The Great GMC Flood of October 1880

A letter from Charles Astry Octavius Baumgartner to his eldest brother John Percy Baumgartner

J Percy Baumgartner Esq.
Gorleston, Gt Yarmouth

Godmanchester
11th Oct./80

My dear Percy

Thanks for your note of 9th inst. I wish you could have come while I was here.
The flood has been something to remember, – covering the road from the Vicarage to Bester’s shop & Church Lane, and running down past E. Maule’s to the road between the Bull Inn & what used to be Capt, Molyneux’s house.

The sailing on Port Holme on Saturday was absolute perfection. I feel, now, that I have not lived in vain. Life is not a hollow mockery. The gale, N.E. , was just as strong as the ”Iona” could stagger under without upsetting. The only other boat out (a Bevan’s canoe) was capsized at the first attempt to go about. and I had to keep my own weather eye considerably open, to avoid sharing the same fate. I wanted you much to share the perils of a cruise in the ”Yarra” with one. I would have been too much for a single hand. I sailed clean over the highest part o ‘Goose Island’, – not, however without scrapping the ground with my keel; the water having then subsided 3 inches. The wind being almost exactly against the stream, I could go to any part of the Holm at pleasure, – which a canoe cannot do with the wind in any other quarter. – My river gauge marked just 7 feet. The September flood, high enough in all conscience, was only 6ft 9in.

Cambridge St, & West Street, and others, were flooded also: but I did not explore those regions beyond the ‘Causeway”. The water came up as far as the cedar on our lawn, and was in all E. Maule’s gardens & yard, &even in the house, at the back. Even the September flood, I went in my canoe over his embankment & tennis lawn to call on Mrs Maule; but this flood has been far worse. There is also far more water to be seen from the Eastern windows of these houses than I ever saw before, – all over ”The Parks” and Mr Brawn’s and the Vicarage land. Another indication of the height of the flood is, that it is over the sill of the Island Boat-house windows.
The Locks were almost indistinguishable, save for the upper wood & iron work of the gates, & the footbridge leading from water to water only! The flood-gates were open; but scarce any stream was perceptible, the lower level nearly the same as the upper. The flood is lower now, but it is still what in other years would be called unusually high one.

I am arranging to leave Godmanchester on Thursday. I am much obliged for your invite. I have a prior one for Burys Court but I cannot accept even that (if at all) until I have been to Invermark first. There will be some carpenters’ work of alterations, &some painting & c., and a lot of carpets & cornices & things ordered in July, to be looked after; and I must be on the spot at the first at all events. I hope you will come & see the new place some day when it is properly ‘’fixed’’. Please give my love to Elsie with thanks for her letters. I am very sorry she is ill again. This intended to be almost as much for her as for you. I cannot write more, 4 ½ a.m. Love to all at home.
Your affectionate brother,

CAOB

The Gardens of England: Treasures of the National Gardens Scheme

With text by George Plumptre, preface by Joe Swift and Foreword by HRH The Prince of Wales Island Hall is in good company in the new NGS hardback recently published by Merrell. Available now on Amazon!

“Christopher Vane Percy’s idea for this green garden is that it be idyllic and “a bit fluffy”, but there little fluffy about it. Instead, it is a designer’s garden par excellence, every bit of it is so right as to see, inevitable. It could be a high-street garden if Buckingham Palace could be described as a town garden – but Island Hall is better.” Leslie Geddes-Brown

In England, gardening and garden-visiting are national obsessions. More than 80 years ago, the National Gardens Scheme (NGS) was founded with the aim of raising money for charity by opening gardens of quality and interest to the public. In the first year, some 600 gardens were opened. Today, over 3700 gardens – many of them privately owned and opened for just a few days each year – are listed in The Yellow Book, the annual guide published by the NGS. The Gardens of England gives you the opportunity to enjoy 50 of the country’s greatest garden gems from the comfort of your armchair. Each of the five chapters is written by a different leading gardens expert, and surveys 10 gardens opened as part of the NGS during a particular period. George Plumptre, head of the NGS, provides an engaging introduction on garden-visiting, and 12 well-known gardeners offer a personal account of their favourite NGS garden. Featuring established and new gardens of all styles, this is a book that no lover of the English garden should be without.

In England, gardening and garden visiting are national obsessions. The National Gardens Scheme was founded in 1927 with the aim of raising money for charity by opening gardens of quality and interest to the public. From 600 gardens that opened in the Scheme’s first year, the ranks have swelled to nearly 4000 today, many of them privately owned and opened for just a few days each year.

Island Hall is one of the fifty ‘Treasures’ from the schemes gardens to be showcased in The Gardens of England,
The book is a celebration of more than eighty years of Garden visiting through the National Gardens Scheme. This selection of the best gardens, represent of all styles, both public and private that participate in the scheme.’
Island Hall, which celebrates 20 years of opening under the scheme, is the home of Christopher and Lady Linda Vane Percy, Christopher, a past president of the British Institute of Interior design, and Regional Chairman of The Historic Houses Association, started to plan and lay out the gardens at Island Hall in the early 80’, having reclaimed is his ancestral home in 1983

A charity garden opening at Island Hall, with a plant sale and Craft Market, in aid of the Red Cross will take place on Sunday 14th July in aid of the British Red Cross from 12pm to 4.30pm.

The Gardens of England, with a foreword by HRH The Prince of Wales, gives you the opportunity to enjoy fifty of the country’s garden gems from the comfort of your armchair. Each chapter is written by a different leading gardens expert, and surveys ten gardens opened for the NGS during a particular period. The celebrated gardens writer George Plumptre, Chief Executive of the NGS, provides and engaging introduction on the tradition of garden visiting, and well known personalities, from Mary Berry to Alan Titchmarsh, offer their own thoughts on the NGS.

Events Island Hall 2012 Announced

February
Saturday 19th Valentine Celebration Champagne Tea
Experience a tour of the house and peruse our collection of the family’s Victorian Valentine’s Cards
Enjoy a full english tea with a glass of champagne 23.00pounds per adult

May
Sunday 27th National Gardens Scheme Garden Opening, homemade teas and plant sale.
(Garden only) 11.00am to 5.00pm
4.00 Pounds per adult (accompanied children under 16 free) tickets at the gate.

June
Sunday 24th 3.00pm, Octavia Hill Birthplace House Appeal Tea Party.
Island Hall was described by Octavia Hill as ‘the loveliest, dearest house…
An entertainment, including full afternoon tea with sandwiches and cakes
NB Please apply to Octavia Hill Birthplace Museum for tickets 20 Pounds
http://www.octaviahill.org
Tel/Fax: 01945 476358
email: society@octaviahill.org

July
Sunday DATE TO BE CONFIRMED Red Cross Garden Opening, homemade teas, plant sale and Court Yard Market.
(Garden only) 2.00pm to 5.30pm
4.00 Pounds per adult (accompanied children under 16 free) tickets at the gate.
Visit http://www.redcross.org.uk/gardens for more information.

December
Friday 14th An Enchanting Evening of Carols at Island Hall, performed by the acclaimed local choir Tapestry in aid of The Wildlife Trusts
Champagne reception followed by a concert of carols
7.30pm 24.00 Pounds per head