People in West Yorkshire enjoyed their Christmas dinner yesterday, six months after floods inundated homes along the Calder valley.
After unprecedented rainfall last December the river Calder burst its banks, flooding the market town of Hebden Bridge and the village of Mytholmroyd, forcing residents to abandon their Christmas festivities.
Along the road that was turned into a river during the floods, residents drank mulled wine and partied to a soundtrack of We Wish You a Merry Christmas and Jingle Bells.
Although sandbags were still in place, hundreds turned up to celebrate what was dubbed Hebden Royd Alternative Christmas Day.
A number of businesses that had been inundated when the river rose to its highest recorded level chose yesterday to officially reopen.
Kerry Wheelwright, from the Hebden Bridge Community Association, who helped organise the event, said: “It’s six months on from the floods, and the purpose of today is to show the wider community and everyone else that we are open for business and to thank the hundreds who came to help us.”
