Flooding at the Embankment

The days are so short and so grey, and lately I seem to end up taking photographs almost in the dark. Pete and I went out just after three, heading to Stanground to view the flooding on the Nene Washes. It was truly awe-inspiring - an almost unbroken sheet of brown water, with definite waves whipped up by the icy northerly wind, an inland sea. There wasn't really anywhere to walk, and our fingers were already feeling numb, so we headed back towards Peterborough city centre to take Rosie for a walk along the Embankment.

This was also more deeply flooded than I can recall, and the Key Theatre was surrounded with sand bags. Benches and litter bins looked strangely out of place, surrounded by the murky floods, though the moorhens were finding that the benches made good perches. As we walked along we saw a houseboat that had sunk, the only trace being a kayak and bicycle that had been strapped to the roof. Fortunately no-one was on board at the time. Further out from town we watched a more organised house-boat occupant using a rowing boat to get back himself and his two dogs back to his dwelling, pulling himself along using a rope that he had tied between his boat and a river-side willow.

This view was taken as we headed back to the car and gives some indication of the extent and depth of the floodwater. The brightly lit boat in the background is The Grain Barge, a Chinese restaurant, though I'm not sure whether they're getting much custom at the moment! Beyond the trees you can just see the lights of the city centre shops, where life continues as normal. The flooding hasn't interfered with the usual pre-Christmas shopping frenzy...