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| The
Flood of December 1960 |
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| On
4th December 1960, after days of continual rain, the River Ogmore in Bridgend
town centre burst its banks at several points. Worst hit were families living in the town centre such as Elder Street, Tynton Avenue, Angel Street, Tondu Road, parts of Sunnyside and Lewis Avenue, as well as the vast majority of the shops and businesses in the town centre. |
Police,
firemen and council workers worked tirelessly to rescue people from
their flooded homes and shopkeepers tried in vain to rescue their stock
from the dirty flood water. |
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| Looking
down Caroline Street on the Sunday morning of the flood. Stokes &
Sons is on the right, this was the last shop uphill to be flooded. John
Stokes (my father) is the gentleman looking directly at the camera and
my brother Geoffrey is the blonde-haired boy in a gaberdine and shorts
in the centre of the picture. |
Another
view down Caroline Street showing the flooded indoor market. By boat
was the only appropriate way to get around. |
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| Dunraven Place which was flooded three feet or more. In the distance can be seen a Mini which was floating and had been secured to a no-waiting sign by a rope made out of neck ties from Hodges mens wear shop. (Unknown photographer - M.J. Stokes Collection) |
When the floods had subsided a little, the schoolboys came out on their bikes to watch the fire engines pumping out the premises in Dunraven Place. Photo taken at the bottom end of Wyndham Street. (Natalie Murphy Collection) |
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| A crowd of sightseers gathered outside the Library in Wyndham Street. (John Lee Collection) |
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| A policeman
and a few boys enjoy a paddle in Wyndham Street. (John Lee Collection) |
A rescue, probably staged for press photographers - there was dry land just behind the photographer! (John Lee Collection) |
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| Caroline Street with a group of onlookers. Stokes & Sons was the last shop in the street to be flooded. You can view a larger copy of this photograph on my flickr site. (John Lee Collection) | Market Street;
two modes of transport, a horse or a piggyback from your big brother who's
wearing his wellingtons! (John Lee Collection) |
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| An opportunity
for boating in Caroline Street. (John Lee Collection) |
Look there's
more of them! (John Lee Collection) |
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| A view looking
from Caroline Street into Adare Street. (John Lee Collection) |
Adare Street
looking towards Caroline Street. (John Lee Collection) |
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| The shop
on the corner of Sunnyside Road, now underneath the junction at the bottom
of Park Street. (John Lee Collection) |
At the bottom
of the (old) Rhiw, Water Street to the left and Queen Street leading off
to the right. (John Lee Collection) |
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| Dunraven Place, a Western Welsh half-cab single deck bus crawls into Market Street. (M J Stokes Collection) | The bailey
bridge near Newbridge Fields. The open-air swimming pool is in the background. (John Lee Collection) |
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Another
photograph of Caroline Street, looking from Adare Street. The photographer
was probably in a boat or had very wet feet! |
The
bottom of The Rhiw with a small boat about to be launched. (Glyn Miller Collection) |
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This photograph appeared in the Glamorgan Gazette a couple of weeks later. This photo had already appeared in a "Flood Special" edition of the newsaper two weeks previously. Unfortunately, although my father's shop was flooded and they would have bought a Gazette that week, no copy survives in my large collection of newspaper oddities. This will enlarge in a new window or tab. |
This photograph shows a young lad lucky enough to get a boat ride around Bridgend, I guess he will remember that forever! Enlarge in a separate window or tab. (Courtesy of Tim Wood) |
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These
two photographs show the Mini which started to float away but was tied
to the "No Waiting" sign by a policeman who used a number
of neck ties grabbed through the broken window of Hodges menswear shop!
Both photographs will enlarge in a separate window or tab.
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