A bone dry holiday

 It's official. CRT people will be in the water at Cropredy marina tomorrow to check the bed of the basin prior in to installing stop planks on Friday to seal off the marina from the canal. I looked back at my old posts to see that in November of last year the marina staff were having to go round slackening mooring ropes because the water had risen so much that the marina was overtopping in places. The entrance road, the car park and parts of the village were flooded. In January of this year I wrote " In all my 78 years (Yes, I know! Shocking isn't it) I can't remember a wetter winter. "  

Meanwhile  we're hoidaying in this 400 yr old cottage in Little Stretton in the beautiful Shropshire hills.

I've only bumped my head on low door beams four times so far. Otherwise it's extremely comfortable.

We know this cottage well having in the past spend several summer holidays camping just a couple of hundred yards away. Now we're getting a bit old for crawling around in tents.  Access to the cottage by car  is by fording a stream, except it should be but the stream is bone dry.

Those 'steps' you see usually form a waterfall and ther little pool below always used to have a few little brown trout. Further up the valley at the campsite the kids used to catch little bullhead (aka Millers Thumb) fish with their hands. It's very sad to think that they have probably persihed.  I expect we'll have more floods next winter.