Last updated at 13:26, Tuesday, 16 March 2010

POPULAR TV weatherman Fred Talbot reopened a Lake District hotel closed by last November’s record floods – and forecast it was unlikely ever to flood again.

Title
Author
Copyright

Description

The Lakeside Hotel near Windermere suffered more than £500,000 worth of damage and was shut for three-and-a-half months, following the floods.

But despite being closed the hotel retained and paid its 100 staff, making nobody redundant.

They were sent on courses, worked in other hotels and helped with the repairs.

Mr Talbot was on hand on Friday to cut a red ribbon with the hotel’s joint owner Neville Talbot – and officially signal the end of the four star hotel’s flood recovery journey.

Mr Talbot, who has filmed two TV broadcasts from the 75 bedroom, 17th century hotel, said: “The first time I came here we went somewhere to do a programme on the perfect afternoon tea. I think the location takes some beating.

“What happened last year was appalling. When I heard about it I thought, oh, what a shame.

“The storms of last year were just exceptional.

“It will probably never happen again. I think it was just freak conditions.”

Mr Talbot also posed beside a Christmas tree in the hotel to mark a Christmas in March weekend.

Around 80 customers, including some whose Christmas holidays had to be cancelled because of the floods, were given a free weekend.

They enjoyed a turkey dinner with all the trimmings and sampled the new floors, luxury carpets and furnishings.

More than a foot of water from a bank-bursting Windermere crashed into the hotel in the early hours of the morning of November 19 – despite doomed attempts to keep it out with sandbags.

Mr Talbot said a rare combination of events coming together caused the flood rains.

He said a large body of exceptionally warm and moist air from the South Atlantic had headed up the Irish Sea, which then hit the Cumbria fells and had to rise.

Mr Talbot said: “Once the air is forced to rise it cools and the water has to come out.

“It is maybe not a one in 1,000 years event, but it was a very rare event.”

Peter Brown, 63, of Satterthwaite, who has played piano at the hotel for the last 23 years, recalled the night of the floods.

He said: “I was working on the Thursday night and remember the rains coming. Despite being in a 4x4 which I moved four times during the evening, I could not get home so I was forced to stay in the hotel overnight.

“I got up in the morning to see the ground floor flooded to a depth of 18 inches and the 100-year-old Bechstein piano was standing in the water looking very forlorn.

“The atmosphere was very sombre, People were wandering around in shock and disbelief. But every cloud has a silver lining because the refurbishment has gone spectacularly well and everyone has pulled together.”

To his joy his Bechstein has had a complete overhaul and is back in business.

Hotel owner Neville Talbot, who was on holiday in Florida when disaster struck, said they had paid “gold plated”insurance contributions for 20 years and their insurer Sun Alliance had treated them very well.

He praised Barrow building firm Albion Brothers which was the main contractor on refurbishing the hotel.

Their work included replacing all floors.

Other local contractors included plumbing and heating firm Angus Jenkinson of Ulverston.

Hotel manager Clive Wilson said on the night of the floods the main focus had been the 60 guests who went to bed after a good dinner and got up to a flood the next morning.

They were given continental breakfasts in an upstairs function room before being dispersed.

He believes the flood – unknown in living memory – was a freak event.

Mr Wilson said: “There is very little you can do when 11 miles of lake comes up two metres, but I don’t think we will ever see it again.”

The hotel spent an additional £200,000 on improvements, making a total investment of around £700,000 in the Lakeside Hotel since the flooding.

The hotel was due to reopen for normal business today.

First published at 13:11, Monday, 15 March 2010
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk