In praise of the resilience of the Yorkshire Dales after flash floods

Farmers in Reeth and the Yorkshire Dales are still counting the cost of last month's flash floods and must not be forgotten, says the Bishop of Ripon.

ONE of the lasting impressions that six years living in New Zealand left on me is a certain fussiness about what makes for good coffee, or a good ‘‘flat white’’ coffee to be precise.

New Zealanders and Australians argue endlessly about who actually invented the flat white (described in its Wikipedia entry as an ‘‘espresso with microfoam’’), but whatever the outcome of that debate it remains my favourite caffeine tipple.

My husband and I once had a disastrous experience in a café somewhere in Yorkshire where I was served something that when I gently questioned the result was described to me as ‘‘well it is flat, and it is white’’.

Why the next PM should walk in footsteps of farmers to understand the North – The Bishop of Ripon

Dr Helen-Ann Hartley is the Bishop of Ripon.

It says something then that I had the best flat white I’ve had in a very long time at the Two Dales Bakery in Reeth, just a couple of days after the devastating floods that hit the area at the end of July.

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The café incurred some water ingress, but it was soon sorted, and in the midst of the sterling wider community effort in the immediate aftermath the bakery owners got to work busily baking bread and cakes, and serving delicious food (and coffee).

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Work takes place to put in a temporary bridge on the Reeth to Richmond road.

‘‘Open for business’’ was the message that needed to get out: tourism is a vital part of the local economy. It was displayed on a large yellow sign in the centre of Reeth for all to see, and social media helped spread the word.

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I’ve returned to the bakery on three occasions in recent weeks, and was there again on Bank Holiday Monday during the Reeth Show. This time, the bakery van was making its way between its base higher up in Reeth, and the showground lower down in the village topping up the bread and cakes for purchase by the hundreds who turned out from near and far to show solidarity and support to the local community, and enjoy a high quality Show.

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The aftermath of last month's floods in Reeth.

It was (please excuse the pun) a baking hot day, and I marvelled at the brave souls setting off on the fell-race as I stood in the queue waiting for the park and ride shuttle bus to return me to my car.

When I arrived a few hours previously, the showground was alive with activity: all creatures great and small on display. You’d struggle to believe that just four weeks prior it had been a very different scene.

Practically the day after the flood waters had receded, more than 100 young farmers descended on the showground and painstakingly made their way through the fields inch by inch removing the debris and rebuilding the drystone walls.

The level of gratitude to that group, and to the many others who not just shared messages of concern but made an active response to the plight of those directly affected by the floods, is an inspiring gloss on the current state of our national political life.

In praise of the resilience of the Yorkshire Dales after flash floods – The Bishop of Ripon