Floods

These lines are high water marks and associated dates.
They are carved into the sandstone retaining wall on the north bank of the River Trent, underneath Trent Bridge, and commemorate past floods, of which there were many. October 1875 appears to have been the worst recorded. It stands about twelve feet above today's water level of a river not in flood and looking rather benign.
At this location the Trent today was approximately 100 yards across.
I reckon that at the highest recorded level it would have been at least five times wider, and that the flooding would have been disastrous, both in the city and in the surrounding area, villages and townships.
I shall check the history books.
The mind boggles at the sheer volume of rainfall that a flood of that magnitude would represent. Perhaps history will never repeat itself? Global warming? Who knows?

Largest floods on the River Trent at Nottingham
Rank Date Level at Trent Bridge Peak Flow
m ft m3/s cfs
1 February 1795 24.55 80.5 1,416 50,000
2 October 1875 24.38 80.0 1,274 45,000
3 March 1947 24.30 79.7 1,107 39,100
4 November 1852 24.26 79.6 1,082 38,200
5 November 2000 23.80 78.1 1,019 36,000
Normal / Avg flow 20.7 68 84 3,000