Even though it was blowing a damp gale outside, I was determined to get an outdoors blip after yesterday's horrible offering!

I was drawn again to the River Mole to see how it is coping with the rainfall. At Leatherhead it is still high and flowing very fast, but not flooding. Three out of the fourteen arches of the Town Bridge are blocked by trees. Sadly, two supermarket trolleys also interrupt the flow.

The bridge was enlarged in the early 1780s from a medieval stone bridge. It was widened and included small safety refuges for pedestrians and this is how we see it today. In the early 1700s the bridge had been in constant need of repair and it was barred off and reserved only for those paying towards its upkeep. They were issued with their own keys! In fact most travellers used the ford alongside the bridge when this was possible. Not today, I fear! Now most traffic by-passes the bridge on a circuitous back street route that gets many strangers very confused.