Pub re-builds after Southwell floods

The Bramley Apple, on Church Street, was hit very badly by the flooding. Cherrie Rollerson and her partner, James Burley, lost most of their personal belongings when an outbuilding was washed into a dyke by the flood water.

The couple had only been in the pub for eight months and were starting to do find their feet, when the disaster struck.

“James and I had worked tirelessly to build the business up,” said Cherrie.

“Then the floods came and it was back to square one. It was just utter devastation and hard to describe.

“It took us by surprise because he had such glorious weather just before.

“We had not experienced flooding before but other residents had and they alerted us to the fact that once the dykes filled up, if the banks broke we would be in danger.”

On the first day of the flooding Cherrie and James looked out onto Church Street from the Bramley Apple to see cars bobbing down the street and people being rescued from their homes.

Said Cherrie: “The next day was when we realised what the impact had been on the other buildings.

“What we had not realised was that one of our large outbuildings had collapsed and fallen onto the dyke along with all of our personal belongings.

“And we had not insured them as we did not know we needed personal insurance.”

Cherrie said neither she, nor James, knew how to start re-building again.

But she added: “The community really came together and everyone was out in full force helping each other out. The community spirit was there from the get-go.”

The pub has now re-opened following a complete interior renovation.

Its ruined beer garden is also in the process of being restored, with a new water feature in the pipeline.

“It has been ten months now and we have just had to get on with it,” said Cherrie.

“Many of the locals have been saying they will come and support us, so we hope to rebuild the business and do some good trade.”