, 24 November 2009
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk