Fenland Floods of 1947 | "Trial by Weather" - The Fens (1948) [Digitally Enhanced]

The story of the infamous Fenland floods of 1947 - from lead-up to recovery.
This short documentary was produced in 1948 and includes a wealth of striking footage captured during a time of great devastation for many across the region but this is balanced with scenes of true Fenland grit and determination in the face of adversity.
Although digital enhancement was undertaken on this film, the film splices in the original haven't aged well and are difficult to remedy - for the sake of preserving a historical document, we've left them intact rather than cut them. This may result in an abnormal flash between scenes or otherwise incorrect light levels / exposure.

[@nickmorse1970]

14-02-24
I don’t remember the floods of 1947 because we were still living somewhere in the south - maybe near Canterbury. We moved as a family to the Fens in 1952. We therefore experienced the floods of 1953.
Even so, the wonderful work that you have done to put all these films together is very moving for me. I watched the movie ‘The Flood’ a few days ago. Even though it had a B-movie script the quality of the photography was very good. It caught the immediacy of those years - you had to get up and help out to survive. It was astonishing how hands on the kids were in the face of disaster. The two kids on the motorbike heralded a spoilt self-centred world that was beginning to arrive. I remember the threatening nature of indifference and contempt of those days.
The documentary here showed how harsh it really was. The failure of crops, the washing away of potato clamps, the hard work to restore drainage, the fight to restore the working land, the crazy designs of farm machinery, even the persistence of horse drawn ploughs and tough farm work picking potatoes and loading. The musical score was very typical of the neo-romantic post war sound world. I found it very moving - they both brought floods of memories which I will not endeavour to dam their breech. Always throughout the magnificent Fenland skies, heaven above your head and the warm summer sun drying you out deep into you bones.
Very evocative. Thank you very much for all your work.

[@glennlingard7851]

We farmed in the ancholme valley with the river running right next to our farm, before the ancholme internal drainage board did the “drainage scheme” back in the late sixties early seventies we were subject to flooding in summer with lost crops etc, was devastating!

[@phillipcleaver7063]

This was what happened to mine from The beast From The East , it was impossible to find them , when the drifts eventually melted I found them , stone dead , frozen to death under the hedges where the drifts had been 5 feet deep , the drifts had froze again to solid ice & I had been standing on them but didn,t know it , then a bloody awful neighbour sued me over a trifling issue also , what,s great about britain . Horrible country . But any country,s renewal only ever starts out in the fields , then slowly migrates into the towns , if you kill the countryside , give the whole country away because it is finished . Renewal is only ever rural first .

[@kevinmothers904]

"In the fens the summer months must be used to prepare for the next winter the rain must have a clear passage from drain to river, river to sea and the river banks stand high above the land must be strengthened against the pressure of coming storms" That useless lot at the EA would do well by learning what our forefathers knew to be common sense.

[@edbrown84]

My thoughts exactly

[@richardmatthews3304]

That's right the trouble is they have never gone hungry and never worked hard enough to break a sweat, unbelievable the country had fort a war and I believe food was still rationed and could still fight the floods mainly by hand and shovel, we have a country with near 70 million well fed people and they would never do it

[@johntomlinson6849]

University degrees don't always equal common sense. Sometimes...but not always....

[@phillipcleaver7063]

Well said mate , I have a lifelong mate who does this work for a living , & he absolutely hates the E.A. for their faceless hypocrisy in the times of crisis , we have all the kit & the operators , it,s now not on to say just men , as women can do this work with big power assisted gear now also , but we get stopped all the while by them & the newt huggers while the country floods & loses what will very soon become precious & finite food & environment .

[@GenaF]

Amazing to see just how bad us was for our forefathers. I don't think the young ones realise how good they have it.

[@livingladolcevita7318]

I remember when I was stationed near Ipswich at RAF Wattisham how cold the winters could be and hot summers.😁

[@livingladolcevita7318]

brilliant, thanks