Flood meadows...

Better large!

After yesterdays frosty start, the rain came in during the afternoon and steadily got heavier as night fell. It was followed by gales, which buffeted the house and kept me awake. This morning I lay in my bath and listened to the wind creating deep and sombre ringing tones, like someone playing a giant set of Pan pipes.

The clouds had been swept away by mid-morning to leave dazzling sun, and during the course of the afternoon the gale subsided, so that by the time we took Rosie to Ferry Meadows it was quite still. I'd been hoping for a decent sunset, but a deep grey cloud bank on the western horizon kept the colours muted. So I turned my camera to the north-east and captured the waxing moon rising over the flooded meadows.

In summer these field grow lush grass which is grazed by contented cows. There is some flooding most years, which helps maintain fertility, but it's very rarely as deep as this. The only time I remember higher levels was during the infamous floods of April 1998, which we remember very clearly because part of the roof of our house was being renovated and the tarpaulins proved to be ineffective against the torrential rain. During those floods the path in the foreground was completely under water. If the river carries on rising, it may well be again!