Image of RGS at Eskdale Terrace, c. 1920s. RGS Archives
RGS Underwater
The Floods of 1913 and 2012
A horrendous flood hit Newcastle on 16 September 1913, directly impacting the school and the surrounding city.
RGS Science Master, AR Laws, wrote a contemporary account of the flooding, which has been reproduced here.
"It was on a Tuesday morning, September 16th 1913 that a storm occurred in Newcastle which stopped the work of the school for over a week."
"There had been a heavy rain during the previous night and at half past eight in the morning inky-black clouds gathered from all directions. The storm broke just after nine o' clock and before 10.30am the rain gauge registered a fall of 1.79 inches which with the rain falling earlier in the morning gave a total of 2.44 inches. This meant that a million and a half tons of water had fallen on the city. Luckily the storm was local, the rainfall at Gosforth was much less while that at Wylam was only 0.58 inches. This prevented serious trouble in the river."
A postcard showing Jesmond during the floods of 1913. Climate Collection : Local Studies. Accession Number : 068306. Courtesy of Newcastle Libraries Flickr, Public Domain
"It was the day for receiving new boys at the school and at 10 o'clock, thirty five boys had managed to reach the school in most cases accompanied by their parents.
The examination was begun in some of the rooms on the ground floor but it was soon seen that they playground was getting flooded and it soon became a lake. The boys were then removed to the rooms above, the parents following or standing on the benches."
"Meanwhile the drains had become unable to cope with the mass of water falling on the Moor and Recreation Grounds and large volumes were flowing across the North Road and down the opposite roads."
Postcard with photograph of the floods on the North Road, 1913. RGS Archives [ref: 149] ©RGS Newcastle
Map of the Eskdale Terrace school site, 1920s. RGS Archives [ref: 182] ©RGS Newcastle
"At the west end of the school grounds the pressure of the water against the wooden palings soon became so great that they gave way and a wave of water poured in a straight line across the playground.
It soon reached the school, entering the buildings at either end of the main block and filling the basement. Still the water poured in until at last it was over eighteen inches deep in the Main Hall, classrooms, Gymnasium and Science block.
Next day a small fish was found in one of the lecture rooms."
A postcard showing Northumberland Street during the floods of 1913. Climate Collection: Local Studies. Accession Number : 068305. Courtesy of Newcastle Libraries Flickr, Public Domain
"By twelve o'clock the storm was over & the water slowly subsided.
But the process of getting the boys home from school was not an easy one. They, and their parents also, had to be carried out of the school and then they had to navigate the parts where the water still formed lakes."
Extract from Novo magazine, December 1913. RGS Archives [ref:RGS/NOV/141] ©RGS Newcastle
Postcard with photograph of flooding outside of RGS, 1913. RGS Archives [ref: 149] ©RGS Newcastle
"Next day the School was found to be in a deplorable condition; evil smelling mud was everywhere and, to the great joy of the boys, it was found to be quite impossible to carry on school work for a good many days until the place had been cleaned, dried and disinfected and the surplus water removed from the boiler rooms and underground corridors with the help of the City's fire brigade."
The 2012 Flood
Almost 100 years later, another flood occurred following a very similar pattern to that of 1913.
28th June 2012 became known locally as ‘Thunder Thursday’.
Almost two weeks’ of rainfall fell in one hour in a ‘super cell thunderstorm’, causing chaos across Tyneside.
The Tyne Bridge was struck by lightening, the Tyne Tunnel was closed due to flooding, and thousands of homes were left without power.
Photograph of the flooding on the school field, 2012. ©RGS Newcastle
Photograph of the flooding at the school side entrance, 2012. ©RGS Newcastle
RGS was directly impacted, alongside many other schools in the region.
Then Headmaster, Bernard Trafford, recalled how flooding hit the school grounds, getting to ankle height outside at around 6pm that day.
A ‘torrent’ of water then came in from the Town Moor, up to knee height, continuing for around two hours before subsiding.
Geography teacher and Head of Careers, Mike Downie, recalled being trapped in the school that evening:
"There was a group of students doing a play rehearsal in the Miller Theatre with Bernard Trafford. Flood water was coming into the PAC building [...] We stopped the play rehearsal and got all the students up to the second floor of the Main Building away from the water.
There were about 25 students in the M226 Geography classroom, and a few members of staff. We were stranded in RGS at that time, as the roads around us were completely gridlocked, the Metros were off. Parents could not get in to collect their children.We had started to think about logistics if we had to stay in the school overnight if the conditions did not improve. Then Bursar, Richard Metcalf, opened up the Tuck Shop so the students could have some food and drink; and we put on the TV with the football on. [It was Italy v Germany in the UEFA Euro 2012 semi-finals]
Things did start to improve though, and parents began to be able to get through to pick up their children around 7-8pm. I was able to drive home around 9pm, getting back after 10pm!”
Photograph of the 2012 flooding on the RGS field. ©RGS Newcastle
Photograph of the flooding in the school corridors, 2012. ©RGS Newcastle
The school closed on Friday 9th June.
Staff, some parents and students all joined-in to help clear up the aftermath of some badly damaged floors and buildings.
RGS then re-opened its doors the next day on Saturday 10th to make sure our annual prize-giving events could still take place.
Sadly, many of our school’s historic records were damaged, some beyond repair.
The Archives then were stored in the PAC basement area, which was flooded. Staff did an incredible job working hard to dry out and save what they could, and sending damaged materials off to specialist conservators.