I have often scoffed at people who build or live in houses located in a flood plain (or at least a place prone to occasional floods — not the same thing). But here’s a story of a guy who did:
Nick Lupton, 60, and his wife Anne, 50, live in a converted 17th century house on the banks of the River Severn. Since they moved into the four-bedroom detached property in Pixham, Worcestershire in 2016, the house and one-acre of land has been flooded 11 times.
But instead of weeping and wailing when his house was repeatedly underwater, he said, “Fuck this!” and did something about it.
The couple became so fed up with the costly clear-ups, they decided to surround the entire property with a 7ft-high flood defence. They spent four months constructing the brick barrier before finally finishing it last October – just weeks before Storm Henk swept Britain.
Here’s before:
And after:
The house itself? Dry as a bone. Read the whole story; it’s excellent. With more people like this, the Brits would still have an empire.
Of course, this being Britishland, when the flood waters go down the local council will doubtless tell him to tear the wall down because it ruins the character of the 17th-century house, or something.
But let me not be so cynical.