Quakers in north Cumbria were fearing the worst on Friday as their Keswick Meeting house remained flooded. Clerk of Keswick Quakers Michael Evans told The Friend that the Meeting house last flooded in 2005 and since then £6,000 had been spent on flood defences such as barriers. The Meeting house benches have metal legs so may not be too badly damaged, but Michael reported that as flooding near the place of worship has reached waist height, there could be further damage.

Of about twenty Quakers in Keswick Meeting, at least two have been forced to leave their home after flooding and expect not to be able to return for three months, in order to allow for clean up and restoration. Across the town, two hundred people have had to be rescued from their homes due to the flooding. The supermarket Booths, across the road from the Meeting house, has featured in BBC news footage showing how much the area is under water.

A spokeswoman from David Edwards Insurance Brokers, which acts for a number of Area Meetings, has confirmed that only Keswick Meeting House has so far been affected by Friday morning. They have already contacted the Meeting treasurer to provide advice and guidance and are undertaking a postcode search to identify other possible flood sites. A Friend from Cockermouth Meeting confirmed on Friday morning that Cockermouth Meeting was not affected by flooding but some Quakers have been forced to leave their homes.

On Friday, The Friend learned that the Quaker Tapestry in Kendal had not been affected by flooding and Friends there reported that during the day the river level had gone down.

Despite the adverse whether conditions Keswick Quakers are not letting the situation stop their Meeting from worshipping together. Plans have already been made to hold their regular Sunday Meeting for Worship in a local old people’s drop in centre in Heads Road, Keswick at 10:30am.

Have you been affected by the floods? Leave a comment below to share your experience (you will need to register for a free trial of The Friend online if you don't already have a subscription or if your online access with your paper subscription hasn't been activated yet).

Links
North Cumbria Quaker website: http://www.northcumbria.quaker.eu.org.
John Hall's Britain Quaker Meeting Houses website: http://www.flickr.com/photos/qmh/.

Keswick Meeting House in sunnier times. Photo John Hall.

Article last updated: 9pm, Friday 20 November 2009.
See http://thefriend.org/article/keswick-friends-begin-clean-up-operation/ for a more recent report.

Comments

• Posted by OliverR on November 23, 2009

  Thanks for this article. Really timely and full of the information I want to know.

• Posted by 49106 on December 09, 2009

  Great coverage of recent events but not so great for