Wet, wet,wet.

Courier Countryside Column for 10 January 2014

The Floods that are Welcome to Some.

Just the other day I was thinking how beautiful our countryside is looking at the moment.  The sun, low in the sky even at midday, throws unusual shadows and provides luminosity unique to the time of year.  The leafless trees afford views and vistas through their skeleton branches entirely hidden the rest of the seasons, while themselves offering dramatic shapes silhouetted against the landscape.

It’s wonderful to see so many people out enjoying it. On one of our regular local walks along part of the High Weald Landscape Trail Myrtle and I often encounter no-one else at all.  But last Sunday there must have been 30 or 40 other walkers and assorted dogs doing the circuit.

However then the weather changes and, instead of joyful sunshine, there are looming clouds and sheeting rain to sting the eyes.

Trees are brought to life by high winds which force them to dance to their whistling tune and wave their high limbs in involuntary spasms. Sometimes an old boy cannot take the pace and falls to the ground uprooted.

Now only the hardiest dog walker is to be found out and about. But Myrtle seems oblivious to the weather and insists on her daily constitutional come what may.  So I, wax-coated, wellied, and hatted, venture forth.  After the initial shock of change from fireside warmth to damp chill, the elements themselves become the fun and the challenge.

Even at this time of year, if we pass a pond or stream, my hound will beg for a swim, proffering a stick and imploring me to throw it so she can paddle out for retrieval. Anthropomorphically, I worry about her catching a chill, but then consider that she is already so wet and bedraggled by the rain that a little more water will surely not harm her. I also calculate it might, with benefit, wash off some of the mud coating her fur.

As we squelch along paths, we watch rivers rise and burst their banks, turning low-lying fields into sheets of water. The same effect that makes homeowners so fearful generally pleases farmers. Floodplain and water meadows have long been prized. The waters bring nutrients to the soil, naturally making it more fertile. The Environment Agency even runs a partnership to monitor and manage floodplains. You can understand, though, that few of those inundated in Yalding will be joining.