Repeated flooding puts our future at risk - rowers

Stewart Plant said the club could not afford for boats to be damaged or lost to flooding

A rowing club has said its future is being put at risk, after falling victim to flooding nine times in two years.

Ironbridge Rowing Club's boathouse was left under about 5.5ft (1.67m) of water after the recent Storm Darragh.

Members move and secure the boats whenever there is a flooding threat to prevent them from being damaged or floating away, as the club would not be able to afford to replace them.

"If we lost all those boats tomorrow we'd close," said its captain, Stewart Plant.

The club is run entirely by volunteers, and charges its juniors about £1.33 per session.

Just replacing the sculls - its smallest, cheapest boats, would cost about £120,000.

The water peaked at 5.5m (1.67m) in the club house after Storm Darragh

Mr Plant is concerned that repeated flooding would put off the next generation of rowers.

"It's a constant battle of keeping members, retaining them, when we can't get out and do what we love," he said.

"If somebody loves a sport, and you get told you can't do that for six months of the year because the river's going to flood, then it's a real impact on you."

The club is now looking to use a shipping container to store its boats, using grant money from Telford and Wrekin's flood recovery fund.

"We've already lost three weeks of the season so far, just from the previous two storms, and that affects the training and effects how we go forwards," Mr Plant said.

Mr Plant said he was worried constant floods would put off new rowers

He added the financial implications of losing the boats also puts its members' safety at risk.

"If something happens here, everybody gets in their cars," he said.

"[On] Sunday morning, we actually drove down here after all the trees had come down overnight, trying to find a route to get to the rowing club to save our boats, because we knew the flood was coming."

Many have to get into river water to secure the equipment again when water levels recede, which Mr Plant said presented a health risk.

"What we're left with now after the flood... is all the waste from the river that's been brought up," he said.

The River Severn in Ironbridge was given bathing status earlier in 2024, however its most recent classification by the Environment Agency rated the water as poor, and not suitable for bathing.