Tonbridge Floods 1968

Yesterday I searched my home office knowing that I had an old newspaper of the last floods in town, and eventually came across the old, yellowed and slightly fragile copy of a special flood disaster edition of the 1968 Tonbridge Advertiser. It made fascinating reading, not only for the devastating flood images and reports, but also for the adverts and notices the paper carried in the 60's. Here are some of the images of those floods that prompted the building of the Leigh flood barrier.

It's very sad that Tonbridge has flooded again, and my heart goes out to the people affected. A previous post (below) carries a link to a Community Facebook page if you can offer help to local flood victims.

Thin line to safety - Residents of Avebury Avenue

Avebury Avenue - former Rugby Club and Drill Hall

Supplies and food being transferred by poles - Avebury Avenue

Tonbridge High Street

Cyclists on The Botany before the floods rose - Ritz Cinema is showing Camelot

Sometimes it's all worthwhile

I met a lady in the High Street this morning (you know who you are) who told me she checked in on Tonbridge Daily every day, and thoroughly enjoyed all the photographs and snippets, especially the recent Recognising Tonbridge feature on the former Corn Exchange in Bank Street. It reminded her that her late father had mentioned he often attended the Drill Hall which was on this site too for a while. This prompted her to visit the building, with her sister last weekend, in remembrance of her father.

I have no idea who views the blog, or even if it is enjoyed by locals, as very few comments are left on the site, and that's probably because it's such a faff to log in, and join to do just that. A bloggers life is quite a solitary one, but I do get a fair amount of comments on Twitter and receive emails about the site. So it was a good feeling this morning knowing that a post had triggered off family memories, and it's these little things that make it all worth while.

Keep reading!!!!