A month has passed since the worst floods in living memory were at their height in Ryedale. The sun beats down in a baking early spring and provides a sharp contrast to the devastating scene that greeted people living and working beside the River Derwent on Monday, March 8.

ABOVE: Glenn Jackson, of Church Street, Norton, waits for his house to dry out after the floods

BELOW: A flashback picture of Glenn Jackson in his flooded room at the height of the deluge

Residents and business people are still trying to pick up the pieces and return to some kind of normality.

They include Paul Tate-Smith, managing director of Tate-Smith Ltd which employs 70 people at its Sundella soft drinks plant in Sheepfoot Hill, Malton.

"From the outside, things appear as if they are back to normal. We were back up and trading on the Thursday after the floods," Mr Tate-Smith said.

"We are bottling again and we have had a clean bill of health from Ryedale District Council. Most of the areas are clean again and we are back in our offices.

"Thanks to the efforts of the staff, customers and suppliers, we have turned it around. But there is still a lot of work to do. It is going to take a year or two to recover from this financially, but we are determined to do it. I still have £50,000 worth of damaged stock in the building which will have to be destroyed."

He said the 111-year-old family firm had been on its present site since 1969.

"We have never had anything like this in Malton in that time. We just weren't prepared."

Retired surveyor Joe Tong, 85, and his wife Edith, 88, are staying at the Old Lodge Hotel in Malton until they can move back into their home in Town Street, Old Malton.

Mr and Mrs Tong, who met the Duke of York on his recent visit to the flood scene, have nothing but praise for the hotel's owners Norris and Lynda Binner.

"I can't speak too highly of how they're looking after us," Mr Tong said. "I've had anxiety and anguish about the house, but I haven't had any personal discomfort."

Mr and Mrs Tong, who left their home by boat at 5am exactly four weeks ago, are determined to return in time to celebrate their Diamond Wedding on May 23.

"I'm insured and, quite frankly, all I want to do is get back into the house," Mr Tong said.

Work to remove flood-damaged fixtures and fittings from their home of nearly 30 years got under way almost as soon as the water receded.

"All of the plaster was taken off and put in a skip, and the floorboards were taken up and thrown out. Our bathroom fittings were put out on the lawn," Mr Tong said.

Norton resident Glenn Jackson was featured in TV news bulletins and newspaper reports around the world at the height of the floods.

One of the enduring images of the disaster is of him standing forlornly while wearing cycle shorts and standing knee-deep in floodwater inside his Church Street home.

Mr Jackson said: "Blue Lycra shorts and green wellies was a bit of a strange fashion statement and I've had a lot of stick about it at work."

Mr Jackson, his wife Bridget and sons Mathew and Luke, are currently living in temporary accommodation while builders get on with making their home habitable again.

Dehumidifiers have drawn gallons of water out of the house's sodden fabric. Floorboards, plaster and skirting boards are being replaced and a new kitchen will be fitted. Mr Jackson said: "We've lived in the house for 11 years and we've been renovating it as an ongoing programme.

"I had just finished doing the hall, stairs and landing just before Christmas, but now I'm going to have to start again with the decorating."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.