The July that’s nearly gone…
Published on 31st July 2007 
Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutesDoubtless, few in Gloucestershire will want to recall the July that we have just had; I hope that they are beginning to get back on their feet again. Amazingly, those heavy rains didn't affect Cheshire to anything like the same extent, and I did manage to make two visits to the Cumbrian fells.
However, we shouldn't forget that July weather can be very much a hit-and-miss affair; I can think of loads of occasions where July has been very grey. Maybe, that's down to my experiencing loads of Irish and Scottish summers.
Good weather in July is dependent upon the jet stream moving to the north and that can take a painful amount of time, like it has done this year, or it may hardly happen at all. 2004 is etched in my memory for the latter reason, though I did not fare too badly in August of that year. It helped that I had some slack at work that allowed me to make a break for it when a weather window partially offered a chance.
It was late in doing so again in 2003, an otherwise fabulous year, and I made the mistake of spending a soggy week in Scotland's Western Highlands at the end of July, only to be greeted with a heatwave the very next week! After various efforts to distract myself from my disappointment with a number of weekends spent around Keswick, Skiddaw and Derwentwater, it was only a weekend visit to Lochaber that more than made good.
The fabulous weather meant that I won't easily forget the walks between Kinlochleven and Fort William over the Lairig Mor and around Loch Lochy at all easily; the conditions could not have been better. It was nearly worth getting sodden for the motivation to return to sights like these.
So here's to August 2007. Let's see what it brings. Whatever happens, we have to take what we are given.
