Nottingham in 1947: Work, Life, and Survival

In March 1947, after the hardest winter in living memory, the snow on the hills of the Midlands melted in a few days — on ground still frozen solid. Every drop ran into the River Trent, and on 17–18 March it came over its banks at Nottingham. The water filled the terraced streets of the Meadows, reached bedroom level in Wilford and came almost to the Midland station. By one account around 3,000 properties and 86 factories in the city were flooded. For thousands of families, the house and the workplace went under in the same week — only days after the factories had reopened from the February fuel crisis. Policemen rowed down suburban roads, Sea Scouts carried bread to upstairs windows, and the Army drove wartime DUKW "Ducks" from Chilwell into the streets. At Trent Bridge the river stopped just inches below the record mark of 1875. How did a city on rations recover from losing its homes and its wages at once — and why does the 1947 line still decide the height of Nottingham's flood walls today? Does your family remember the 1947 floods, in Nottingham or anywhere along the Trent? Tell me in the comments. #Nottingham #FloodHistory #RiverTrent