Every time it rains, Stan Bell wonders if history will repeat itself. He tells Will Tillotson about what happened during the 2019 floods.

As the emergency services responded to events in Cockermouth the waters began to rise downstream in Barepot.

There too, homes were destroyed and families lost almost everything they owned.

When Northside Bridge collapsed just after 5am in the morning, the hamlet was cut off from the rest of Workington and a two minute journey to the town centre turned into a two hour diversion.

Stan Bell was at home in Barepot when the floodwaters began rising. “We knew we’d had a lot of rain but there was nothing in my experience that prepared me for this,” he said.

“The water started coming in so we tried to block things up and just sat back and waited.

“At about 8.30pm, the emergency services told us we had to get out and me and my wife Susan were walked through the water, it was waist deep by then, to dry land.

“We carried the dog and the cat with us.

“I thought we’d be back in when the flooding went down. We had no idea it was going to be another 11 months.

“After they left us, we had to call Nicky, our son, to come and get us. That was before the bridge had collapsed.

“We lost everything except what we were wearing when we left the house.

“It took me a long time to get over it.

“I don’t think I really have to be honest. Every time it rains you wonder.

“We’ve had flood proof doors fitted but there’s no certainty they’re going to work.

“We never go away in November in case it happens again.”