WE have some fresh pictures and new takes on Weymouth's July 1955 flooding to bring you this week.

These photos and report show the steely resolve of residents to cope in the aftermath of the flooding.

The Dorset Evening Echo provided extensive coverage of the emergency and we've picked out a few choice extracts to share with you.

Dorothy Marno of Mill Street, Broadwey, and her husband were left homeless by the flooding. Mrs Marno, a xylophonist and accordionist in Harry Hudson's show at the Pier Bandstand, lost her entire wardrobe when she and her husband's caravan was partly overturned and swamped.

She told the Echo she was left with the clothes she was wearing at the time of the floods - and her stage dresses which were stored at the Pier Bandstand. Mrs Marno said she and her husband heard of the flooding at Upwey and drove to the Orchard caravan site at Broadwey to discover practically all the caravans were overturned. Mrs Marno's was lying tilted against a fruit tree and had been saved by falling on its side into the stream. The door was open and everything was floating about in the water as the party, now including two policemen, rowed out to the caravan by boat.

Mrs Marno said she had taken her 'dresses and frocks' to the cleaners but didn't think they'd be able to salvage them. She added: "It was distressing to see the plight of the other caravanners on the site who had come to Weymouth on a holiday and it was something I don't care to see again."

Mrs Marno estimated her loss at several hundred pounds on top of the damage to her caravan, which was a luxury model.

Days after the deluge of rain, three blackspots were identified - Radipole, Broadwey and Upwey - where workmen were still tackling the trail of storm damage.

Weymouth mayor Lawson Jones decided to open an appeal fund for those who suffered 'loss and distress' in the floods. Investigators went around preparing lists and financial assistance was made immediately available. People from local areas were asked to volunteer as investigators.

Although most of the campers in the Weymouth area who had been stranded went back to their caravans, some spent a second night in rest centres.

Holidaymakers staying at the Orchard site in Broadwey were temporarily accommodated in the old Temperance Hall on Dorchester Road. They either obtained lodgings elsewhere or returned to their homes. However the situation wasn't quite so easy for Mr and Mrs Davis whose plight was serious as the caravan was their permanent home.

The Echo reporter described the scene: "Mr Davis was walking about last night with a coat over his pyjama jacket. The family have nowhere to go but efforts are being made to find them accommodation of a permanent nature. After leaving the flat in May Mr Davis, a Dorset man, stored a lot of his possessions in a poultry store at Nottington, but this has also been flood-devastated, so this has been a double blow. "

Mayor Jones went straight from a special town council meeting and personally inspected the worst flooded areas where help was needed. He wrote to the Echo: "The floods have left a trail of damage and distress."

The town clerk said: "In the really serious cases we will be able to help people within a matter of days."

Borough surveyor Mr A.J.Wallis said the Westham bridge was only slightly damaged as a result of the extreme weather. He said: "There's only a slight settlement there and nothing that will affect the stability of the bridge itself."

He explained that the pumps were working normally again and that Radipole Park Drive was still underwater at the railway viaduct end. Mr Wallis said they had to ensure electric motors for the pumps were completely dry before being switched on.