Rain continues to pour down as I write; no let up for those in the neighbouring county of Cumbria. Hereabouts there has been some flooding, the rivers have been powerful and the waterfalls spectacular but nothing on the scale of the problems further north west. As well as the tragic death of a policeman, homes and businesses have been ruined and livestock lost. Power and communications have been down, roads made impassable and bridges wrecked.
John Darlington of the National Trust tells me that staff at one of their properties, Wordsworth House at Cockermouth, have been trying their best to protect the house and valuable contents. But with a foot of rain falling in twenty-four hours and steady downpour ever since the whole countryside has changed. He says:
”Drystone walls are down, livestock lost, tracks and roads blasted by the sheer volume of water, meaning months of hard work ahead for Lake District farmers and our own National Trust teams. There are corners of the countryside that we have not got to yet – and many areas where we simply cannot assess the damage because they remain covered in water. The teams are now working every daylight hour, along with the farming communities and others who work in the countryside, putting walls up, repairing paths – connecting this beautiful landscape back to the rest of the world.”
As our climate continues to change let’s hope this is not a sign of things to come for this part of the country which relies so much on attracting much-needed visitors for its economy.