Knaresborough cafe owner left counting costs of floods

Marigold cafe and Boating owner Justine Connolly said it was the second worst flood they had experienced since Boxing Day 2015 but it was open for business by Tuesday.

“We flooded on Sunday, quite badly. We have had it 10 years and this was the second bad flood we have since Boxing Day 2015. Despite flood defences, it still got in.

“We have lost two day’s of trade. We have also lost all the food in the fridges and freezers in the kitchen, all the drinks, and lost a freezer.

“It is quite a lot in that respect but we are always mindful that it is not our home and so, therefore, what other people have to suffer is a lot worse than what we do.”

She added that they are still discovering damage as the flood waters, which affected other riverside businesses and homes in the town, recede.

“All our jetty has gone,” said Justine. “The peer, where we help people on and off our family boats, now the water has gone down, we have discovered that it has taken quite a lot of that with it.”

She added that at 11.30am on Sunday the water levels were 1.8m but it did get higher and peaked at about 4pm.

Justine said that the flood warning came at 8am on Sunday and added: “By that point we kind of knew anyway because we have CCTV and we have the app on our phone and we knew the water was quite high and we could see by the Half Moon pub that it was getting really high, to get near their bank.

“As I came up Waterside and past Castle Mills I thought we are in trouble here because I could just see how the boom across the river was up near the cafe windows.”

Staff worked for two hours to move things to safety but then had to get out as the river flooded the cafe.

“The river was raging on Sunday,” added Justine.

“The year of 2020 we flooded every weekend in February because it flooded, not as bad as this time.”

Justine said the cafe is back open as it is equipped for floods.

“In the cafe all the plugs are raised, all the stone floor is rendered, so, we are prepared to a certain degree so it is just a case of deep cleaning all the areas.”

Mother Shipton’s pub on the Low Bridge in Knaresborough is back up and running again after being flooded at the weekend.