"It was an incredible joint effort by those in the surrounding pharmacies."
On the 1st August 2019, the sleepy town of Whaley Bridge would experience something that could only be described as a potential disaster.
Around 1,500 people in 400 houses were told to leave their properties with just minutes notice due to Toddbrook reservoir threatening to burst after being damaged during extreme rainfall. The dam, which contains around 1.3m tonnes of water, had a ‘danger to life’ warning issued by The Environment Agency, as the water level was rising rapidly owing to water rushing in from the reservoir. 400 tonnes of aggregate were brought in overnight to divert water from entering the reservoir, with an RAF Chinook helicopter aiding a multi-agency taskforce. Jane Boothman, manager and pharmacist of Peak Pharmacy in Chapel-en-le-Frith, remembers this catastrophic event like it was yesterday.