We found our dream location for The Climbing Lab in late 2015 and were psyched to move into our beautiful warehouses 2 weeks before Christmas. The excitement only grew as we received deliveries of everything to build a climbing centre with ? safety mats, 100s of wooden panels, steel for the support and 1000s of screws to hold it all together.
Our big build began briefly then stopped for the Christmas holidays. On Boxing Day we were interrupted off the sofa by a flood warning which turned out to be the biggest flood Leeds has ever seen during the wettest December this area has on record.After hurrying to Kirkstall we desperately tried to lift our precious wooden panels and power tools high enough to avoid the rising water but after hours of stacking and re-stacking, everything was adrift. With flood water rising beyond waist height and our hearts heavy with defeat, we kicked our way out of a fire door held shut by the flood waters and escaped.