Longridge Activity Centre in Marlow suffers from 'worst flooding ever'

Longridge Activity Centre on Quarry Wood Road in Marlow has been open to the public for nearly 100 years, providing more than 80,000 young people in the area with a range of outdoor activities including kayaking, climbing and rafting.

The centre is located on a flood plain in the town, however, and is routinely impacted by local flooding - a phenomenon that has been exacerbated by the installation of new residential flood defences, redirecting water onto the low-lying land near Longridge.

CEO Amanda Foister said recent flooding, caused by heavy rainfall over the last month, has put the facilities in a "painful" position, slamming the breaks on a redevelopment project that would have seen the demolition of ground-level buildings and the construction of new raised structures to combat future disaster. 

The essential work will go ahead, one way or another, to restore Longridge to a functioning centre before the spring, but less necessary and more "fun" developments including an outdoor swimming area have now had to be shelved until next winter.

"Having two big floods close together has hit us especially hard. Yesterday, I was devastated because we had the people arrive to pull the building down and they just said, 'Sorry, the water keeps coming in. We're off'.

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"The flooding in January was the worst we've ever seen it, definitely worse than we experienced back in 2014. But it went down very fast, so we thought, 'Yes, we're safe', then the recent weather has caused those problems all over again.

"We were close to being 100 per cent on the way to becoming self-sufficient and flood-proof, but now we're essentially back to 60. It has set us back the equivalent of two years."

Despite her disappointment at the flood-induced delays, Amanda still has a clear-cut vision of Longridge as an autonomous, predominantly outdoor space, ensuring its future in Marlow as a "home-spun natural resource for the next 100 years".

"In a week or two, we're hoping that all the water will be gone, then it'll be a rush to get as much as we can done before the activities start up again in April. 

"It's lovely that we are so busy because young people come to us from all sorts of different backgrounds and schools - we've just got to be ready for it. 

"Longridge could never be moved anywhere else. It's the perfect location in the summer, when there's no flooding - affordable, lovely and on a beautiful part of the Thames. Ultimately, we are focused on the long-term and providing the people of Marlow with a community resource that will last for years to come."