Riddlesden Cricket Club
Proudly representing the village of Riddlesden since 1882!
Christmas Day and Boxing Day 2015 saw record breaking rainfall across the north of the country. The River Aire reached its highest recorded level and as a result not only flooded the pitch to a depth of several feet, but also entered the clubhouse and equipment garage. The garage was about 5ft deep, the clubhouse 2ft deep. Considerable damage was caused by the two days of inundation.
This is a story of those floods, and the recovery process.
 The track leading to the club - or to the river on this occasion. |
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 The pitch and the River Aire become one. |
 The machinery and equipment under about 5ft of water! |
 The white boards are the boundary fencing floating away |
 Clubhouse inundated and unreachable |
Boxing Day afternoon - the waters would peak overnight about 2ft higher, but already the damage was well and truly done.
Nothing can be seen of the pitch itself, and the garage is in deep water. The clubhouse is probably just a few inches deep at this point but there was no way to reach it - the waters were deep and fast flowing.
The damage was extensive. Initial attempts to clean and dry as much as possible in the hope that items could be salvaged failed. Two days being partially submerged quickly began to take its toll.
Within a week, mold was spreading up the walls, growing on all furnishings, wallpaper began to fall off, and the smell and flies were terrible.
Unfortunately, most of the club's storage space happened to be under the hinged seating - the water was above seating level. Much had to be disposed of. Also, all the fridges and freezers were filled with river water - rendering them inoperable and destroying their contents.
The changing rooms with all the club equipment stored inside were also badly affected, with several sets of pads, gloves and bats being ruined.
 The waters submerged the seating in the clubhouse |
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 All of the seating in the club is ruined with flood water |
 Every surface was covered with a layer of silt - maybe worse! |
 We found this kettle full to the brim with River Aire |
 A few days later and the furnishings are already covered in mold |
 Further example of the destructive properties of water |
 Damp and mold spreading up the walls. |
 Casualties of the changing room flooding |
 Mold already spreading |  Sofa - not looking pretty |
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 All the seating destroyed |  The carpet coming up |
 Sodden plasterboards and soaked insulation |  Taking it back to the brickwork |
The day the real work began. By now we'd realised that not a lot could be saved. Mold was spreading across all surfaces, and averything was still damp.
So it was time to strip the room to the bones. Everything out - including the walls! The plaster crumbled if pressed, and the insulation behind it was drenched.
The carpet had to be cut out - it still held so much water. Even the oven poured stale river water out as we removed it.
At last, after two weeks, the pitch itself was mostly water free, though still extremely waterlogged and muddy, and littered with debris.
We managed to take a few photos, but didn't dare walk on it more than necessary to prevent further damage.
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 Working hard |  Chewbacca in the walls |
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 Bit of a break |  One wall done |
 Only the sink remains |  The wettest corner bare |
 The 'pop up' bar - the River Inn??? |  Fire damaged & flood damaged |
Work continues on stripping the clubhouse bare. Everything is removed, then the walls come down. All the plasterboards and plaster is torn down. All the insulation removed. We are left with a shell.
But all is not lost - not only do the workforce have a bit of a laugh between bouts of work, but we manage to set up a little temporary bar - complete with non-working fridges. It's freezing in there anyway so we don't need them, but we're willing to huddle around the table and complain about the cold...
The hard work continued, but as February arrived, the last of the demolition was completed. All that remained was a shell and a skip - handily placed as far from the building as possible to the delight of all helpers.
Then the rebuilding began. Supplies arrived (via a path that now resembled a prehistoric bog) and the electrics and plumbing were refreshed.
Now the work began on the walls. New timbers were fitted. Insulation was installed. And the room was re-covered with plasterboard.
Then the plasterer began working his magic - he may have ached mightily afterwards, but we had something resembling a clubhouse once more!
 SkipTheLot |  Stripping |
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 Supplies |  Insulation |
 WarmingUp |  Boarding_up |
 Plasterboards |  Plaster2 |
 Ceiling |  Plaster |
 - and they are fitted, no gaps now |  Finishing touches |
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 New door goes on - no more draughts |  The Professionals! |
 Painted up and looking good |  Nice colour scheme |
 The path - not exactly Oscars |  Remnants of the fencing |
 Where the sightscreen stood |  Once more under water |
Things moved on in the last couple of weeks of February - the plastering was completed, new windows and doors fitted, and the room completely redecorated.
At last, with a dry week, thoughts could turn to outdoors. A lot to do, but plans were made. Then suddenly winter finally made an appearance - snow!
Alas, the pitch was once more submerged, the path became muddier still, and preperations were put on hold once more.
The pitch, the fencing (all washed away!), the path - all need work and running short on time. But we'll simply try again - at some point we'll have a dry week!
It get's ever closer. Our joiner continued his sterling work by installing the plush new bar/kitchen - a test run proved it adept at holding elbows at a reasonable drinking height!
The upholsterer toiled into the night to fit the framework for the seating, and worked on the seats offsite.
The heaters were fitted and proved to be very effective.
And the wiring/plumbing/decorating/restocking continued towards completion.
 Progress |  Framework |
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 Seating coming |  Bar fitter |
 Bar |  New cupboards |
 Fittings |
No pictures for this update as I was far too busy working to take them (I forgot...) but with the clubhouse being finished off by the various contractors, attention turned to the grounds. This mostly involved cutting down the undergrowth, collecting the debris washed in by the floods and piling it all up with the remaining wood from the refit and burning it.
Over two weekends a massive amount of rubbish was burnt, and what a differenece it made - prior to this it was an eyesore with pallets, logs, branches, massive amounts of dead reeds and grass, random bits of netting and a variety of other junk washed from upstream. Afterwards we had greenery (and a large pile of ash)
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The clubhouse was finally completed. With the fitting of the carpets and new seating, and the mounting of the television, we finally felt that we were home. Obviously in the photos there's a lack of furniture, but that was on its way.
Outside, work began on the path. No longer would it be a mud slide - scraped and cleared, with a proper drainage channel, and a hardcore surface to come, getting to the clubhouse will be a more pleasurable experience - and not require wellies!
A bit of sunny weather allowed work to begin on the replacement fencing. And very impressive it looks too - when complete it will ring almost the entire field.
The replacement sight screen and batting cage arrived
And work continued on the new path. Already it is far easier to access the clubhouse and is much safer than before.
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The End!
With the completion of the path, the fencing, and the clubhouse interior, the flood recovery finally came to an end.
Of course, there's still bits to do - the fence needs painting, there's tiling needed in the kitchen area, a perspex front needed for the bar, a bit of painting here and there... But there's always the need for things like that. It comes with the territory - maintenence, replacement, fixing and general sprucing up is required every year, floods or no floods.
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But for now last Christmas; the cold damp winter nights in a makeshift bar; the seemingly endless days of hard labour; the headache of sorting out the finances, insurance, purchases and services; and the millions of gallons of River Aire that chose to visit us so closely; all these can be put behind us. Not something to be forgotten, but to be remembered with a certain sense of pride!
Something that could have destroyed this cricket club was instead overcome, and in the longer term put Riddlesden Cricket Club in a better position to face the future!
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Thank you to all who helped in the recovery!