Our local newspaper has reports on a school whose 100 year old hall has been so badly damamged by flood that it is not repairable and they need a new hall.

Calke Abbey, a local big house open to the public had to close for a while due to flood damage. The library has been the worst hit, though they have had to remove all the carpets for drying, the wallpaper is tide-marked and assessors are going through looking at paintings and furniture. This is all really bad since Calke Abbey is unique. The last owner, last in the Harpur-Crewe family who had owned it for generations, was eccentric bordering on mad. When he died and the place was taken over by the National Trust it was found that he had lived in a couple of rooms and the rest of the house had not been touched for over 60 years. A lot of it was still decorated and furnished as it had been in the 19th century. The nursery was still complete and in one room they found a four-poster bed, still boxed for delivery and never used.

A local pick-your-own farm reckons they've lost 80% of their strawberries and as well as the Royal Show closing a day early, a local show has had to be cancelled for the first time in it's 65 years.

Love Lynne