Flood Mud

I just about managed to get up before the afternoon started. I'm tired from work, I'm tired of work, I'm tired of life being so damn hard. Maybe I need a blood test, maybe I need a psychological test...maybe I just need a rich man. Anyway, I sat around, having no motivation to move and decided I needed to shake my arse and go out before I sank into the depths of the sofa, never to be seen again. I decided to go and have a shufty at the aftermath of the flooding of the Irwell.

I went onto the bridge outside the Lowry Hotel and took a few pics of the men clearing up the silt that was piled up, then I recognised Brian, the man in charge. I hailed him and he came up to chat and showed me videos he had taken just after the river burst its banks. It was quite shocking really, the wall above the river is at least six foot and then the water rose above the steps almost up to the hotel itself. We see shocking pictures of places flooded on the television, but there is a sort of detachment involved. Just looking at the height that water had risen to in such a short space of time is frightening.

Brian's team were having to shovel the mud up by hand because all the drains were completely filled up with silt and mud and a digger would have caused more problems. It looked hard work and a massive job. 

I also had a quick look at the Mark Addy pub on the banks. You can see how high the water rose above the wall and washed the benches all over the show. There was debris knotted in the railings and mud piled everywhere. It took minutes to devastate and will take weeks to clean up.

I will try and add some other pics in extras