IT COULD not have been a starker contrast to the misery heaped upon Ottery in the middle of the night eight months ago.
IT COULD not have been a starker contrast to the misery heaped upon Ottery in the middle of the night eight months ago.
And it was fitting that at the Tumbling Wier Hotel last Friday there was not a raindrop, or hailstone in sight as more than 100 flood-hit residents enjoyed an evening of fun, food, music and dancing to mark the end of an ordeal that broke-up an entire community .
The only tears on show at the Hailstone Hop were those of laughter at an impromptu musical performance by plucky revellers on an evening which also spawned a catchy theme-tune to encapsulate Ottery's unforgettable night of chaos.
Local musician Elaine kept guests dancing and humming her Hailstone Hop song well into the night as the event raised more than �400 for the flooded Feniton Church.
Organiser Barry Fearn, 69, saw two inches of muddy water wreck the downstairs of his Thorne Farm Way townhouse. Not wanting to uproot his beloved pet cats, he stayed in place while repair work was carried out as neighbours were forced to take up temporary accommodation elsewhere. Work to repair three properties on the estate is still ongoing.
Asked at the bash what he thought of the festivities, Barry's answer was simple: "Brilliant. Full stop," he said, "We deserve a bit of happiness."
"This should be the end of our flood ordeal, It's been such a great evening, we hadn't planned anything, only for people to come across, sit down and socialise- and it's worked."
"You only need to look around, there is 108 people here, around 50 households, to see we are close knit. We don't live in each others pockets, but we are a nice community."
"The last eight months can only be described as loosely interesting and very difficult. We've had to fight for a lot of what was our right, but what's done is done. I don't think I'd want to live through it again."
Grateful fellow Thorne Farm Way residents presented Barry with a special model railway gift "with love" for his efforts.
Pensioners Duncan and Pat Docherty also enjoyed the fun having moved back into their chalet bungalow after six months in rented accommodation.
Pat said: "It's nice to be here with all our neighbours and to forget what needs doing for a few hours. We're beginning to see the end."
Neighbour John Druker, considered himself lucky that only his garage was flooded on his 72nd birthday and described the following months, when he was the only one of a handful of residents to remain in his home, as "surreal".
He said: "I never went away, but it is lovely to have friends back. It's nice to get everybody back together again and good to meet people we have never met before from our estate."
The lyrics to Elaine's Hailstone Hop hit are as follows:
"An ill wind blew over Ottery that day
The temperature dropped and the sky turned grey
The weather broke and the world seemed to stop
Welcome to the Hailstone Hop
Harder and harder the rain did pound
Turned to hail bouncing up from the ground
Louder and louder the hailstone plop
Welcome to the ailHaiHHa
HaiH Hailstone Hop
The drains got clogged and it flooded once more
Ottery folk said "we've been here before"
The fireman tried and did their best,
Nature took its course with the rest.
Chorus
That old saying, well it's just not true
The hailstones fell on the righteous too
They started to pray, to their knees did drop
Welcome to the Hailstone Hop
Pam from the Nurseries and Young Matt too
Stale all the damage and felt quite blue
The greengrocer had his wares on display
The hailstone bruised his fruit that day
Chorus
The poor old vicar looked our from his pew
Eyed the weather, got into a stew
He rushed outside and his eyes did pop
Welcome to the Hailstone Hop
Spotlight came just to film our plight
Poor drowned rats getting stuck in the fight
The Vicar and the Mayor and the Mayoress too
Lent a hand to help folk through
Chorus
Time has passed and repairs been made
But we so remember how we had to wade
Even Barry was out with his mop
Welcome to the Hailstone Hop
An ill wind blew over Ottery that day
The temperature fell and the sky turned grey
The weather broke and the world seemed to stop
Welcome to the Hailstone Hop
Chorus
Now this yer party will go with a swing
I hope you're all gonna dance and sing
No-one's gonna say its been a flop
Welcome to the Hailstone Hop.
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