Forums Forums Wirral Information Wirral info Flooding at...yes you guessed it.

Once again Merseyrail grinds to a halt because it's raining. One again the perennial excuse of "flooding at Hooton" is trotted out as if this is something sent by teh almighty that must be borne without complaint.

As flooding is so common there, surely its high time something was done about it.Technology IS available to do this in the form of drains and flood alleviation schemes. Yes of course it will involve money, but so do these rail disruptions that seem to go on year in year out. If water covers the track then for heaven's sake elevate the bloody track or provide proper drainage.

I am sick of being decanted onto an overcrowded bus and having to stand because it rains and nobody can be arsed todo anything about it.

The thing is people want to live close to the station on what was a industrial estate that had drainage . Plus more houses towards the a41 so frankly you cannot move two streams and the rail line sits at the lowest point . The station didn't used to flood so what has gone wrong.

Heavier rain due to global heating, and overdevelopment with inadequate drainage.

Buit the point is that it is so frequent now that it needs to be addressed. If necessary build storm drains. This surely isn't beyond the wit of man.

They raised the level of much of the swamp area to the south of ROFTEN to make a park, that would previously have been acting as a storm sump and may now be acting as a pump (higher water pressure in the soil).

Had a very quick look around yesterday but didn't have enough time to see entirely what they have done, a few years ago the ditch along the eastern side of ROFTEN which eventually drains to Dibbinsdale Brook had been blocked but I presume that is now rectified. The ditch looked a bit drier than I expected but with the ROFTEN area now independently drained I suppose it would have less water.

It is a bit crazy that Wirral is surrounded by water on three sides and yet we can't dispose of surface water adequately. The most stupid example is by the penny bridge, the road is a few meters away from the dock but the road floods despite the dock water being significantly lower - forget about drain grids and pipes, just put an open gully in place. No doubt that breaches some silly environmental regulation similar to the one that prevents Wirral Council removing the sand from Fort Perch Rock car park and putting it back on the beach.

This is real flooding. 4th October, Thailand. Trees being cut down on the mountain. Not necessarily global warming ! Tons and tons of mud that swamped the place and a village. Two elephants got swept away to their death..

and last week, during the heavy rain, sewage was flooding the road opposite the Basset Hound pub..

Whether anyone has been to inspect, I don't know, but no work has been carried out, that I have noticed.

Where exactly does the flooding occur at Hooton? I've passed through the station a few times and driven along the B5133 but there my knowledge of the area ends.

ROFTEN has long gone and doesn't appear on a modern map. There is Roften way which passes threough a housing estate presumably built on the site, but thats about it.

Are the rails themselves under water and from where to where? I notice it happened yet again yesterday (16th) and as we are very likely to see a lot more heavy rain in the future something clearly needs to be done. Or are we expected to tolerate an intermittent rail service to Chester and Ellesmere Port indefinitely?

There is a stream that runs down from willaston and heads into a culvert near the old signal box . You also have the head of dibbin brook above at brook meadow . The stream is a feature in the bottom of the garden . It does look a old mill there .

I can't find any signal box at Hooton on Google earth.

Used to be two, one either side of the station, Hooton North and Hooton South, Hooton South is also where the current disused Hooton Signal Box is located.

The segmented culvert goes under the railway line and Waterworks Lane 200 m south of the signal box.

The picture of the flooding yesterday was taken from the bridge by the Cheshire Yeoman, so it was Ledsham not Hooton hence the Chester line was affected and not Helsby..... but obliviously the bus service ran from Hooton.