Outdoor Discoveries

Heatwave…

As I write this, a lot of the U.K. is enjoying what has been a long heatwave. Good weather like this does have its disadvantages though. One of these is drought and the effects of the dry weather are very apparent in the countryside round about here. I was out on a ramble around Macclesfield last Sunday week (a community street cleaning project on Saturday morning kept me local for the weekend) and I encountered browning vegetation and the ground was so dry that it was dusty in some places and cracked in others. That ramble took me along the Macclesfield Canal before I followed a footpath to Gawsworth and returned using footpaths and roadways. Walking in this weather does require its precautions (some might advise against rambling in hot water altogether and that does make sense for the very young, the very old and the otherwise vulnerable): plenty of water and sunscreen. After all, sunburn, melanoma, sunstroke and heatstroke are conditions best avoided.

I just had a look at the long range forecast and it doesn’t look too bad. Yes, rain is forecast but there is sunshine also. I also learned today that we are likely to have a mild wet winter; milder and wetter than usual. I suppose that we ‘d better make the most of what we have then.