SIX months ago, the people of Radcliffe were facing up to the devastating consequences of the worst flooding the town had seen in almost 80 years.

Hundreds of families were driven from their homes and have been left counting the huge cost of rebuilding their lives.

As the recovery effort continues, the Radcliffe Times spoke to some of the worst-hit victims about the traumatic events of Boxing Day and the extraordinary response from the community.

Vera Beal fled her Morris Street home as the flooding began and took refuge at The Radcliffe Parish Church of St Mary.

As the waters began engulfing the church too, the 85-year-old desperately signalled for help and was finally taken to safety at St Thomas’ Church.

After a spell in hospital being treated for pneumonia and for a parasite she picked up from the flood water, she returned home in May and says she is now “fighting fit”.

Mrs Beal, who lives alone after her husband died around 20 years ago, said: “We all woke up in shock at the weather. I had never seen anything like it, I didn’t know where it was coming from.

“I decided to go down to the church and while I was there I kept popping my head out to see the water coming closer and closer.

“Soon, the gravestones were all submerged. I went to the front of the church and it was gushing under the main door and down the aisle.

“I was trying to ring the bell to let people know what was going on. Then I remembered I had a torch so I stood at the vestry and started flashing it in the hope that someone would see.

“Quite soon, I saw this figure coming to rescue me and I went to St Thomas’ Church. My car got stuck in the mud and I fell in the mud, too.

“Finally, my son, Neville, found out where I was and took me back to Oxford with him.

“I didn’t see my home again until May, and it was in a terrible mess. I have lost a lot of things, but they have done a good job rebuilding it.

“It took some time to accept what had happened and when I did come back home it didn’t feel like my home anymore.”

The incredible actions of the volunteers who selflessly gave their time, effort, and expertise to help those in need will live long in the memory of anyone who witnessed them.

But many people struggling to get their lives back to normal still feel let down by the authorities, with definitive answers yet to emerge over what will be done to prevent future flooding in Bury.

Parkside Close residents, many of whom have also suffered from smaller flooding incidents in recent years, have played a leading role in establishing the Radcliffe Residents Flood Action Group, which continues to seek answers on the cause of the disaster and what action will be taken to prevent a repeat.

Joyce Walkden and her husband, Robert Goodman, count themselves among the lucky few who have been able to see restoration work start quickly at their Parkside home.

The 66-year-old said: “We have been very lucky. Some people are still waiting for the loss adjusters to start work and some were never able to leave.

“Where it hasn’t gone so well is in our relationship with the authorities. There has been a lot of frustration.

“I worry about how long it will take the authorities to get organised and give us a proper inquiry. We don’t want anyone’s head on a plate, we just want to know exactly why it happened and what is going to be done so it won’t happen again.

“We need people to take notice of our plight. Nobody outside Bury seems to know about what happened in Radcliffe, and there were hundreds and hundreds of homes affected.

“My house backs onto the park and whenever I see a puddle start to form there it takes me back to the images of Boxing Day.

“Our ground floor was just ruined. Within 45 minutes, we went from having a little bit of water coming into the kitchen to leaving the house with water up to our waists.

“The most poignant thing I heard was when my daughter said that it wasn’t just the house, but the family hub, that was gone.

“We’re lucky no one was hurt, but it was surreal.”

Many of Radcliffe’s businesses were also hit hard by the disaster.

In the few days after the floods, the Radcliffe Times spoke to business owners at the Pioneer Mill, where the water had reached above head height.

The months since have been incredibly tough, with huge piles of rubbish only cleared in recent weeks and many firms forced to move out because of the losses they suffered.

Adrian McDermid, of Concept Kitchens & Bathrooms, is battling to keep his business alive after months of clean-up efforts.

He said: “We lost everything and had to start over again. I don’t even want to think about how much we lost.

“I have recovered what I can and I just have to keep going.

“It took ages to get the electric back on. We had no help cleaning up from the council or our landlord.

“People have also had thefts because there has been no electricity.

“The clean-up should have started straight away, but it has only happened in the last eight weeks. Even now, they have only done the front and we had to clear the back of the mill ourselves.

“The place was filled with mud and there were trees and all sorts washing in from the river.

“It’s impossible to get insurance for flooding or theft down here. We just have to battle on.

“I have been here since the year 2000 and this is the third time it has flooded. It was just a few inches before so we never expected it could be seven feet this time.”

Any residents or businesses who have not yet applied for Flood Resilience Scheme grants of up to £5,000 are still able to do so at bury.gov.uk