It is only in sorrow bad weather masters us; in joy we face the storm and defy it. {Amelia Barr}
The following morning I was up early so that I could get to the theatre and finish wrapping. I stopped off at St Nicholas' church on the way [I'll come back to this] and made my way to the theatre. A road sign warned "Road ahead closed" - referring to the road that runs parallel to the river, down to our beloved Britannia Pub. As soon as the Wey breaks it's banks this road often floods, so I took the long route around. Little did I realise how Christmas Eve 2013 was going to pan out!!
A quick stop for a festive eggnog latte and on to the theatre for a bacon sarnie. Considering I'd gone in early to get stuff done, I actually spent the next 3 hours looking at the rising river and taking pictures. At 10am the river had burst it's banks and was just lapping around the wheels of the few remaining cars in the car park. People were running down to try and rescue the cars they'd obviously left the night before. One guy pulled his trousers above his knees, removed his shoes and socks and waded through the river to his car, just managing to get it into the council offices car park and safety. A Ford KA that was there however would not be as fortunate, as I will explain later.
I managed to cross the Millmead bridge for a few photos and videos before the police eventually closed it off to the public. The lock was non-existent, with only about 20cm's showing above the water level. The field adjacent to the theatre was now a lake and the water pouring into it, from the lock and over the towpath formed a rapid.
Within 30 minutes the bridge was closed, and the water was still rising, quickly. I've seen a couple of floods in Guildford! the worst a few years ago saw the water just about reach the wall of the Brit, but I said to the public taking pictures like me, that this was "rising to quickly!"
I went round to the foyer of the theatre where the flood boards and sandbags were now being readied. From the terrace, you can see the whole of the car park, giving a tpgreat vantage point of the increasing depths. The water was probably a foot or more away from breaching the theatre gardens by 10:40. Standing on the roof outside dressing room 1, whilst the crew swept off the heavy excess water, I noticed the KA no longer had a visible Tyre. I started a photo update of the cars fate on Twitter.
11pm, and by now the water had swamped the lock completely and had just started to lap up the wall of the water sheds. It was mentioned, as long as the water doesn't breach this building or the alley way, parallel to it, we would be fine at the theatre. We were joking about only being able to do one show and that we would be home for Christmas early, but I was adamant that this was true! as the water continued to rise. What started off as a bit of excitement and an amazing example of the power of nature, soon turned more serious.
We at this point still had no sign of any water in the substage or the pit, and so the show would go on as planned. The main entrance was clear and therefore accessible to patrons. By now however the KA would have had a flooded boot and quite deep footwells.
The Wey did in fact breach the alleyway (the location of stage door) at around 12:30, meaning the water sheds (which houses the theatres electric feed) would also have been flooded. A bit of panic set in as people started to worry whether they would be able to get home for Christmas. One of our ensemble Fraser found out trains were cancelled from Guildford due to the stormy weathers destruction on the lines. Thankfully, myself and a member of the crew Rosie both offered him a lift if needed.
By 1pm at the end of our warmup, half of the stage door alley, was covered in water and thirty minutes later, come beginners, the wholes thing was under and now inaccessible., with the water still creeping up. By Christmas Day morning this alley would be under a foot of water... Creating a new subsidiary river.
We went up as planned at 1:30pm with the crew all scrambling around the hatch to the substage. The water had entered the building and as the buildings design is based on a ship (have a look from the further up the canal next time you're there) it was ironic that this ship was now sinking.
Continued in Part II
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