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Memories of 1968 come flooding back for Bury St Edmunds residents




The front page of the Bury Free Press on September 20, 1968 (4129308)
The front page of the Bury Free Press on September 20, 1968 (4129308)

Today marks 50 years since Bury St Edmunds residents awoke to find much of the town under water, after seven weeks’ worth of rain fell within 24 hours.

Some of our readers have been in touch to share their memories of the flood and its aftermath following a feature in the Bury Free Press last month.

Bernard Plume, a former resident of Mustow Street who was 17 at the time, remembers he and his father barricading their door with furniture and sandbags.

The view of Mustow Street after the floods of 1968 (4128331)
The view of Mustow Street after the floods of 1968 (4128331)

“Sadly the large Sugar Beet lorries continued to make mini bow waves before the road was closed off by the police and the sand bags could not take the strain and we found ourselves with approximately a metre of water throughout the ground floor,” he said.

He also remembers watching another resident on the street having to be rescued by the emergency services a second time after finding their way back into the property, and being asked by his assistant manager while standing on his roof, why he hadn’t gone to work.

“When the crisis was over I believe we received the grand sum of £50 towards damages and industrial hot air blowers from the RAF were used in our home but I recall the damp returned for at least the next four years until I married and moved out,” he said.

Colin Cook, who still lives in the same house on Winthrop Road, remembers the force of the water coming down the street.

View of Winthrop Road, Bury St Edmunds (4129216)
View of Winthrop Road, Bury St Edmunds (4129216)

“It had brought down a row of garages and the only thing that stopped them drifting towards Spread Eagle was the fact that they had had cars in them,” he said.

“It was a right mess. Everyone’s gardens were filled with water and I remember looking down and seeing a fish swimming along the pavement.

“It’s hard to imagine it now but those of us who were there won’t forget it. It was unbelievable.”