We learned from the news that the army (or the Navy as it later transpired) had been called in and were building a 60 metre wall of sandbags,  not in our area of Datchet, but down by the river at Southlea Road. There were serious concerns about a holding wall, neglected by the absentee owner that would potentially give way inundating the streets nearest the river and flooding a huge area of the village. The threat, understandably perhaps, was seen as coming directly from the river. The owner had removed a section of the bund holding back the river so the threat from here was real enough and there was much focus on it.

The first task was to shore up that wall. Then came the 60 meter wall built by the Navy protecting Southlea road. As things got worse in other parts of the village there were stories in the papers about people stealing sandbags from the wall and other residents mounting a 24 hour guard to stop this happening. There were serious concerns but, to the best of my knowledge the navy's wall never get wet and, although our famous benches were underwater and the water lapping at the roadside the lower road, that runs past the golf course and into Windsor remained passable through the whole saga. The water was coming from somewhere else.

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