The night the sea came bursting in through the door

Ruth Hydes was 16 years old in 1953. She had a job in a local cafe, earning a wage of six and a half old pennies.

On the night of the Great Flood, January 31, 1953, Ruth remembers it was an eerie walk home from work.

She recalls a strange silence. No dogs barking. No car engines. Not even the usual whistle of the train.

Then, as she neared home, a distant moaning wind set up in the icy blackness...

Ruth said: "I was very pleased to get home. I lived with my parents Ernest and Ivy Hydes.

"My father was a ganger lengthman for British Rail and he was out at Trusthorpe working with his gang relaying the railway lines.

"Mum should have gone to my grandmotherís that night as she was very ill, but because Dad was working overnight she decided to stay home. "I remember telling her to go and I wasnít a baby."

Ruth was enjoying the warmth of the fire and home comforts after a tea of pork pie, sausage rolls and Lincolnshire plum bread.

She was reading the Christian Herald when her mother called out damp patches were appearing on the kitchen floor. Ruth recalled: "Just after 8pm I noticed a puddle on the kitchen floor. I had hardly told Mum when the sea suddenly burst through the back door.

"We were panic-stricken and ran up the stairs."

Ruth and her mother tried to think of ways of escaping in case the sea invaded their upstairs retreat.

Attempts to cross a flat roof adjoining their neighbour were thwarted by the gale force winds.

Years later, Ruth and her mother were to laugh about testing drawers to see if they could float them to safety.

Ruth recalls being overwhelmed by the feeling of danger and praying aloud. At midnight, her father arrived home after an eight mile wade from the Cross Inn. Ruth said: "He was all in. "He had lost one of his leather gaiters. We never did find it."

Ruth remembers being constantly afraid the water would rise with the next tide.

The sea water soon made the house extrememly cold, but the Hydes did have one advantage.

Ruth said: "It was a miracle, but our electricity stayed on and we were able to make hot drinks and have an elecrtic fire on in the bedroom.

"It was comforting too to have some light, it made the intense darkness seem less frightening."

Ruth remembers small pockets of candle-light along the street and looking out of the window, it looked like Venice. She said: "You could see water and waves everwhere you looked. Sadly our neighbourís rabbit drowned in its hutch."

Rescue came at 1pm the next day in the form of an airman.

Ruth and her mother were carried to safety and Ruth remembers the relief of seeing friends and neighbours again.

The family was taken to the Cross Inn where everyone boarded the bus bound for Louth town hall.

Ruth recalls the chaos: "As well as people there were pets. Dogs, cats, birds in cages and even a goose."

As many had relatives in Nottingham, buses were routed there.

Ruthís father had to stay behind as he was a key railway worker, but Ruth and her Mum left for Nottingham in the late afternoon.

Flood waters were still clearly visible and Ruth recalls her mother being badly shocked.

She said: "We felt like refugees carrying small cases and with just the clothes we stood in. I remember looking down at my feet and seeing white salt stains on my shoes."

Ruth Siddles’s parents, Ernest and Ivy Hydes

Searching for people still trapped in their homes.

An ominous trickle of water was the first sign

Victoria Road, Mablethorpe, like a scene from Venice.

Mablethorpe Streets were almost unrecognisable, as the flood changed the landscape forever.

A SHOPPING errand for her mother took 11-year-old Janet Marsh (now Mrs Janet Booth) out into the wild weather on the evening of the flood.

Her four-year-old brother Trevor clung to Janetís hand, but a savage wind blew him off his feet and sent their motherís ration book spiralling skywards. It was just the beginning of the familyís problems...

After returning her brother to the safety of home, Janet set off to retrieve the stray ration book which had become impaled on a bush.

She recalled: "I was gasping for breath and heading for home was even worse with the wind in my face."

Around teatime, the Marshís neighbour came to ask if Janetís father would take up her new carpet as there was water in the road.

Mr Marsh returned and was adamant the sea would not reach Waterloo Road but, as he closed the door, an ominous trickle of water followed him inside.

He collected a mop but by the time he reached the front door the water was already swirling around his knees. Janet said: "Mum wanted to know where it was coming from, bless her. Itís the sea Mum, we told her!"

For Janetís teenage sister Marlene the situation was a particular crisis, Janet remembers her squeals.

She said: "She was getting ready to go to the Trelawney ballroom and when she saw the water coming into the hall she shrieked I canít wear wellingtons to the dance!"

Taking charge, Mr Marsh told her there would be no dance that Saturday night as the family would have to move upstairs.

Like many mothers that night, Mrs Marsh worried for her children.

Janet said: "My elder sister Daphne had three small children and lived in a prefab, she couldnít move upstairs. Mum was also worried my other sister who lived in Leicester would hear about the flood and not be able to find out if we were safe."

The Marsh family survived the night. Janetís brother Gordon had arranged chairs as stepping stones.

The gas hob was still working and hot drinks sustained the family in the icy cold.

"Gordon tried to cook our joint of beef. He managed the potatoes, greens and gravy and it looked and smelled lovely, but when Dad cut into it, it was raw!"

By Sunday, there was no electricity and the water was contaminated.

An RAF lorry collected the family, Mr Marsh still protesting the flood waters would soon be gone.

Janet recalled being put up for the night in a school at Louth.

She said: "We had our picture taken for the local paper and I looked like a golliwog because mum had been in the middle of perming my hair on pipe cleaners when the water came into the house and had forgotten to take them out."

After the waters subsided, it was many months before lives got back to normal. Janet remembers returning to Louth grammar school dressed in a green jumper and brown gymslip.

She said: "The uniform was navy and white, but my clothes were lost to the sea and I had to wear whatever was donated. People were very kind, donating all sorts of things like toys and books. Soon they had donated several sets of proper school uniforms.

"There was also a cafe opened in Louth especially for flood victims.

"We could have as much tea and cake as we liked for an old penny."

It was three months later before the Marsh family were reunited at their Mablethorpe home.

Even today, said Janet, a water mark can be seen in the house.

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