07 March 2024 , 16:36
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The landlady of an historic pub dating back to the 1700s fears for its future amidst it being hit by flood closures.
Gina Birch says the Lamb and Flag in Welney, Norfolk, may be forced to close despite having stood the test of time for more than 200 years. Records show the boozer has been in the village under Elgood's Brewey since 1860, but has been there overall since 1794.
But the road it sits on is unfortunately situated right in the midst of a flood plain, and has so far been closed for more than 80 days with a 22-mile diversion in place. As a result, the inn has seen a devastating drop in footfall.
She said: "Be it climate, be it just more water coming our way, it's becoming more and more of a regular occurrence - and that's what the pub won't be able to stand. It's not that the washes haven't always been there, but the problem seems to be exacerbated. On a forward moving concern, definitely it won't be viable, simple as that, to keep a pub going that's so affected."
Gina Birch, landlady of The Lamb and Flag pub in Welney, Norfolk (No credit)
The village has been hit by road closures from flooding since October (No credit)Ms Birch, who also lives in Welney, is a tenant of the pub with Elgood's Brewery making any final decisions on its future, and has been running the inn for 25 years. The mum-of-five said the huge diversion also meant one staff member was having to add as much as 45 minutes onto her commute.
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She said: "She lives literally just the other side of the wash, so her journey goes from five minutes to 50 minutes. The point is it's not a ten-minute diversion, it is such a long way around for people, so that has a big impact and there's also the environmental impact of us driving that far.
"The village has become very elderly because it doesn't suit many people now, with the lack of amenities and the fact that they can't get to the transport links. You can't commute to Cambridge anymore, it's just too risky as a village to move into. It needs a raised road, a bridge whatever idea they want to come up with."
"It's a busy A road and you think it's something, in this day and age, that we shouldn't have to go through." Mrs Birch said she also hadn't had anything in the way of financial support despite grants being given to other businesses, and was seriously worried for the inn's future.
"A lady put a good comment on my Facebook yesterday 'perhaps there should be some recompense and support from the council whose the water we are all taking,'" she said. "The more they are building around Milton Keynes and Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire, the more water we are taking."
The pub has been there since the 1790s, but may have to close (No credit)"And that's fine it serves a purpose and a really good purpose. No one wants to see towns flooded, but equally, if that's going to be the case then the infrastructure should be in place for us to take more water and the obvious one is to give us a road into the village."
"One of our biggest concerns is with the environment agency having spent £36m raising the banks to protect the farmland. It is important to protect the agricultural land but it makes you wonder what's coming our way." She added: "We've been losing money all winter. I'm putting personal money in now, so it's going to hit a crisis point pretty quickly."
In 2022, engineers completed a five-year £40million flood protection project to raise a river bank and protect more than 2,000 homes and agricultural land in the Fens near Welney. But flooding remains an issue, with waters measuring at 9 inches (23cm) deep on Thursday.
On February 15, the depth of the water had been measured at 54 inches (1.38m) on the Wash road. The highest recorded level was in 2003 when it reached 162 inches (4.13m).
A spokesperson from Norfolk County Council said: "The issue of flooding of the A1101 Welney Wash Road is a long standing one. Various possible responses have been looked at and costed, with the price of addressing flooding at Welney Wash Road being calculated as being over £50m."
"We're also pushing for legislative permission to build more reservoirs to store excess water in times of flooding, and more authority for local agencies in responding to flooding."
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