In December 1927 Rushden and the surrounding district experienced some severe weather. There was a heavy fall of snow followed by a hard frost which some people were hoping would last over Christmas. By about the 20 December some skaters were venturing on the ice near the River Nene but it was treacherous in places.
Hall Park, Rushden
However, on the 23 December it rained and the ground was so hard the rain froze and people starting out for work in the morning found the roads and pavements like glass. In spite of the council workers being out gritting, accidents were inevitable and the doctors in Rushden and Higham Ferrers were kept very busy setting broken limbs and dressing wounds. No NHS to call on in 1927.
According to local records it had been 54 years since such severe conditions had been experienced. Some buses were unable to run so people living out of the town found it difficult to get to work. Some hardy workers skated in to the town but those walking found it took them a very long time.
On Christmas Day a blizzard swept over Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire, and huge snow drifts formed in many places. Telephone wires were brought down, and the poles blown out of the vertical. Some of the surrounding villages were cut off by snow drifts seven feet high.
Hall Park, Rushden.
This photograph was taken by Vic Childs, a Rushden photographer, and is dated 1985.
With the New Year came the thaw although the temperature still dropped below freezing at night. Some rain fell which helped to clear the snow and ice and there could be no more skating. Then came the floods. The junction of Wellingborough Road and Duck Street was under water by about 9 a.m. on Monday 2 January, although buses and heavy traffic could still get through. The council road-men were working hard to keep the drains clear but the water kept rinsing until it was into Duck Street.
Flood water had been running into the brook for over twelve hours and it was twice the depth that it had been the day before. Low lying roads around Rushden which had been blocked by snow were now badly flooded, and the Irchester Road at Knuston was under three feet of water. In some of the villages the water was waist high.
The brook in the Hall Park – another Vic Childs photo dated 1985
By the Wednesday and Thursday of that week the water was subsiding but it was to be many days before the valley was free from the flood water.
On the weekend of the 7 and 8 January Rushden was hit by gales. Wireless aerials were blown down with some of the poles being snapped at the top, and slates were blown from the roofs of many buildings. The hard frosts of December had weakened walls and during the gales several were blown down. Telephone wires were again blown down but the services were quickly restored. Trees were blown down but fortunately little damage was done.
Presumably, like us, Rushden people were thinking things could only get better – but for a different reason!
Best wishes for 2021 – it will get better.