The biggest disaster in Victorian Britain.

[purdy]

150 years ago the Dale Dyke Dam ruptured and flooded Sheffield. At least 240 people died. It was the biggest disaster to hit Victorian Britain.

[Penistone999]

A short video here

 

[Stan Tamudo]

I'd have been done for down here in Malin Bridge.

[taxman]

They had flood tourists from darn sarth, people who visited Sheffield just to photograph or see the damage.

 

It's a fascinating subject. As well as the human stories there was an awful lot of behind the scenes politics going on re compensation and liability. The actual design of the damn was called into question, which is a bit a of a bugger seeing as that design was the template for a number of other local damns.

[cookingfat50]

hi if you have a kindle, and you look in their book store there's a book I'm reading called the Sheffield flood I good read follows the guy who buit it on his way up to dale dyke in a pony and trap. to see what damage had been done before it burst altogether and flooded down the valley, through Loxley, through hillsbourgh, into Sheffield, and on to Donny

[Nagel]

They had flood tourists from darn sarth, people who visited Sheffield just to photograph or see the damage.

 

It's a fascinating subject. As well as the human stories there was an awful lot of behind the scenes politics going on re compensation and liability. The actual design of the damn was called into question, which is a bit a of a bugger seeing as that design was the template for a number of other local damns.

 

It's a fact that there were a lot of tourists came to see the devastation after the floods, but I've never heard that they were from "darn sarth". Do you have a reference for this?

 

Also, what was the "awful lot of behind the scenes politics going on re compensation and liability"? I went to the exhibition about the flood in Bradfield this weekend where Sheffield Libraries had the parliamentary investigation into the floods on display and also the ledgers of compensation claims against the water company who had constructed the dam.

 

There was nothing 'behind the scenes' about any of this. What was the behind the scenes stuff, I bet it's fascinating

[hillsbro]

Hordes of neck-stretching sightseers did indeed come from north, south, east and west (here is a scan from Geoffrey Amey's book The collapse of the Dale Dyke Dam, 1864.) but in the 1860s most people couldn't afford to travel. As much of the wealth was, and still is, in the south, large numbers would have come from that direction.

[beechnut]

...I went to the exhibition about the flood in Bradfield this weekend where Sheffield Libraries had the parliamentary investigation into the floods on display and also the ledgers of compensation claims against the water company who had constructed the dam. ... There was nothing 'behind the scenes' about any of this. What was the behind the scenes stuff, I bet it's fascinating

What was on display at Low Bradfield were official records. If there were any "behind the scenes politics" I doubt if there would be written records of this.. My own ancestor claimed £38 8s 8d and accepted £15. Who knows the true value of what he lost?.

[bullerboY]

Even queen Vic coughed up a few bob of her own but its about right than when compensation was paid that machinery and buildings were valued higher than people

[PeterJames]

We found the book by Peter Machan " The Dramatic Story of The Sheffield Flood" was well constructed, was factual and avoided any undue sensationalism. This book is available, as is Geoffrey Amey's book, from Amazon. It is quite possible they can be purchased from Sheffield Scene in Surrey Street.