Racing The Flood

A Memory of Sedbergh.

This story was related to me over 60 years ago. I have never had it verified,
so how true it is I don't know.
One day a family was haytiming up river from Sedbergh when they saw a wall
of water coming down the river. Realising that the workmen building Birks dam
(Mill Weir) would be caught by the flood one of the family jumped on his penny farthing
bike and raced the flood to Birks. He just had time to warn the workmen who scrambled clear just before the flood swept away their barrows and tools.
I wonder if this might be related to the massive cloudburst that hit Grizedale all those
years ago? Perhaps someone could see if the dates of the cloudburst and the building of
the dam coincide