The heavy rain continues. I could hear the downpours hammering through the night as I couldn’t sleep. And now with the sun rising behind haze and cloud, the rain continues in heavy blustery bursts. It floods the footpaths, soaks the soil, and squelches underfoot.
Naturally I head for the shelter in the woodland to delay my waterproofs reaching that inevitable point of saturation where the water soaks through to my clothes. But also the heavy rain provides and opportunity to check water runoff along the footpaths.
I find a couple points where the drainage channels need to be redug and revetments added, and usual clearing of leaves from hogget holes in the dry stone walls, but overall the paths look pretty good.
The heavy raindrops perpetuate the leaf fall, with Sycamore and Ash falling around me. Horse-chestnut leaves and the two-pronged Black Pine needles also scatter ground. Red arils found at Solent Road where the Yew trees have fruited.
By 0815 I’ve reached Sunnydale and shelter under the awning at the shed. Trousers already breached and soaked under my waterproofs. I should have bought a change of clothes.
The sound of the rain is quite impressive upon the plastic sheeted awning, and the ground dances with the splashing of raindrops. No chance of hearing any birds. In fact, the only birds I see are some Magpies swooping between the trees and a few Woodpigeons who potter about undeterred.
Muddy brown water flows down through the stream, high enough to almost reach the ferns which grow along the bank; Male and Harts Tongue. It meanders at speed under the dripping Rhodedendron, and Cherry Laurel, before headed towards the sea.