Royal visit for the 'forgotten' victims

But all that changed when the Duke of Gloucester came to Barnsley to speak to victims and those that had worked valiantly to help them.

The Duke visited Burton Grange Community Centre which was used to provide hot meals and drinks for the 60-plus families whose homes were underwater on two different occasions.

There he met the victims of the floods - and the council officials and volunteers who worked day and night to help them.

Bev Tattershall, aged 38, her daughter Katie, 20, and grandson six-months-old Jack laughed as the Duke enquired whether Jack was now allergic to taking a bath after the water levels surged into their home.

And they reassured him that although they had lost all the ground floor contents of their home in Lang Avenue, Jack’s cot was safe and dry.

“He was lovely, very down to earth and asked lots of questions and seemed genuinely to care about what has happened to us,” said Bev.

“We all said we thought Lundwood was the forgotten flood village - all the news coverage seemed to be about Darfield and Sheffield and Doncaster - but there were lots of us here just as badly affected.

“We have still got a long way to go to get back to normal, but his visit has really cheered us all up, he was a smashing gentleman.”

Kath Walmsley, 44, lost all her uninsured ground floor contents, but told the Duke how her job at Barnsley Football Club led to players and staff at Oakwell collecting 400 in cash for her and to many donations of goods, including a settee for Kath from one of the players.

She said: “People in Lundwood were feeling we had been ignored and no-one had recognised how much we have all suffered, but the Duke’s visit has been a right tonic.

“He’s a lovely bloke and he asked so many questions it was clear he wasn’t just putting in an appearance. He chatted for ages to everyone and really wanted to know about us and what had happened to us.”

Joan Lancaster, 74, said: “Barnsley Council were a great help, but no-one from outside seemed to know what had happened here, It was nice to meet a member of the Royal family who obviously cared about what we have been through.”

After meeting several groups of residents the Duke was shown photographs taken at the height of both floods to show how many homes in Lundwood were affected and how badly.

Before leaving he asked his motorcade to make an unscheduled diversion so he could see more closely for himself the Lang Avenue area where so many homes had been flooded.

Before calling at Barnsley, the Duke of Gloucester, a qualified architect with a special interest in industrial archaeology, made a return visit to a popular Sheffield museum to see first hand how staff were dealing with the aftermath of the deluge.

The Duke had first visited Kelham Island Museum in March, when he was fascinated by the heavy industrial machinery on display. He has been in telephone contact with the museum since the floods swept through the building and yesterday went back to see for himself what damage had been caused and how the big clean up is progressing.

John Hamshere, executive director of the museum, said: “We are delighted that The Duke wanted to return. The staff are doing a sterling job of clearing the museum of oil, mud and debris to bring the museum back to full strength for visitors to enjoy once again.

“The Duke’s support and interest is greatly appreciated and we hope to be back up and running with a renewed Kelham Island Museum as soon as possible.”