When I began Air Nice-to-Livelands, I was living in the town of Littleport in North East Cambridgeshire. In that linked post, I briefly mentioned our then-house being located on a lower level to the levees holding back the Ouse. Naturally, while my family and I lived there we were worried about potential flooding, but fortunately, nothing ever happened during our time there and nothing has happened since. However, back in 1999, the tiny city of Littleport, Iowa, which is mostly unrelated to the Littleport, Cambridgeshire, was destroyed by a flood.
There is little (no pun intended) available about Iowa's Littleport beyond its destruction. The place hasn't ever had a large population, and in 2005, it lost its city status, resulting in it becoming an unincorporated community; it was already a dying town prior to the flood. It had a population of 26 in 2000, and the only 2010 census information I could find said that Littleport was no longer inhabited. While I have never been to Littleport, nor have I been to or near Iowa, but I can't help feel a touch of sadness for the place. Humans once lived there and now it's another one of the many ghost towns littered across the United States.
The two Littleports have nothing in common except the name and the potential to flood. The Littleport in Iowa was on the decline for decades, with barely over two dozen people living there when it flooded. By contrast, the Littleport in Cambridgeshire is a thriving town with nearly 9,000 people as of 2011 — an increase in population from the decade before. It's unlikely to meet the same fate as its Iowa namesake, for the name is merely a coincidence, but it's always wise to be prepared...just in case.
Showing posts with label Ouse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ouse. Show all posts
Saturday, 16 March 2013
Sunday, 3 July 2011
Ouse riverbank
Another walk today, this time all of us going out. We took a walk down the riverbank by the Ouse, and followed it quite a way down before we turned around and headed back home. I took a load more pictures, including the following. I hope you like them!
The above is a picture of the part of the Ouse near where we live.
Ely Cathedral, taken from far away with my camera on maximum zoom.
There you go trolls, trolling the Ouse is banned: you could get a fine!
Finally, the Littleport sign itself!
Wednesday, 8 June 2011
North East Cambridgeshire
As I'll be moving again soon, I thought I'd blog a little about where I currently live! I am residing in North East Cambridgeshire, a district in the county of Cambridgeshire.
To begin with, it's one of the flattest places, if not the flattest place, I have ever lived; ironic, because Southern Oregon, where we lived before, is a mountainous part of the United States. The highest points around here excluding water or bell towers, or Ely Cathedral, are the levees holding back the river (the "Ouse"), which our house is on a lower level to! Of all the places I've so far been to in the UK, this area has the least amount of trees around (by British standards, as there are still quite a few trees around), but that's likely because it's agricultural: when I look out the front windows I can see farmland behind the nearby houses.
As for the town we are in, Littleport, we live on the outskirts next to both a railroad and the aforementioned levees that contain the Ouse: when I first heard that we were going to live near a railroad I expected it to be very noisy, but surprisingly enough despite trains going past every half-hour or so, they're not annoying in the slightest and they can easily be tuned out. As I mentioned in a previous blog post, the town has a lot of footpaths to explore, and these paths are always fun. At least one crosses the railroad!
The central area of our town has a few shops, including a handful of grocery stores (plus at least one on the opposite end of the town to us), a couple of hardware stores, a bakery, and some others. The nearest pub was converted to both a restaurant and a bar, both of which we have tried and are very nice, though the bar area isn't as relaxed as the restaurant. The main take-out place around here is the local fish bar: despite the designation, they do serve more than fish (burgers, kebabs, etc.), and the food there is great! In all, Littleport is a decent place to live.
We're not too far away from a place called Ely: Ely has a population of about 15,000 or so people, but has city status, and thus, is the third smallest city in England and sixth smallest in the United Kingdom overall. Ely Cathedral is the tallest structure in the region as far as I'm aware, and it can be seen for miles. You can see it from our town, and would probably be able to see it from my bedroom window if other houses weren't in the way. :) Ely itself, especially the central area, is a beautiful place, and the cathedral is impressive up close.
I was going to post a picture or two of the area, but I found that I haven't taken any yet! (The pictures taken are all my brother's.) I'll see if I can get a few before we leave. It's really green at the moment, and the farmland I can see from the bedroom window looks pretty. I think I'll take a picture right now.
To begin with, it's one of the flattest places, if not the flattest place, I have ever lived; ironic, because Southern Oregon, where we lived before, is a mountainous part of the United States. The highest points around here excluding water or bell towers, or Ely Cathedral, are the levees holding back the river (the "Ouse"), which our house is on a lower level to! Of all the places I've so far been to in the UK, this area has the least amount of trees around (by British standards, as there are still quite a few trees around), but that's likely because it's agricultural: when I look out the front windows I can see farmland behind the nearby houses.
As for the town we are in, Littleport, we live on the outskirts next to both a railroad and the aforementioned levees that contain the Ouse: when I first heard that we were going to live near a railroad I expected it to be very noisy, but surprisingly enough despite trains going past every half-hour or so, they're not annoying in the slightest and they can easily be tuned out. As I mentioned in a previous blog post, the town has a lot of footpaths to explore, and these paths are always fun. At least one crosses the railroad!
The central area of our town has a few shops, including a handful of grocery stores (plus at least one on the opposite end of the town to us), a couple of hardware stores, a bakery, and some others. The nearest pub was converted to both a restaurant and a bar, both of which we have tried and are very nice, though the bar area isn't as relaxed as the restaurant. The main take-out place around here is the local fish bar: despite the designation, they do serve more than fish (burgers, kebabs, etc.), and the food there is great! In all, Littleport is a decent place to live.
We're not too far away from a place called Ely: Ely has a population of about 15,000 or so people, but has city status, and thus, is the third smallest city in England and sixth smallest in the United Kingdom overall. Ely Cathedral is the tallest structure in the region as far as I'm aware, and it can be seen for miles. You can see it from our town, and would probably be able to see it from my bedroom window if other houses weren't in the way. :) Ely itself, especially the central area, is a beautiful place, and the cathedral is impressive up close.
I was going to post a picture or two of the area, but I found that I haven't taken any yet! (The pictures taken are all my brother's.) I'll see if I can get a few before we leave. It's really green at the moment, and the farmland I can see from the bedroom window looks pretty. I think I'll take a picture right now.
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