Next to speak at the Flood Thanksgiving Party was a twenty year old man, “Buttercup Joe” Lee, and he told how he nearly didn’t survive.

“I had been working with my grandfather on his small holding up the Langham Road at Wiveton. It had been quite a windy day, there were squalls of rain and mixed in with it some sleet. The wind was blowing from a northerly direction but nothing seemed out of the ordinary, as you can guess January can be a very unsettled month on the north Norfolk coast.

“We came home about our usual time somewhere just after 4 p.m. as the nights got dark quite early still. I live with my parents at Newgate Green, Cley, the cottage is set back behind a house where my grandparents Billy and Alice Massingham live at Fairview.

“I sat having my tea with my mother and father, Nora and Reggie Lee, when my grandfather came round from next door and said that the little girl from the Swallows had come round and said, "Uncle Billy, the sea is in the street." My father and I put on our coats and water boots and went across the green opposite where we own two small marshes and there was a collection of garages, pig houses and the small orchard behind. My father, keeps his coal lorry in one of them.

“There were several pig stys, some of the pigs were in the bays where my fathers lorry was and where he used to store a lot of coal. We went and started to get the pigs out of the bays and tried to get them to go across the green towards the houses and on to higher ground, this was to prove rather difficult as a few of the pigs had got young ones. I met my Grandfather and Dad carrying a number of pigs in a sack which were put up in the spare bedroom at my Grannie's.

“Previous to this I had walked towards Cley and the wind was as strong as I have ever known the wind to be, I could virtually lay on the wind. I have heard people talk about laying on the wind but this was my first experience of it happening to me. I got to Durrent’s Row and I could see the water stretching across the marshes towards Wiveton and I knew it was on its way to Newgate.

“Now we had taken some precautions. My Grannie could remember the previous sea flood and said that it came down towards Glanford flooding the whole of the Glaven Valley and so she always urged us to take these precautions.

“I went back to the garages to have a look round to see if there was anything else that could be moved and to my horror in the big garage discovered they had left one old sow. When I went to try and smash the barricade down which grandfather had built I realised that this it was strong and securely fixed that the pigs couldn't budge it.
“By this time there was about a foot of water all around me halfway up my Wellington boots. I took a few steps back and ran at this barricade sideways on, luckily for me it gave way and I sprawled headlong into a foot of water and ended up near the dear old sow. I proceeded to go round her and guide her out of the part of the shed that was open. The doors of the garage were fixed back so I guided her through and out onto where the road would have been, had it not been covered in water. But she turned and went to the right in the direction of Glandford and then round through a gateway and of course she was going into deeper water. I could hardly run by now as the water was up top of my boots, but I managed to get round her and send her back. She swam and walked whenever she could and was going across The Green towards high ground so I knew she would be safe.

“By this time I was a bit exhausted through trying to run through the water, and also having to contend with the snow and rain coming down by now very fast. I had just purchased some pullets which were £1 each. They used to say £1 each 'point of lay', this meant they were ready to lay. They were Black Leg Horn and Rhode Island Reds in other words they were a black hen with a tint of brown in them and always good layers. They had not started to lay, but by now they had been washed off the perches and were floating all around me. Now a chicken will float for quite a while but eventually it will drown as the water eventually wets the down under the feathers and will be pulled under by its own weight. These were floating quite happily at the moment in the water getting blown about and did look bewildered and wondering what was happening to them, so I started to throw them up onto the top of the smallest garage which I discovered days later, to be 13 foot in height and it was made of wood and corrugated iron.

“To my dismay when the chickens landed on the roof some were being blown off again, back into the water. I continued my task trying to get these 20 - 30 chickens onto the roof. I had succeeded in getting most of them and was going after the last one when there was the most terrific roar I have ever heard in my life. All I could see when I turned round was water and it seemed to reach from the ground to the sky but of course in reality it didn't. In that split second all I could see was water and the noise was unbelievable. I quickly thought if I run towards the houses to my Grandparents across The Green I wouldn't perhaps make it because I couldn't run for the depth of water had now got deeper. I knew I wouldn't know where the ditch was and if I fell in that though it was only about a foot deep I might not be able to scramble out in time before this enormous wall of water reached me, so I thought there's nothing for it but to jump up on the garage.

“I gave one mighty leap catching the edge of the roof and pulled myself up and within a second of me being on the roof the water was half way up the garage. I sat on the roof and watched the water gradually coming up, by this time it had found its own level and was creeping up all round the garage.

“I looked at my watch and it was about 6.30 pm. I had to remain there for some considerable time, but to my horror the water was getting higher and higher and again to my amazement discovered that the volume of water was lifting the garage up and going down again with the current of the water, and of course what was happening was the garage being constructed of wood it had some enormous posts dug into the ground 2 to 3 feet but the water was lifting the complete garage up and down. Luckily for me it never did get the garage completely up as the posts when the wind lulled were going back down into the holes. By this time the water had got well up to my legs and I saw a giant pigs trough coming along on the waves and I thought if I can get that and sink it that would give some weight to put on top, of the roof because I knew if the water caused the posts to come completely out, it would have been swept away.

“I wasn't sure if the pig trough was going to come in my direction and of course by this time I could move very little in the water as I was extremely cold and stiff. The trough came straight for me: I managed to get hold of it with my hands. This was quite a feat because it was a great big cast iron trough with hoops going from the top circle down to the bottom, making a place for each pig to feed. I managed to push it down under the water and I can remember what an effort it was, but I did sink it onto the garage roof giving it some more weight.

“There were all kinds of things coming along in the water that night including railway sleepers. I had to force them around me. The next thing to come along was a large pole, I should imagine it was a scaffold pole. It was quite long I forced it down into the irons of the trough, and about a yard and a half away from the garage was a small sycamore tree. I fixed the pole across into the boughs of the tree. I thought this would give the garage a little more stability. Another problem I was going to have to face was that a few yards below me towards the Newgate council houses there was an electrical transformer set up on some poles. I thought when the water reaches that there would be a bang, a big bang, because I had always been told that water and electricity don't mix very well, but I worried that it wouldn't knock the transformer out immediately and would electrify the water around it. But my fears were ended in a few minutes when the water went over the transformer. There were a few sparks and all the lights in the village went out. Well as you know Newgate hasn't got any street lights nor Cley but of course you could see the lights in the houses and one of the most devastating things that happened to me was to witness the water going in the houses after this and putting the fires out. There was no lights and I could see clearly in the houses and in the Swallow's Public House, they had 2 fires, one in the Bar the other in the Lounge. My Grannie had one in her living room. You couldn't see our house because it's secluded by the wall. In the next house and the house nearest the church you could see glows in the rooms as the water went gradually up and up towards the church. All the fires went out and I began to think I wasn't going to see tomorrow.

“The water was still rising and I thought I would have to make plans to get across into the little tree as the tree was a little higher than the garage. I could perhaps cling on until someone could rescue me. My family knew roughly where I was but of course there was no way they could reach me. By this time lights had appeared up the Holt Road near Church Lane and a lot of activity seemed to be going on but I was too engrossed with surviving the night. I managed to crawl across this pole by dangling underneath of it and wrapped my legs around it and getting into this young sycamore tree. It was quite flimsy and rocked violently though I only weigh 10 stone, it was still an awful lot of weight for a little tree, but to my horror I discovered that the tree was full of rats. They were climbing up and hanging on the tree like a bunch of grapes. I tried to shake the tree so the rats would fall off, but the noise of their screams when they knew they were going back into the water was dreadful, something I can't describe. Some of these rats had swam a considerable way and were exhausted and so as they desperately clung to these very young branches. They knew they were going to their deaths.

“I settled down in the tree, perched in the branches and looked around to take stock. The sea between me and the church and Holt Road was rough, large waves were coming across The Green being driven by the very high winds, the sleet and rain was still coming down very hard, but I could see a lot of activity more than previous up the Holt Road and lots of lights which seemed to be lots of cars. A lot of the rescue services had arrived by now and were turning down Church Lane and going towards Town Yard and the Fairstead and down the various little Lokes running down into the main street at Cley to rescue people.

“To my astonishment a lot more people were gathering at the top of the Green near the Church Lane entrance across by the Garden of Rest to the little bungalow opposite. Looking around again I thought the water was going down. I couldn't believe my eyes but being a good old country boy and living by the sea I made a little mark with my thumb nail on the tree and looked a few minutes later and lo and behold the water had gone down below my mark, so you can imagine how I felt. I can't recall how long it was but it must have been getting late when it virtually left me in the tree, so I was able to get back across my pole onto the garage roof where I flopped down exhausted.

"Unbeknown to me, now was to come my worse time. It’s ironic to say this but when you are in the sea the salt water keeps you warm, but of course the sea water had left me and I was completely out of water laying on the garage roof, and hypothermia was setting in. I was aroused by some noise coming near to me and lifting up my head I saw an object in the darkness coming down the Holt Road, past the church and Fair View where my grandparents lived and moving very slowly, it turned out to be an army Matador. This was I believe diesel driven having an exhaust pipe out the back going up beyond its cab, it could go into deep water without anything happening to it. This came slowly down past the Swallows Pub around the end of The Green and along the bottom road of the green and finally it stopped. I learnt later that the driver was standing on his seat driving with outstretched arms to his steering wheel, but the water had got too deep for him and he started to reverse. Soon after this an enormous light came and started to sweep the sea it came slowly towards me and I waved frantically. It went past me. Luckily for me the light came back again. I waved. It went past me, then came back and settled on me. I had been found at last. The lights I discovered later was the spot light on the back of Holt ambulance, but the light shining across the water and the water barely down under the roof was dazzling me and making me feel a bit woozy as the motion of the sea was giving me the same effect as being on a boat and I began to feel sea sick. However, the next thing to happen was some men appeared in a boat. The boat got nearer and I could see 2 men rowing for all they were worth All of a sudden a large wave came and took them back as quick as they had come, the boat tipped over the men washed out but luckily were saved within minutes.

“The boat seemed to come again with a new crew. Steven Stephenson a young man who lodged with Mrs. Maud Felgate told me a few weeks later that the men were so terrified they dare not risk their lives again and he asked who wanted to go next time. From about 100 people standing there no one answered. Then a man came forward by the name of Billy Pilsop Bishop. They thought 2 wouldn't be enough, Steven asked if anybody else was coming and Mr. Ian Causell came. They rowed across The Green towards me. The sea still rough, wind blowing, I had my fingers crossed hoping that another wave didn't come towards me. Quite quickly they got to the garage and I can remember one man asking, “Are you going to row Buttercup?” I said, “No I think I will leave that to you tonight.” I don't remember much more until I was going in somewhere with lights in the ceiling, it turned out to be Holt Ambulance and I thought I was going to be taken to Hospital but to my dismay I was taken out again.

"Later I learnt from Mr. Graham Allen of Langham that they decided it wasn't worth taking me to Cromer Hospital as I would have been dead long before I got there. He also said that he had seen lots of dying and dead men in the war but had never seen anyone as near dead as I was and then to come round. I was taken to the little bungalow belongs to Mrs. Micklejohn. I was laid in front of a large roaring fire and a nurse was trying to get some brandy into my mouth with a feeding cup but my mouth was shut tight and I can remember thinking what a waste of good brandy. It was running down my chin and clothes, but I soon came round after 2 nurses massaged me for a considerable time and to everyone's delight I seemed to be alright. Later they brought in a very elderly lady from the village, Mrs. Annie Watts, affectionately known as Gentle Annie. She had been rescued by the services which including several of the Holt Ambulance Crew and Fire Brigade from her bedroom in Cley Street and they said the water was just into her bedroom. They had got her, out floated across onto high ground and up to the Fairstead and brought her to the bungalow. By then I was fit enough to start to massage her body and she came round eventually and back to life. I can remember the time by now would be about 2.00 a m in the morning and we sat in these lovely big armchairs in front of the fire until daylight. By then, unbeknown to me several of the major newspapers correspondents had arrived in the village, also the radio as there was no or very little T.V in those days. To my annoyance someone came in and told me Charles Gardener from the B B C London was outside and wanted to interview me, but they had sent him away saying I was not well enough.

“Having been to Farnborough Air Show on several occasions and Charles Gardner used to do the commentary at the Air Shows, I felt really sick to think I had missed one of my heroes. The only reporter I met was the one from the North Norfolk News later that week, and a Reuters Correspondent who took lots of photos of me and also of the dead pigs laying in my Grannies front garden. It seems one of the sows that we had rescued had gone in through the open doorway which the floods had swept in and called all the little pigs downstairs out of the bedroom and they all drowned and lay in the garden.

“As our cottage had about 4’6” of water in and us having 2 airing cupboards one each side of the cooking range, where all our underclothes were kept, we had no clothes or shoes to wear so people rallied round and found clothes for us to wear. I remember Mrs. Micklejohn gave me a pair of her late husband’s long johns. We went to live with Ray and Ada Allen up at Newgate Farm, we stayed with them for about a week before we could return to our home.

“One thing I forgot to mention was the fact that in the early part of the evening I had a small torch which I flashed from time to time, but during my time on the roof and in the tree, and having so much to do - it got wet and failed to work. But they knew I was in that vicinity in the early part of the evening and this is what prompted the Rescue Services to carry on searching.

“My friend Arthur Coe, whose mother lived on the New Road at Cley, went down to help her put the tide boards in and to start putting furniture etc. up high in preparation for the forthcoming flood as the people in Cley village were used to this as it occurred every few years, but they didn't expect anything like what was to come. Arthur managed to keep the sea out of the house for about 2 hours. He recalls that the water when it came was round the back, this was when the Blakeney Bank broke and the wall of water came, this was the one that caught me. Arthur looked out of the back window and discovered there was no garden wall and he had got a lovely view over other peoples’ gardens that wasn't there before, and within minutes it was into the house and going up the walls quite quickly. He looked out the window and saw Mr. Dick Newland go floating by, he was an old sailor and had been caught by the rush of water and decided that it was no good trying to swim in it, the waves were too high and too much rubbish so he decided to roll on his back and float with the current to wherever it took him some distance away on higher ground.

“There are a lot of remarkable stories told about that night. I can remember one or two to tell you. About 2 - 3 days later I was walking with some friends along the tide mark which was along Mr. Harry Ramm's field just past the Newgate council houses and the big white house going towards Glandford when we came across a chicken coop with a large white cockerel sitting on a perch straight upright dead as could be. He died of fright or the water came up and over him so quick he was frozen to the perch. Later we found one of the doors from the big garage and it was in a lot of rubbish and the key was still in the lock.

“My Grannie had a china cabinet which had floated on its back, filled with various little knick knacks and china in it which she had collected over the years and there was only one small piece of china broke and also one very small piece of glass in the door. Mr. Bob Massingham who kept The Three Swallows greeted me the next morning very upset. He had just purchased a new car which I think was an Austin Westminster, and this had been bashed in, the door panels each side where the car had been knocked from side to side in the water filled garage. I believe the Insurance people paid him out as it was a total write off.

“Mr. Billy Holman who lived in a yard behind where Mr. & Mrs. Charlie Cook lived, was clearing up his house after the normal street flood as we used to call it, had put his mats and carpets outside, they were covered in mud. Having finished indoors, he went out to clear his mats and to his surprise they had gone and the yard was full of water, this was when the banks had broken and the wall of water came. He never saw his mats again. That’s about all I can think of to say about it except to thank Mr. Bishop, Mr. Stevenson and Mr. Causell who saved my life.”

Applause broke out when Buttercup Joe finished his talk and there was a break for tea before the other speakers.

Malcolm and Mollie wandered around greeting people they knew. Malcolm suddenly noticed the people from Heron House. He rushed up to them, “I can’t thank you enough – or your cousin actually, for rescuing my wife the night of the storm. I so much wanted her to tell everyone about it, but she thinks your cousin wouldn’t want the limelight.”

This was met with a blank stare. “Young man, I do not know who you are, or what you are talking about. I have no cousin in this area, shy or otherwise, and I do not wish to continue this conversation.”

Malcolm was astonished at the rudeness of the man, but Mollie was bright red with embarrassment.

“Please don’t make a fuss,” she whispered to Malcolm, and with a great deal of effort, he pulled himself together and they sat down again for the second half of the evening.