Stratford-Upon-Avon Floods - January 2024

Water water everywhere !!! Not good is it, the local rivers not fishable and those like me that need that fishing fix have struggled on the canals too.  A friend of mine was at his place in Spain for 3 weeks over the Christmas period and I said, I wouldn't bother coming back because at the moment as Noah is looking for his Ark. 

The rain has been seemingly been going on for weeks and weeks, however with crossed fingers and toes hopefully there is some respite looking at the weather going forward. The weather is getting me down at the moment, like it is for many, especially when I'm now back in the work routine and I could think of better things to be doing 😃😃😃

It's going to take a good while to get some decent fishable conditions back especially on the Warwickshire Avon which as I type this is still rising post Storm Henk, where it is predicted to exceed the highest level ever recorded on the gauge when it was installed which was 2.71m back in 1998. 

I remember those floods back in 1998 rather well, where at the start of Easter a stationary band of heavy rain affected the Midlands. This resulted in floods in which five people died and thousands had to be evacuated from their homes. The wettest area, with over 75 mm, stretched from Worcestershire towards The Wash and the flooded towns included Evesham, Leamington Spa, Stratford-on-Avon, Bedford, Northampton and Huntingdon. 

The flood levels were generally higher than those of the record-breaking 1947 flood. The already saturated nature of the ground worsened the impacts, leading to excessive surface run-off in the upper reaches and widespread flooding further downstream. Rivers such as the Avon, Ouse and Nene readily burst their banks. 

Now closer to home it is certainly not unusual for the river in Stratford-Upon-Avon to flood and reaching the town. On a wall near the Royal Shakespeare Theatre are marks showing where the water has come up to in exceptional floods over the past 100 years or so. 

The most recent mark is for the flood in 1998, when swans floated down the street known as Waterside and the theatre was surrounded by water. The more recent flood, in 2007, was less high. The floods of May 1932, just weeks after the opening of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, are also marked, but the highest mark, some 30cm above the others, commemorates the 1901 floods.

 

The most famous flood in Stratford’s history was that of September 1769, that coincided with the biggest and most heavily-publicised event the town had seen, David Garrick’s Shakespeare Jubilee. 

The Shakespearean connection was stamped indelibly on the town with the Jubilee and as the town grew under the influence of the quickening industrial revolution linking it by road, canal, horse-drawn tramway and several railway routes to other parts of the country, its future as a tourist destination was assured.

Anyway will 2024 be added to the plaque ?

I personally don't think it is likely, but you never know, the water table is full to the brim at the moment and that's got to go somewhere and any more sustained period of rain before the rivers start to retreat will get those river going up and up again. 

Now these drone shots from the main town in Stratford-Upon-Avon were sent to me from good mate Nic from Avon Angling (03.01.2024) from his newly purchased DJI mini 4. The Rec Ground, the Racecourse, Holy Trinity Church, the Greenway, the newly built marina , oh and one of the WBAS syndicate stretches and like I said early it's still going up...

If you haven't subscribed to Nic's channel, do so, some great Vlog's from local waters and beyond and one of his most recent video has hit >34k but there is a good reason for that I'm sure. Well produced and also he fishes smaller waterways which don't seem to be the forgotten waterways from anglers these days. 

I did think the local Tunnel Barn commercial fishery might be an option the weekend however I might wash my hair instead, just not for me !!!

Anyway when will the next flowing water fishing fix be ? answers on a postcard 

Nic's full drone video shown below...