Floods And Frosts In The English Winter
The new year period trudges by and the dawning of 2024 passes with no great celebration, Michaela’s cough has turned out to be a nasty little chest infection which has taken a proper grip. As we watch London’s new year fireworks on the TV, we muse on the fact that we saw in 2023 in Pedasi in Panama and the previous year in La Fortuna, Costa Rica, this time it’s a matter of grabbing a GP appointment and snaring a dose of antibiotics.
With the cough still barking but the spirit enjoying a measure of medically induced uplift, we head to Northamptonshire for my granddaughter’s third birthday party where River finds herself tearing wrapping paper off a stackful of gifts for the second time in just over a week.
England’s notorious rain has seriously misbehaved over the holiday period with ridiculous quantities falling on already saturated ground, leading to the inevitable consequences. Driving across the Midlands and then down the M5 to Cornwall those consequences are all too evident with acres and acres of farmland submerged beneath extensive floodwaters. Through Worcestershire and Gloucestershire each river crossing is heralded several fields ahead by newly formed lakes glinting in the morning sunlight.
Yet it’s a still and gentle Sunday morning today, bright blue skies and sunshine bringing a calmness which must feel incongruous to those families still trying to pump dirty water out of their ravaged homes. Over a thousand homes are going through the same ordeal just now.
And yet apart from that sparkling water in places where there shouldn’t be any, this is a still winter’s day which gives no hint of the storms which have passed through these parts in the last week or so. Leafless branches form dark skeletons against the bright blue sky, rooks in large flocks busy themselves tidying up treetop nests ready for the breeding season and the occasional buzzard mooches on roadside fencing waiting to claim its next meal. It’s a classic winter sunshine scene, no foliage to sway in any breeze, no clouds to scuttle past, no ripples on the mirror which is the flood in the fields. Even the motorway is quiet. Michaela sleeps from Bristol to Exeter, not recovered sufficiently yet to be her usual buoyant self. I tell her she’ll be fine after a couple of pints of Tribute. She’s not so sure.
Sunday night in Padstow and the temperature plummets. By Monday, waters from clifftop streams turn to ice on the beach before they can reach the sea, tufts of white frost cap the green of lawns and the breasts of foraging robins flash bright red in the hedgerows. It’s so cold and still that sounds travel abnormal distances: the chug of the ferry seems overly loud, the chatter of children way over on the beach at Rock carries across the water so clearly that we can hear every word as if they are just yards away.
Ricky the PAT testing engineer arrives Tuesday morning saying his van has registered an outside temperature of minus 5 on his way from Newquay – over the years I have of course seen frost, and snow, in Cornwall before, but not very often. More contractors will be calling this week as we’ve taken the option to desert the local booking agents and go it alone with the property on airbnb. We’ll see how that goes as 2024 unfolds.
With commitments at the house we haven’t yet ventured out on to the more remote parts of the coastal path, it’s a fair bet there’s a chilling Atlantic wind up there. This year we won’t be leaving the UK until February, so the warmth of the sun is a few weeks away yet but, when that trip dawns, it’s going to be a long and exciting journey.
We’re recognised in the Custom House pub these days and are given a warm welcome as we sidle up to the bar.
“Oooh that feels nice on my throat”, says Michaela as she takes the first mouthful of Tribute.
I rest my case.
But even the magic of a good English ale can’t shake the nagging cough enough for her to tackle the coast path, so I get granted a free pass to grab my hiking fix with a few hours alone with the wind and the Atlantic. Traversing the headland from Padstow to Harlyn, the often muddy farmers’ fields are frozen solid underfoot, footprints of other walkers preserved in rigid casts. Puddles left by recent rains have thick coverings of ice, droplets held by the oversized leaves of large cabbage plants teeter like static teardrops.
It’s cold but it’s beautiful, the light cast by the winter sun so perfect that every line is clearly defined, every cliff and headland given precision by the crystal clear cold air. Gulls, fulmar and oyster catchers huddle together just out of the reach of the crashing waves or way above the sea on rocky outcrops, jackdaws form noisy groups, and just before Stepper Point a bullfinch sits on the wall, proudly puffing out its deep red winter plumage.
One minute the biting wind drags the temperature down further, then one simple turn on to the lee side of a hill meets the feeble but tangible warmth of the winter sun rather than the bite of the wind: I seem to be constantly adding or removing layers, fastening or unfastening zips. Michaela is waiting outside the Shipwrights as I wander back into the harbour. I’m a little overheated, she is freezing cold. Best we go in the pub.
22 Comments
Lynette d'Arty-Cross
So sorry to hear of the flooding. The weather this year has been wild. After unusually high temperatures throughout autumn we’re now experiencing unusually low temperatures. I hope Michaela feels better soon. Cheers.
Jenny
Your photos, as usual, are really lovely, and remind me that Cornwall really IS different from my usual haunts! I must return !! I’m sorry to hear about Michaela’s cough though. if she has had COVID, or what might have been COVID, recently it might be an idea to see if she can get an X-ray as the new strain can apparently linger on in various annoying ways. A neighbour had this happen and was told at the hospital that many GPs are not totally up to speed as it’s quite new. However I hope Michaela is managing to get enough Tribute inside her to feel much better anyway by now !
Phil & Michaela
Thank you Jenny for your kind thoughts. Michaela tested negative for COVID at the height of the ailment so we’re reasonably confident that it’s “just” a chest infection. As far as Tribute is concerned, she’s happily moved on to blackberry gin!!
wetanddustyroads
My ‘sympathy’ to River opening Christmas and birthday presents so close together. From experience I know that it is now a long stretch before you get gifts again! It’s almost hard to believe it’s so cold when I look at the lovely photos. I hope Michaela is her old self again soon (maybe she should drink more of that ‘medicine’ in the pub). Love that photo of Padstow harbour.
Phil & Michaela
She’s moved on to blackberry gin as her medicine of choice!
wetanddustyroads
Blackberry gin? That sounds like something I need right now (and I’m not even sick)!
Andrew Petcher
A really good post. I enjoyed it. Hope the cough goes away. Weather not been so bad in Lincolnshire, wet but no frost, quire mild really.
grandmisadventures
What beautiful walks through Cornwall to start off the year. I hope the cough goes away soon as there are adventures to be had 🙂
Phil & Michaela
Indeed there are!
Toonsarah
I’m sorry Michaela still isn’t feeling too good, I hope the beer and (I see above) blackberry gin do the job. I usually swear by whisky or dark rum on these occasions! It’s great to see some sun (it’s deserted us again here in London) but I feel for those poor people who were flooded, it must be devastating.
Phil & Michaela
Yes I always think it must be a terrible experience, seeing your home destroyed in seconds and you’re powerless to do anything. Michaela still can’t shake off the cough – but then the GP said it might linger for three weeks and today is Day 23, so we’re hopeful it’ll be back to normal soon. Trouble is, when you’re as chirpy and lively as Michaela, it’s even more obvious when you’re not firing on all cylinders!
Image Earth Travel
Cornwall has always been my favourite (and still is) country in the UK. Each time I visit (my partner’s from Glastonbury), we venture to somewhere in Cornwall.
The photos bring back loads of memories – I first visited in 1985 during the 12-month solo backpacking trip around the world. I’ve seen many changes over the decades.
Phil & Michaela
Yes Cornwall has changed quite a bit, especially in the last few years. I’ve been coming regularly since 1979 and have never lost my love for this part of the world…you know, they can change a lot but they can’t change the coastline!
Image Earth Travel
That’s very true.
A good friend lived in Cornwall most of her life but now she’s moved away from the UK.
In addition to villages being expanded and starting to lose their charm, many Londoners were/are buying up second homes as holiday homes in Cornwall. This pushed prices up and of course, locals could no longer afford to live there…sad.
Helen Devries
So sorry Michaela is finding it hard to shake off that cough….if you want a change from blackcurrant gin may I suggest Mallory Made products -https://pear-buttercup-8568.squarespace.com/store . Her stuff is tops!
Phil & Michaela
Thank you Helen, she’s following the link as I write!
Monkey's Tale
Oh you Brits, you don’t know what cold is 😊 The skies are a brilliant blue not at all what I think of as winter in the UK. Hope Michaela feels better soon! Maggie
Phil & Michaela
Ha ha 😂 of course we don’t…but you see Maggie, we have so, so many miserable grey days, with or without drizzle, that a bright cold day is worthy of comment! And, of course, Michaela and I spend so much time in hot climates now that these temperatures feel terrible to us 😂😂
Miriam
Oh I do hope she feels better soon. Not a fun way to begin the year at all. Sorry too to hear of the floods. We also experienced flooding here last week, right in the middle of summer. The weather has been particularly strange all across the world it seems. Sending very best wishes for a healthy and happy second half of January.
Phil & Michaela
Cheers Miriam ☺️
Lookoom
It really makes you want to leave for Canarval! I hope Michaela recovers well quickly to enjoy the next adventure to the full.
WanderingCanadians
Sorry to hear that Michaela was sick over the holidays. We’ve had an unusually dark and damp winter so far, but thankfully the temperatures have been relatively mild (except for this past week). Those are some lovely coastal views.