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Villagers build 'leaky dams' to fight flooding

Lilah Parsonsin Bloxham
BBC 11 people smile at the camera, standing in a woodland area, wearing wellies and high-vis jacketsBBC
Bloxham residents are taking flood prevention into their own hands

Volunteers in an Oxfordshire village are building natural timber barriers in a bid to protect their community from future flooding.

At least 62 properties in Bloxham were damaged during Storm Bert in November 2024, according to the parish council.

Judith Macfarlane, 53, a Bloxham resident whose home was flooded during the storm, said it had been "pretty devastating".

She is one of around a dozen volunteers helping to construct the "leaky woody dams" in The Slade, a nature reserve on the edge of the village.

"There was so much water kind of pouring off the surrounding hills," she said.

"Our cellar got flooded with four foot of water, and our neighbours were much worse affected because it came up into the main body of the house."

A woman wearing a high-vis jackets smiles at the camera. She is standing in a woodland area and has cropped, purple hair.
Judith Macfarlane's home was flooded during Storm Bert in 2024

The dams are a form of natural flood management that involve securing large branches or tree trunks across small waterways to slow the flow of water downstream, with the hope of reducing flooding.

"It does feel like taking a little bit of control," said volunteer Simon Townsend, 53, who has lived in the village for about 20 years.

"You feel like you never really get ahead of it… and then you realise that it's going to happen again unless something does get done."

SOPHIE RAVAL A view of flood water covering the street in Bloxham villageSOPHIE RAVAL
Storm Bert caused an estimated £2m worth of damage to Bloxham village in 2024

In the aftermath of Storm Bert, the village set up a flood working group, chaired by parish councillor Neil Hegarty.

"Storm Bert really assailed the village from multiple sides," he told BBC Oxford.

"There were a number of people who moved out of their house and had to stay somewhere else for periods of up to about 18 months.

"There were properties that incurred renovation costs of about £200,000."

The group has received a £9,000 grant from Oxfordshire County Council to fund the work.

A photo of a finished 'woody leaky dam', pictured in a brook in a woodland area.
The "leaky dams" are designed to slow water flow, allowing it to seep through and spill onto the floodplain during heavy rainfall

The project is one of a number of schemes now being considered to help protect the village from future flooding.

"This group of volunteers is a very, very strong starting point for what we want to achieve," said Neil Hegarty.

"Each scheme by itself is not going to dramatically change the situation, but each will make a difference."

For resident Simon, it was heart-breaking to see people losing "a good deal of everything they have, and not just once, but repeatedly".

"And that's reason enough to be doing this really, you feel part of the community," he added.