In a radical departure from my normal narrative I wasn’t going to write about the weather this week, but holy smoke, I can’t ignore what happened at the end of last week! It wasn’t quite biblical, and not on the scale of what happened in Scotland, but it was pretty dramatic nonetheless. The forecasters had warned of what was heading our way, so on Friday morning I set out promptly on my delivery round, hoping to complete my circuit before conditions got too bad – in the event it was a very good decision. As it was I had to turn around at Rattlesden and go back to Woolpit and use the main roads to get down to the Long Melford/Sudbury area. I normally cut through the back roads to Lavenham, but it was clear that was going to be out of the question, so there was a bit of dodging around, second guessing where the worst spots would be.

Wherever I drove streams of oxtail soup coloured water coursed off the fields, heading for the lowest point, forming ever expanding puddles that soon became fords and then torrents that disgorged themselves into the closest available water course. There is video footage taken later in the day of the main street through Walsham Le Willows that exemplifies this. It shows a fast flowing river covering the entire width of the road formed from that sweet benign stream that you cross when you go into Clarke’s yard, looking more suitable for kayaking than driving. That afternoon Cavendish was closed to through traffic, the water was already entering the under the doors of the cottages that line the street, this would have been worsened by the wash of passing vehicles, and the Clare to Bury road was impassable in various places.

Yesterday morning I had to make a detour to Haverhill on my journey to Wyken for the market, because overnight the level of the river Stour had risen to the point where the places that I would normally cross it were deep in oxtail soup. The flooding away from the rivers had receded, but in the Stour valley the water meadows are vast glassy lakes and many routes are still out of commission. At least we’ve got a nice dry and sunny day today, so the water level should fall back, and the poor affected householders can assess the damage caused and start the long process of drying out their properties – a task that I don’t envy. There are a lot of abandoned vehicles dotted around the county that also need to be recovered after drivers discovered too late that the risk just wasn’t worth taking, but I’ve almost been in that position myself, so I’m not going to be holier than thou on the subject.

My grandson Hector played The Artful Dodger in Oliver at the Theatre Royal in Bury St Edmunds, finishing last night. When we ordered our Saturday evening tickets months ago I wasn’t to know that it would clash with the semi-final of the Rugby World Cup, and even if I had known, on recent form I wouldn’t have expected England to have been involved. So I swapped my ticket with another family member and went to the show on Wednesday, freeing me up to watch the game last night. The result had a certain inevitability about it, but the contest was much closer than the pundits had predicted it would be – agonisingly so. Anyway, back to Oliver. It was a terrific show with some very good performances, particularly by Nancy and Fagin, and Hector performed really well in his role. I know that I am biased, but he is very good and has great stage presence.

So after all of the rain I’ve got a soggy bottom. No not me! The garden. The lower section of the garden down by the copse tends to retain more moisture whatever time of the year, but it being heavy clay if it gets saturated in the autumn it is unlikely to dry out during the winter months, making field work very difficult. On this type of soil it is easy to cause a lot of damage to its structure if you try to work it when conditions are not right, so it’s best just to stay off it. Any residual crop clearance can happen if we get any penetrating frosts during the bleak mid winter, when earth is hard as iron, water like a stone.

The apples I am picking at the moment are very green, and may well be Granny Smith. They taste very appley. After these there are just two more varieties to pick, one being Adam’s Pearmain, one of my favourites. There will be the first of the new season Oranges from Malaga Spain. Because it’s early in the season the price is quite high, but will hopefully fall as more become available. There are limes and Fino lemons. On the veg front there are more firsts of the season – Brussels Sprouts and parsnips. I know that these benefit from some frosts to enhance their flavour, but I reckon they will be pretty good anyway. There are some other lovely greens – Savoy cabbage, Romanesco cauliflower, and curly kale. There are plenty of roots crops and squash to choose from too, just in time for the soup, stew and casserole season. There was a production issue at the mushroom farm last week, which I am hoping will have been resolved. I have added mushrooms to the shop, but I will not know if they are available until tomorrow, so buyer beware. Don’t forget to adjust your payment if you paid for them last week but didn’t receive them.

This time next week the clocks will have changed and the sun will set at 4.30! That’s something to look forward to, but at least an extra hour in bed is available to you should you wish to avail yourself of it.

Right I’m off to take Nellie for a very muddy walk. I will go down to the bridge between us and Stoke by Clare to see if you can get across it, and see what waterfowl is taking advantage of the flooded water meadows.

Post script. Here are some photos taken on the walk. Note the open window from which the customer had to escape, and the water level has gone down by several inches!

Have a good week.

Phil