Water was tumbling down Sour Milk Ghyll towards Seathwaite in Upper Borrowdale (Lake District) on a day of very heavy blustery showers but there was probably little comparison with many days in the year as the tiny hamlet is renowned as being the wettest inhabited place in England.  The average annual rainfall is 3,552mm (c140 ins) about five times more than Edinburgh and six times more than London and almost three times that of Keswick about nine miles away.  Detailed records had been started in 1846 by a meteorologist, Dr John Miller, and ten years ago on 19th November 253mm (almost 10 ins) were recorded in 24 hours with very much more the next day, causing severe flooding.  In the distance is Raingauge Cottage beside which the famous raingauge lies.  Paddling our way in places along very wet footpaths, we could hardly imagine what it must be like on a day of persistent rain there.