It's well-dressing weekend in Whaley Bridge and in an old workshop just off the high street four women are putting together the intricate boards which will make the up centrepiece of the festival. But despite the upcoming festivities the talk is of just how close the town came to catastrophe four years earlier.
"I got a phone call from my daughter," says Jill Malzard. "She said 'Get out of there'. The village was shutting down, all the roads were closed. The police came to my door and said you've got five minutes get out."
On July 31, 2019 cracks had started to appear in the huge wall of Toddbrook reservoir overlooking the town. There was, police said, a 'very real danger' the dam could collapse, causing disastrous flooding.
