March 11 marks 160 years since the Great Sheffield Flood – one of the most significant events in the city’s history.
Martyn Pearson, 67, has set up an exhibition at Wardsend Cemetery in Owlerton detailing the history of the flood, which he says should be common knowledge.
Mr Pearson said: “Not many people know about it in Sheffield. It’s been forgotten. When I was in school nobody ever said ‘Martyn, there was a flood.’ Nobody ever talks about it.”
The flood claimed the lives of more than 240 people of bursting the Dale Dike Dam and rushing through Loxley Valley. More than 600 homes were affected in Sheffield alone and the affects were felt as far as Doncaster.
The dam collapsed as a result of a crack appearing in the embankment but a cause of the crack has never been identified. Over 700 million gallons of water was released just before midnight on the night of the 11th, catching out many in bed.
Mr Pearson said: “Malin Bridge was obliterated. The water was three storeys high and travelling faster than a derby winner. It crashed through Hillsborough, met the River Don and carried up to Doncaster. It cut through the industrial areas of Attercliffe and Rotherham.”
Despite living in East Lancashire, Mr Pearson feels duty bound to inform the public of the disaster due to his roots in Hillsborough.
“I’m a story teller, better with a camera than a pen and this is a story that needs to be told. It was a real disaster and people ought to know about it.”
The exhibition aims to showcase the impacts of the flood and how technology around flood defence has improved since. Much of the weaker infrastructure of 1864 was destroyed and the city was forced to improve.