The winter so far in East Cornwall

After the mayhem of the frost, ice and even some snow in December the weather here seems to have reverted to "Cornish standard".  This can be interpreted as reasonably mild, fair dollops of rain and the occasional day or half day of sunshine.

As someone enthralled by all types of weather, except the absolute extremes that lead to death and destruction, it was good to see some snow.  The best of it was on the Friday night that led up to Saturday the 18th December.  It was on that sparkling sunny morning that Cotehele celebrated its wassail up in its Orchard.  As usual this event was led by our local worthy musicians "The Rubber Band" and it was a massively pleasurable walk of three or four miles to get there.  I had forgotten though just how much extra effort it takes to walk through snow!  Virgin snow under a blue sky is something special but it's the follow up when it is part melted and starts to look grotty that inevitably disappoints.

A big plus of the cold weather was the expected influx of redwings.  My friend's apple orchard lies behind the cottage and she had left some windfalls on the ground.  The redwings were delighted as were one or two fieldfares and some male blackbirds.  There were plenty of pickings for everyone but this didn't stop the blackbirds from bullying the much smaller redwings.  Maybe that's why redwings appear in greater numbers than the fieldfares and blackbirds - they can't all be chased away from the rich pickings on the ground at the same time!

Down near the weir there is an area either side of the river path where violets grow.  I seem to recall being told that violets were cultivated commercially in a nearby garden and that this patch could have come from there.  I check them in the winter to see if any are in bloom and was rewarded earlier today with the sight of one of them in bud.  Another part of the river bank not far away is good for snowdrops and it looks as if by the end of this month some of these might be in flower.  Great to see a heron just downstream of the weir as well waiting patiently.

Of course there is still plenty of time for more cold snaps but the length of daylight is increasing, always for me a great psychological boost.

Unsettled Easter ahead

Easter weekend is almost on us and it looks as if it is going to be very unsettled so far as the weather is concerned. A shame for visitors to the West Country to be sure. Whilst the worst of the snow has been "up north" in Scotland and Northern Ireland, Dartmoor also saw some with Princetown waking up to about two inches of it yesterday morning. From near the top of the hill that leads south from our village one can see across to the western flank of Dartmoor and from that viewpoint this afternoon I couldn't see any snow still lying. It's possible though that snow remains further into the moor.

The unusually cold winter certainly put a check on nature, but now it seems to be catching up. We are well and truly into the "yellow season" with daffodils, lesser celandine and forsythia well out. Good to see plenty of wood anemones in bloom as well, these do very well in the local wooded banks of the Tamar. Talking of the Tamar, that river was flowing quite high and fast a couple of days ago. I don't know where they nest but kingfishers do get seen in the area close to the weir which is not many minutes walk from here. The River Tamar is liable to rise and fall markedly over a short period of time and the thought crosses my mind: do the kingfishers nest high enough not to be flooded. I imagine they have it worked out!

Last Tuesday's snow event

Writing about the better weather in my last post reminds me that I haven't commented yet on the snow event last Tuesday (the 12th) which caused so many problems for drivers in my two counties. I say "snow event", here tucked down in the valley we had no more than sleet that day. A depression coming in off the Atlantic had its weather fronts bumping into the existing cold air that was dominating the UK, a classic situation where substantial falls of snow can occur and one I've seen before a few times. It was very well forecasted by the Met Office and it was always evident that altitude would have a substantial affect on snow quantities.

For those not familiar with my two counties it has to be said that the topography has an absolutely enormous influence on the weather we experience. This weather can be incredibly local, one classic example being the rain that caused such havoc at Boscastle and Crackington Haven in August 2004. This flood was over a geographically small area, villages a few miles away were unaffected. The hills and valleys in the south west that please the tourist's eye (and mine it should be said) have always been a nightmare for road and railway builders. So far as the railway is concerned Brunel hugged the river estuaries and coast between Exeter and Newton Abbot. OK he kept the route pretty flat but we all know about the huge problems there have been with the sea wall at Dawlish!

The main road from Exeter to Plymouth, the A38, has to cross the Haldon ridge soon after it leaves Exeter. Now the top of Haldon is approximately 800 feet above sea level but it's not just drivers having to ascend that much from the Exeter direction that can create problems, it's the degree of steepness. In a much earlier life I was involved in road design and although it was decades ago I do recall that the maximum gradient for trunk road design was 1 in 25 (4% in modern parlance I suppose). I was never involved with 'Haldon Hill' but it wasn't possible I know to get remotely near that figure - I can't remember for sure but I think it was more like 1 in 14, very very steep for a trunk road. Unsurprisingly a third crawler lane was put in place for the uphill carriageway. A similar arrangement holds for the also very steep 'Telegraph Hill', the Torquay A380 route that forks off the A38 at Splatford Split at the bottom of Haldon Hill.

Exact details of the way traffic ground to a halt on these two notorious hills on Tuesday remain a little sketchy but it seems that the rain on the ridge quickly turned to snow, a lorry jackknifed on the A38, traffic stopped and couldn't get going again and because some vehicles started sliding whilst others tried to pick their way through the gaps the whole road system got clogged up making it really difficult for gritting lorries and snowploughs to get through to where they were needed. Result: vehicles stuck for hours and hours with nowhere to go. Eventually, somehow, things did get sorted out and thankfully nobody was hurt. A few comments from me then:

• Although well forecasted the weather changed very rapidly at Haldon, many leaving Exeter in the rush hour I'm sure genuinely didn't perceive a problem just down the road.
• The authorities seemed to be very tardy about officially closing Haldon Hill, the result being that traffic was just joining the queue with nowhere to go. As I heard it on Radio Devon it seemed that they were suggesting traffic could just about get through, that doesn't seem to be the case for the general public although police, fire crews and Dartmoor Rescue Group volunteers seemed to have got through. A very muddled picture.
• There is an alternative coastal route from Exeter to Newton Abbot, a pretty lousy road in my opinion and this got clogged up with traffic. There is a pinch point on this 'A' road at Starcross where two pillars forming part of a property jut out into the carriageway so it's single file only there and it sounds as if this created a lot of trouble.
• All sorts of suggestions from the public and others about how to avoid similar problems in the future. One was to cone off an uphill lane on Haldon and Telegraph Hills when snow is forecast so that gritting lorries etc can get through without hindrance.
• From what I heard today it looks as if underoad heating is being looked at. Nice idea but surely a non-starter. Yes I know that there are heating elements in the Hammersmith Flyover but I'm sure that was all part of the design. I don't know anything about the newest technology but the area at Haldon would be huge and the disruption massive. I really can't see that one flying.
• Similar problems occurred at Telegraph and Haldon Hills less than 12 months ago, in February 2009. On that occasion the sudden snowfall was well into the evening , after I think most commuters would have been home.
• I have memories from decades back of getting stuck on Haldon. It was in the morning I think and I believe it was a similar case of waiting patiently for gritting lorries to clear a way through. Much less traffic back then and I don't recall having to wait for hours for it to be sorted out.
  
• Another morning memory is of going up Telegraph Hill in daylight but with snow on the ground in what was known as a "sit up and beg" Ford Popular of 1950's vintage. Side valve engine, three speed gearbox and 6 volt battery sums it up. But successful in the snow. It had tall wheels, excellent ground clearance and with very little power wheel spin didn't appear to be a big problem! I might have been more confident at the time as well of course.
• Although the Haldon area grabbed the headlines on Tuesday there were other parts of Devon and Cornwall where drivers became stuck. Particularly badly hit were the A386 between Tavistock and Okehampton and, west of the Tamar, the Liskeard area.

As I stated at the start of the piece so local is the weather that we experienced none of that particular bout of mayhem here. As ever the elements can make man look very puny indeed.

Gentle warming of weather

There has been a gentle warming up of the weather here in the last day or two and I have to say it's been good to be able to open the bedroom window a little bit. That one is a sash window, one of two I had replaced with timber double glazed units last year. I love sash windows with their ability to permit air circulation top and bottom; for a while yesterday and today it was possible to open it a fair bit and get a change of air in the room. And for part of the day I turned off the heating - I don't have central heating with a thermostatic control, I have a gas fire downstairs and gas heater in the stairwell to cover upstairs. Sufficient for my needs I guess, I try to keep room temperature in the 60 to 65 degree F range which no doubt is freezing for some!

We went out for a fairly short walk yesterday (Sunday) afternoon and it really is a relief not to watch every step you make in fear of falling over. No special wildlife sightings but no matter it's just nice enjoying the fresh air. My friend had previously seen a redwing in her garden and I've noticed one or two about the village, not surprising with the recent harsh weather. Interesting report from a lady I know in another Tamar Valley village of a snipe in their garden! She told that they had seen them in fields close to their home but this was the first time I think in their garden.

One thing I must check is how a favourite mimosa in a Tavistock courtyard is doing. It had been affected by last winter's cold weather but recovered well. I do hope it has survived the recent sharp frosts.

Slow thaw today, snow forecast tomorrow

It's certainly been less cold in my part of the world today and there has been a very gentle thaw of some of the snow and ice, the last mentioned being a greater problem than the snow. For a change the windows on the car were frost free when I first looked out, not that I needed to drive anywhere as it so happened. If there is just one thing to rejoice about in not having to commute to work by car it's the fact that I don't have to do the de-icing routine first thing in the morning. How did I put up with that for so many years?

Tomorrow is another day as they say and it looks like a sizeable dollop of snow might be on the way. It's the classic situation I've seen before where there is blocking high pressure over Scandinavia maintaining cold easterly winds whilst at the same time a low pressure system with its fronts is trying to make headway from the Atlantic. These situations are always notoriously difficult to predict as to whether one sees snow or rather cold rain - it only takes a degree or two difference to produce one or the other. At the moment the forecasters are going for heavy snow turning to rain. We shan't have to wait long to see the outcome. Strong winds are in the mix so drifting is certainly on the cards especially on the moors.

The really cold weather we have had has perhaps put extra strain on underground services: I'm assuming that is why Mortehoe up in North Devon was devoid of gas supply over much of the weekend - not much fun if you rely on it for cooking and heating. Not heard anything further today so I assume all the repairs are complete. There was also a gas leak at Tavistock bus station on Saturday morning but our local bus was able to drop off and pick up passengers nearby and there appeared to be very little inconvenience when we went in to do a small amount of shopping.

It was a few years ago now when the gas main running down my road started leaking, the gas people appeared promptly enough and did the necessary repair. They came back some later to replace all the gas pipe serving this road. A good deal of upheaval because our road is only one vehicle in width (it can just accommodate the dustbin lorry). We were lucky though because our original gas leak didn't occur during cold weather; I guess it was just 'anno domini' catching up with it! The original gasworks for the village was built in 1872 with coal being brought up the Tamar and then through the little canal that bypasses the weir across the river. One used to hear complaints about service providers not co-ordinating their work but this certainly didn't apply here. At one time electricity cables crossed the lower part of some of the gardens in the Row and I can can recollect the power company coming out to do a little pruning to a tree in my own garden where the wires could easily make contact. At the time of the gas main replacement the contractors also inserted a duct in the road so that at a later date the electricity people could route their overhead line through it. It's difficult to remember the electricity cables over my garden now.

Inconvenient though snow is I must admit that there is something hypnotic about watching it falling. I'm at a low level here so it might be rain rather than the white fluffy stuff. Whichever, it's due here about lunchtime.

Lack of blogging - must do better!

I'm putting it down to the very cold weather demotivating me but I've managed only one post so far in 2010. Not that I'm short of things I would like to write about, there is more than enough stuff around for me to comment on. It's just a case of getting down to it ... Or giving up altogether. No I really don't want to do that but I can empathise with those people who start a blog full of enthusiasm but after a while find their blog starting to wither a bit, particularly if a few days are missed and one gets out of the routine!

Inevitably the weather is the hot topic of the moment, not a good use of the word "hot" perhaps bearing in mind the freezing temperatures. We have had minimal amounts of snow in the mid Tamar Valley and it's been the ice that has really caused problems in getting about. There has been a good deal of sunshine with the associated crystal clear visibility but with that sun so low in the sky there are many places permanently in the shade at this time of year and in those areas the ice has not released its grip. The big plus is the way that communities come together when the elements decide to cause mayhem. I don't know about other countries but folk in the UK can be very insular. A bit of this can be put down to our perhaps understandable desire to just hop in the car to travel from A to B. Our only communication then might be a few choice words when someone 'cuts you up' in the traffic! But with the recent weather phenomena there is a greater likelihood of people moving about on foot, or using public transport. Even if one ventures out in the car and gets stuck someone is likely to volunteer assistance.

Perhaps then the British are still upholders of the "nice" society, of politeness and of helping others in need. I certainly hope so!

Temporary respite from the ice

I think it was the weekend prior to Christmas in which I noted that we had a little snow here - 'nuisance snow' if you like - and then there followed almost a week of problems with ice. A block of really cold air had been resisting the ingress of warmer air from the south west and we experienced a number of days during the week of treacherous black ice, far far worse than we would normally get. At various times rain showers would occur with the wetness immediately freezing on contact with the sub-zero road surfaces, a lot of the precipitation occurring during the hours of darkness. The Highways people did a valiant job in salting and gritting the main roads but of course their actions were hampered by the rain washing the salt away at times.

There are many plus points living in this village but it suffers greatly under the rare weather conditions that we have just been enduring. Yes the main A390 road that bisects the village was OK to drive on most of the time but, live off this road as I do, and you are faced with a gradient of about 1 in 6 (uphill in my case) to get out to the main road. Walking up to this main road takes about 5 minutes I guess so no great distance then but when the streets leading off it are iced up it might just as well be on the moon! Things really came to a head on Christmas morning when the roads were undrivable as evidenced by a near neighbour with a modern Land Rover being quite unable to make the ascent. The cold relented a little later in the day and now things are more or less normal but it sounds as if another icy blast will welcome in 2010.

One of our younger residents in the Row did go out and try and scrounge grit where he could prior to the Christmas Day problems and there is plenty of evidence of self help in our area but we definitely need a grit bin very close by for times such as these. I know one or two of the Parish Councillors and will get on to them to chase Highways to make better provision for grit bins. We can't expect every road to be gritted by them but there are plenty of individuals nearby who will do their bit in getting the roads clear.

Snow here today, enough to be a nuisance

Yesterday I was far too smug about the weather, pointing out the lovely sunshine we had enjoyed and comparing this with the snowfalls elsewhere - particularly in the south east. Should have kept quiet because the white stuff has been in evidence here today. Not that it has amounted to much but it is nuisance value one can say making things a little treacherous underfoot. Walked up the hill to the station in the early evening to meet a friend off the train and discovered that it had been bright and sunny in Exeter! It would appear that the showers plaguing my area today were mainly affecting West Devon and East Cornwall. The wind has dropped which is good from the point of view that the snow hasn't drifted; the downside is that today's showers have hung around rather than quickly passing through.

It had been my intention to go to the Wassail at Cotehele this morning but with the bitter cold I have to say that I chickened out. I'm told that there were lots of people there and that they had snow as well. Last year 'The Rubber Band' and friends led the (musical) procession up to the orchard but I can't imagine their instruments being happy about being in the snow so I don't know how they managed today. Wassails traditionally I think take place early in the new year - I suspect that the timing of this one has something to do with the National Trust's commercial considerations. Christmas is an important time for them at Cotehele because the main hall in the house is open so that people can go in and see the magnificent garland of dried flowers that is hung there every year and of course participants in the Wassail just might make some Christmas purchases in the Trust's shop!

I am wondering now if this winter will be like the last one, rather colder than the mild damp ones that have become the norm in recent years. I said in a recent post that I am undecided over the question of man made climate change but if this winter is cold overall and we have another summer lacking in sizzling temperatures then whatever government is in power will have one heck of a job convincing the population that 'global warming' is here. The sceptics will be very much in the ascendant.

Flooding in Plymouth but we miss the worst of it

The really pleasant dry weather we enjoyed in September and I think part of October now seems a very distant memory as yet again it is damp and dreary outside. Although there was rain here yesterday evening we escaped relatively unscathed once more because there was quite severe flooding in the south west corner of Devon in particular. The news this morning told us about people having to be rescued from their cars; it seems that the Plymouth / Ivybridge area was taking the brunt of the wet stuff.

Of course it's the poor folk up in Cumbria who have been suffering more than us in the West Country lately. And now I see that the area around Jeddah on Saudi Arabia's west coast is having its worst flooding for years with 100 or more deaths already. Here's the question then: are we and the rest of the World getting more frequent and severe rainfall events? Thanks to the internet and much greater news coverage off the web as well one becomes more aware perhaps of heavier rainfalls. Certainly I keep thinking "it never used to rain like this" but to be honest I don't really know.

A friend nearby is doing the sensible thing this week jetting off to Trinidad for a fortnight - staying with someone she knows I understand. I can well see why anyone with friends or family in warmer sunnier climes will take an opportunity to get away from the perpetual gloom here. The good news from my perspective is that in less than a month we shall have passed the shortest day, always a good psychological moment for me.

Storm in south west blowing itself out

Having had quite a benevolent autumn in my area things are certainly now going downhill. Some very rough weather taking hold with winds last night forecast on the south coast to be severe gale 9 to violent storm 11, in my book that's very breezy indeed. I don't think the peak winds in the early hours were quite as bad as that and certainly in my valley they weren't that exceptional. But as I have remarked before tucked away here in what is effectively a deep gorge sometimes the severity of the weather isn't apparent. When the wind is due south the wind really whistles through here but I think that it had veered south west when the worst of the gale came and from that direction the hill takes some of the sting out of the wind.

Just after lunch now and the main rain has long gone (but plenty more promised, thank you Met Office!) and the wind has abated. Low lying parts of East Devon have suffered a bit and of course the usual exposed parts of our south coast such as Penzance, Porthleven and Lyme Regis have witnessed spectacular waves. There has been no mention of the railway at Dawlish but as the wind hasn't been from the east perhaps the sea wall there has escaped unscathed.

I have to say one of the real pleasures now for me is not having to do the regular commute. By and large I can choose to be out and about when the weather suits. The local radio late yesterday afternoon was full of the problems of traffic congestion on the approaches to the Tamar Road Bridge. Because of the wind the middle lane over the bridge was closed and lorries, caravans and motor bikes stopped from crossing. Now it's some time since I've used 'The Parkway' (the dual carriageway A38 on the north side of Plymouth) and I can't remember but is there a sign to the east of Manadon Flyover advising traffic to turn up on the Tavistock route to avoid the bridge. Similarly west of Saltash to send the heavy stuff north through Callington. Extending that a bit further are there signs at Bodmin and Exeter to try and syphon lorries on to the A30. Possibly but I don't really know - such signs are needed that's for sure for freak weather conditions etc.

Back to good old 'Radio Devon' for a moment: I thought they included cyclists in the road users stopped from crossing the Tamar Bridge in their report. Perhaps I misheard this, or they may have got it plain wrong but I would be surprised if cyclists had been included. My understanding is that cyclists and pedestrians have the cantilevered lane on the downstream side of the bridge to themselves so that there wouldn't be the worry of cyclists being blown by the wind into the path of motorised traffic. How would cyclists cope though if they were prevented from crossing? Basically two possibilities I think. Firstly phone someone they know on the other side who has a cycle rack on the back of their car and beg them to cross over and pick up bike and cyclist. The other one is to cycle back to the station and get the bike on a stopping train and get home that way. A bit problematic though as the railway company don't allow many bikes on the trains particularly at commuting times.

The other alternative of using the Torpoint Ferry and cycling round to Saltash in dark wet and windy conditions would be too awful to contemplate. I can't in all honesty imagine cyclists being stopped from crossing the Bridge, after all they can always dismount and walk their bikes across. No mention in today's paper of cyclists having been stopped so I'm guessing that I have the story about them wrong.

All change on the weather front

For the latter part of September and the first half of this month the weather has been very benign in my area, some compensation for the dampness of the past summer, but now it's taken a turn for the worse. Low pressure has taken over from the friendly 'high' and yesterday morning we experienced the first significant amount of rain for several weeks. Added to that the wind is a lot brisker. Having said that there is some blue sky out there as I type with a few fitful glimpses of the sun so it could be very much worse.

Just to illustrate how incredibly variable our weather is it was interesting to hear the reports on Radio Devon this morning from their volunteer weather watchers of the amount of precipitation collected in their rain gauges yesterday. Up in North Devon it was 37 mm I think which equates to about one and a half inches in old money. However in the South Hams an almost negligible 2mm was noted. I would say that here we were between these two extremes.

Just a couple of months now to the shortest day of the year. So it's long dark evenings, Halloween and fireworks to look forward to. Or not. I can't enthuse about any of the aforementioned I'm afraid. Nor the commercial splurge of Christmas. But I have a thousand and one things to be thankful for in my life so I don't dwell on the things that aren't to my taste.

Weather has turned for the better - at last

We have now had a few days of glorious early autumn weather - very comfortable warm weather by day but markedly cooler nights. Our newsletters for the local history group were ready yesterday for delivery and I popped over to Ian and Helen's home to pick up my quota as I do the deliveries in and around Gunnislake. Published three times a year in A4 format and with 16 pages in each issue we feel that it is something we can be reasonably proud about. Today then I completed almost all my deliveries and I must say it was an absolute joy not to have to carry them round in a weatherproof wrapping which not infrequently has been the case in the past.

It is amazing just how much some warm sunshine raises the spirits and with the days rapidly getting shorter it is extra welcome. Having good light until the sun actually sets is great and we are now getting that. This very enjoyable settled spell reminds me of my first holiday in Penzance a good many years ago. It was at precisely the same time of year and the weather was absolutely identical to that we are now experiencing. In fact it was my introduction to the magic of such places as Porthgwarra, Penberth Cove and Lamorna on the south coast of Penwith and I still recall the elation of visiting them when I walked that part of the Coast Path. There are so many parts of our coast that are really special and to be fair it is difficult to say any one section is the best. I suppose though my choice of the length from Gwennap Head going east to Lamorna as being just about my favourite is coloured by the fact of those memorable few days when I first went there.

Just reverting back to my first paragraph for a moment the Calstock Parish Local History Group has a website here which you might find interesting if you are intrigued by the very varied history of this part of the Tamar Valley.

A grey bank holiday here

The seemingly unremitting grey dampness is continuing for the bank holiday in my neck of the woods. Prospects for East Devon in the lee of Dartmoor sound more promising but even just a glimpse of the sun here would be cheering. There is so much moisture around that some local roads have moss growing out of the centre of the tarmac where vehicle wheels aren't tracking! When I was a paid employee it was certainly frustrating to find oneself stuck indoors when the sun shone and then be greeted with rain at the weekend! Now at least I have a degree of flexibility enabling me to enjoy the sun when it does make an appearance; there is plenty of outside work that needs doing but the cloudy skies don't help one's motivation.

Having made a point about the rather depressing weather I am hearing the news of the devastating forest fire uncomfortably close to Los Angeles in which a couple of firefighters have lost their lives. Recently too there were bad fires near Athens and not so long ago the south end of the lovely island of La Palma in The Canaries also suffered a bad blaze. Having been to the last mentioned I can visualise where this was. In this instance it is believed a stray firework was the instigator of the fire. The news bulletins in the UK are good enough at reporting these fires but I never get a sense of how long it takes to get them finally extinguished. I suppose the problem is that when a fire ceases to threaten life and property it stops being noteworthy so far as the media are concerned.

So would I prefer to live in a hot sunny climate with my home under risk of being consumed in a firestorm or would it be better to live somewhere such as the Tamar Valley with less sunshine than one would like. A no-brainer really: I'll stick with my valley!

UPDATE: Monday evening. I shouldn't have been so pessimistic in this morning's post! At lunchtime it brightened up, all right not wall to wall sunshine but quite good enough to get some essential work done in the garden. I know that many people, especially if they have families living elsewhere, want to get out and about over the bank holiday but I've never felt the compulsion to use the extended weekend in this way. One reason being my dislike of crowds allied to the fact that I just don't want to do the same as the majority.

A (too) brief glimpse of the sun today

While the spectators at the test match at The Oval were I'm informed enjoying hot sunshine as well as witnessing England's win over the old foe, here in Cornwall the weather was stuck in a rut. Today at long last the sun came out - well briefly after a wet start. As I type this mid afternoon the clouds have filled in and it is far from settled. Just after lunch I dead-headed my large white shasta daisies. These I inherited when I bought the cottage; I'm pleased to have them because they need little attention and seem to be immune from pests and diseases but I have noticed look very scruffy when they start to go over in contrast to the very fresh whiteness when they first bloom.

My 'shastas' attract a few insects but nothing in comparison with the golden rod, now coming into its best. These soft downy flowers absolutely hum with dozens of bees and hover flies and although the golden rod has become a little too prolific it is at least helping out the bee population and any assistance they can get right now is very valuable. The golden rod is following on from the marjoram, another plant very happy to self seed and again well frequented by bees, particularly bumble bees.

The pervading dampness and buoyant slug population discourages one from growing a number of flower species but I'm very happy to have an abundance of insects in the garden at least. The weather outlook for the rest of the month isn't too cheerful - perhaps we will have a nice dry sunny September. Still autumn days can be absolute gems so here's hoping!

And still it rains

The exceptionally soggy July has spilled over into August. Apparently down my way you would have had to go back well over a century to the 1880's to endure a wetter July! yesterday was thoroughly miserable weatherwise and there is no let up as I type this. However there is hope on the horizon: the Met Office reckon that the wet stuff will disappear east tonight and then we should have a few days of pleasant weather as high pressure tries to build from the south west.

Fortunately the flowers on my buddleia at the back of the patio haven't quite gone over so fingers crossed there may be a late surge in butterfly numbers.

Met Office downgrades summer forecast

A really embarrassing day for the Exeter Met Office. Before the start of summer they had confidently predicted that there would be a "barbecue summer" in 2009. They have chosen one of the wettest days of this soggy July to severely downgrade expectations for the rest of the season. Once again it is the fault of the jet stream: in June it looked as if it would ensure most of the nasty 'lows' would be tracking eastward with their centres way up toward the north of Scotland. That was June. Now the jet stream is much much further south resulting in our area getting plenty of miserable weather reminiscent of our two previous 'summers'.

The Met Office were extremely unwise to use the words "barbecue summer". They had included some caveats in their long range forecast which wasn't quite so optimistic as people are perhaps making out. But what the MO and anyone else liable to make public statements in this media driven age really have to understand is that people always remember short snappy phrases and soundbites no matter what other message surrounds them. In this case just those two words "barbecue summer".

Quite correctly the forecasters have pointed out the drier than usual June with a good Wimbledon fortnight and even Glastonbury didn't get much of the wet stuff. The thing is though that anyone with children doesn't think of June as being part of summer (although it obviously is and contains the longest day). No it's when school holidays start that a lot of people think about summer weather. But there we go. So will the Met Office stick their necks out prior to summer 2010?

Thunderstorms. What thunderstorms?

It's about 11.30 am BST as I type this and by now we should have had some intense downpours of rain and thunder and lightning. We had a sprinkling of rain much earlier but now it is just cloudy and humid. So what about the talk of flash floods and the rest. Well if you are living in parts of Ireland, particularly Dublin, then the dire warnings from the Met office would have proved very relevant as they have been swamped by bad weather. But, so far, nothing of note here.

In fairness to the forecasters the present weather set up is just ripe for tropical deluges: we have had this very humid tropical air off the continent for a few days so conducive to a thundery breakdown but it is the potential clash between this heat and the much cooler maritime air advancing from the west as a front comes in off the Atlantic that should be producing intense thundery outbreaks of rain. I have sympathy for the Met Office because these thunderstorms can be very localised - they have to broadcast a worst case scenario even though many places may not be affected.

Although the scenery is very striking here I live well down in the valley and it feels like being near the bottom of a ravine sometimes so precipitous are the valley sides. One result of this is that it's difficult to know what the weather is doing outside this immediate locality. All things considered though I wouldn't swap this spot for another to live in.

It is now just starting to rain but gently. Maybe a tropical downpour is still to come.

LUNCHTIME UPDATE:
Still cloudy here but reports in of very heavy rain and localised flooding in Truro and Mid Cornwall areas. Evidently then the Atlantic front has been dragging its heels a bit.

Holiday weather glorious but wet today

We were very fortunate with the weather over the bank holiday weekend here in the south west but a blip today as rain off the Atlantic passes across us. The forecasters had promised us sun and warmth for last Saturday and Sunday, absolutely correct as it turned out, but had warned of a marked deterioration on Monday with the chance of outbreaks of heavy thundery rain. Well these didn't happen here or over much of the region and apart from a little dampness early in the day the weather wasn't bad. These outbreaks of rain were forecast to move north from France and seem to have broken up somewhat leaving us predominantly dry. I've noticed before that bad weather from this direction is notoriously difficult to predict accurately whereas the front that is affecting us as I type and moving west to east is a much more reliable piece of weather for the Met Office to get right.

I'm sure that I have mentioned before my opinion that bank holidays don't have so much bad weather as they get credited with. More a case of the miserable ones getting remembered and our imagination reckoning they were all like that! It would be interesting to get some statistics to back me up on this one.

This is a fabulous time of year to visit Devon and Cornwall with our deep lanes smothered in wild flowers before the fresh fronds of bracken start to dominate. An interesting comment too from weather forecaster David Braine who mentioned that this is an exceptional year for buttercups. This is something I've noticed too - here in the Tamar Valley there is a lot of low intensity agriculture and there are many meadows where the yellow of buttercup almost rivals that seen in fields of oil seed rape! A slight exaggeration perhaps but they are doing perhaps almost too well in my cottage garden.

It does seem that high pressure will shortly return to dominate our weather and to those visitors staying on in my two counties through this half term week - Enjoy!

Turbulent weather messes up plans

We are not having the best of weather this weekend! There was heavy rain in the small hours of Sunday morning and although it brightened up (temporarily) at breakfast time there was a quick return to the wet stuff allied to a very strong wind. All of this knocked my carefully laid plan for today sideways. I had arranged a walk for our local history group in the Minions area of Bodmin Moor led by Dave, a professional archaeologist and topographical historian, who I reckon understands the landscape of the area as well as anyone out there. But weather is absolutely critical at this location and what we have experienced today has certainly vindicated the decision to call off the walk first thing this morning. Now I used to be pretty lucky when organising outdoor events but seem to be jinxed regarding this particular walk - this is the third year of asking and each time it has been diabolical on the day! Previous to that, in 2006 it must have been, Dave led a walk in the same locality on what proved to be a perfect summer day weatherwise and this second walk was intended to complement the earlier one but I'm wondering if we will ever make it!

Just in case anyone might think I'm moaning I have to say that nobody is losing money on this postponement except perhaps 'The Hurlers Halt' at Minions where we would have enjoyed a cream tea. Contrast my situation say with those organising a village fete for good causes. If they have a washout then that can play havoc with their finances. So for me and fellow potential walkers a little frustration today but nothing worse.

Yesterday was again very breezy with some showers but luckily between 12.30 and 2.30 it was dry. Why those times so important? Well the 'Rubber Band' (formerly known as 'The Calstock Rubber Band' were in attendance at Morwellham Quay, the latter hosting a food and craft festival over the weekend. I would normally go there anyway to enjoy the music but out of the blue a few days before Rosie had popped the question "Would I like to play the tea chest double bass with the band?". Well "yes" and "thank you very much" after I had recovered from the shock. This 'instrument' is normally played by Mike but his job often precludes him from playing on a Saturday afternoon. Yours truly duly turned up with a red 'L' plate dangling around his neck and I have to say that I enjoyed the experience and am grateful for the rest of the band for accepting me!! I wouldn't for a moment judge my small contribution as being immaculate but I guess I had the advantage of being quite familiar with that part of their extensive repertoire that they played yesterday and this helped to settle my beginner's nerves! Although under a roof we were open to the elements on three sides and with the wind whistling through there was much use of clothes pegs to retain music to stands.

So a two hour slot for us in the festivities with a short refreshment break in the middle. But, and here is a problem I've noticed before, the time allocated to us meant that the first half was played to a very small audience and that it wasn't until we got into the second session that the numbers of listeners started to grow. The Rubber Band are really noted (unintentional pun) for their very lively bouncy music and it is always great to see audiences react to this. A good time had by all I reckon.

Glorious weather after harsh winter

I have really been neglecting this blog of late - this is partly down to the super weather we are experiencing this week coupled to the fact that there is a considerable amount to be done in the garden. Yes there is a real feel of Spring in the air and the plants that were pegged back by this winter's cold blast are now making up for lost time! Daffodils are plentiful now in the Valley and I saw my first stitchwort of the year the other day. Although there seems to be a consensus that the spring flowers are about a fortnight late this year that particular comment needs to be qualified. I think that it would be more realistic to say that our flowers have come into bloom about two weeks late compared with the flowering times of our recent mild winters. In other words it could be more accurate to say that primroses, daffodils and the rest have flowered very early in the last few years and in 2009 they are about right, if that makes sense.

Is the weather this year going to revert to its more distinctly seasonal pattern? It would be nice to think of warm summer evenings to come with folk able to sit outside till sundown. The beginning and end of the day can be very atmospheric - there is something quite special about being up at the crack of dawn on a very still summer's morning. Absolute magic.