TWO Lakeland villages, which felt the full force of Storm Desmond, were overrun with visitors during the half term break, just six months after the disaster.

Pooley Bridge and Glenridding are separated by just nine miles of road, at either end of Ullswater, but in early December the two communities were cut off from each other and the rest of Cumbria by rising flood waters.

The iconic and historic structure at Pooley Bridge was swept away by the swollen River Eamont, and Glenridding was also hit hard as a beck, which runs into the lake, repeatedly broke its banks.

The road to recovery has been a long one for residents and businesses — with a replacement bridge in place in time for the Easter holidays and work in Glenridding is currently under way on improved river defences.

Mandy Watson, who runs Pooley Bridge post office, said they had had the best half term week in years, with really good weather throughout the week. She said: “They don’t often happen together. Last week was the busiest week of the year — it only works if the weather is right.”

But she said getting the bridge back had also helped, adding: “If we had not have got the bridge in place, last week would have been catastrophic.”

She said there was also more optimism in the village and added: “I am confident. We are still here, we survived it, but it was hard at the time.”

However, the replacement bridge is only a temporary measure with plans in place to find a more permanent solution in approximately 18 months.

Mandy said she was pleased the new crossing had included a clearly defined footpath for pedestrians, unlike the ill-fated 250-year-old version, and it was understood the permanent replacement could be clad with the original stone which had been dredged from the riverbed after the collapse. “We’ve kept the old stone,” she added.

Robert Teasdale, who runs Sharmans Convenience Store, nine miles down the road in Glenridding, agreed that the good weather had helped to bring in the visitors during half term and said: “It made the difference — the sunshine brings people out.

“It’s good in a way, we get regular visitors that come two or three times a year, and they are starting to see the progress and how things are moving forward.”

He said that while the visitors were in the area they helped local businesses and he described the support in general as “tremendous”. He added: “It’s been really good but it has been a long, hard few months.”

Andrew Laverick, who runs the Catstycam outdoor shop overlooking the beck, said they were flooded twice during early December and the recent influx of visitors had been “fantastic”.

He said there was an optimism within the village and added: “It lifts the spirits up, it definitely does. To see the sun, to see the village busy with people, over the half term the car parks were full, you get nostalgic — it was like this in the old days.”

Mike Roe, who was originally from Lancashire but now lives in Newcastle, is a retired civil engineer and visited Glenridding on Tuesday. He said he was interested to see progress being made on the village’s flood defences.

He added: “It’s pretty good that they are getting on with it so quickly. I didn’t do flood design work but I understand what is going on. It’s a tidy job and good to see they are getting on with it.”

Dean and Deborah Hall, from Worksop, were recently married and spent a short honeymoon in Glenridding. Dean said they were at the Inn on the Lake and Deborah said they had chosen to stay there because they wanted something “special”.

She said you could still see the after-effects of the flooding and added: “You just realise, when you see all this, how traumatic it was.”

From The Cumberland & Westmorland Herald on Saturday, June 18, 2016.