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home is lost under waves
SINKING: Norman and Pauline Brown with their cat Sammy and dog Billy. Their Narrow Boat sank at Rawcliffe Bridge. (L4653TS) Picture: Tony Saxton
AN elderly couple lost their home, after 15 foot waves on a district canal caused their narrowboat to sink.
Pauline and Norman Brown, whose barge sank at Rawcliffe Bridge last Wednesday, were just able to save their pet cat and 24 year old dog, Billy, before their boat, Little Nell, met its watery end.
“It was just freak weather,” said Norman, aged 69. “It was around 2pm and the weather changed dramatically. The water was very rough and the waves were ten and 15 feet high. They burst the canopy at the front of the boat and then the water started to get into the barge.”
Norman heroically managed to steer Little Nell to the bank, and was then able to get Pauline, and pets Billy and Sam to shore.
“But the boat didn’t go without a fight,” Norman said. “We got to the riverbank and it took her about half an hour to go down. We tried to save her but she sank about half an hour after we got on dry land.”
The couple have been living on their narrowboat, which they bought 25 years ago, for the past eight years and had travelled from the Blue Water Marina at Thorne, where Little Nell was berthed, to spend the New Year at Rawcliffe Bridge.
“It was very bad luck really,” Norman continued. We were just 100 yards away from the marina when it happened. If we’d got in there, we’d have been safe.” They are still waiting to hear which of their possessions are salvageable. We’ll have to wait until they’ve got the boat to the surface before we know anything,” Norman said. “It is our home, so everything we own was on there.”
However, the kindness of their fellow boat enthusiasts and the people of Rawcliffe Bridge were the silver lining on the couple’s storm cloud.
The owner of the Blue water Marina is lending them a narrowboat to live on temporarily, until their insurance cash comes through and Paul Smith, owner of the village’s Black Horse pub, put them up for free whilst they stayed in Rawcliffe Bridge.
Fellow boat lover Nigel Lipp attempted to help the couple save the boat and also gave them the use of his motorhome as they faced their first night of homelessness.
“I could see they needed a bit of help and if you see people in trouble you help don’t you?” Nigel, who also lives on his boat, said: “We tried to secure the boat but it was too far gone by then and we just had to watch it sink. It must be upsetting for them to lose their home.”
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Weather for Goole
Friday 25 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
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