21st July 2021

 First adventure of the day;  There are problems with a leaking shower and the plumber is not coming till tomorrow.  So my daughter turned the water off last night and then back on again this morning.  This entails going down into the basement and as she had already left for work I volunteered to shut off the water.  

The basement is an intriguing place, covers the entire floor level of the terraced house and has about four rooms.  Sadly it can never be converted you have only to see the level of the water stain on the wall.  There is a pump to drain the flood water when it comes in and a dryer that is permanently on.

So I ascended the concrete steps into its dungeon like atmosphere, and eventually found the water tap which was in the coal annexe with its shoot for the coal from the road.  Hooks hang from the ceiling in one roof, meat maybe, the house must be late Victorian.

But this is one of the hazards of living in Tod as it is called, flooding. It was once  only a village until the revolution of canal, rail and industry came to tether the town to the modern world.  For me the town has rather a grim face, or perhaps a grime covered face but has a viaduct for the train when it comes into town, which is pretty often for you are connected to all the Northern cities.

Flipping through the historic photographs as one is apt to do ;) I notice flooding is a regular occurrence on the flat land in the town, when the water overflows it comes down the sides of the valley to join the torrent of the river/canal below.

Fire and flood are hitting the world now as our climate changes but it is perhaps wise to understand how our towns came into being and to alter our building habits.

Yesteryear

2015 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-50850195