The Camp House Inn faces closure as flooding disrupts access, leaving staff overwhelmed with cleanup efforts
Grimley: The Camp House Inn has been hit hard by flooding, making it tough for customers to get to the pub. The staff is now facing another big cleanup.
They even tried using a boat for customers to reach the pub, but it seems like the place floods every time there’s heavy rain.
Johanne Wainwright-Scarrott, the acting manager, is really fed up with the constant flooding. She mentioned that when her parents took over in 1971, they went 21 years without a single flood.
But since 1992, it’s been a different story. Now, they’re dealing with floods several times a year, and it’s been happening every month since October.
Johanne said the pub used to handle floods well, but now it’s a struggle. The building was designed to cope with natural flooding, but new structures around the area have made things worse.
Because the pub doesn’t have solid foundations, water seeps up through the tiles instead of just coming in through the door. This makes cleaning a real hassle since they can’t use regular cleaning products that would wash into the river.
Instead, they rely on brown vinegar and a sanitizing team to get the place ready to reopen. Johanne described it as a real puzzle.
She explained that the unique design of the pub means water rises through the tiles long before it can break through the door. They can’t just put up barriers to stop it.
While they’ve thought about using pumps, the cost of electricity makes it impractical, and any water pumped out would just come back in anyway. It feels like a losing battle for them.
