The summer that never was
Last updated 12:57, Friday, 29 August 2008
If there is any consolation to be had, it is simply this: the summer of 2008 has not been as wet as the summer of 2007.
But don’t reach for the tanning lotion just yet. It should be noted that the summer of 2007 was the wettest since these things were first officially recorded in Cumbria, back in 1911.
Fortunately the threat of rain does not appear to have deterred visitors to Cumbria. This summer’s visitor numbers to the county are not yet available. But in July the value of accommodation bookings on Cumbria Tourism’s golakes.co.uk website was up 41 per cent on the same period last year.
And these two rain-sodden seasons are the wettest consecutive pair of summers the county has endured in all those 97 years.
Shows have been cancelled and curtailed while those which went ahead did so in a squelching mass of mud.
For the second successive year Keswick Show was cancelled because of incessant rain. Brough Show and Cumwhinton Horse Trials were called off. The plug was pulled on Lowther Show’s final day. In Carlisle a “skate jam” at Devonshire Walk fell victim to the rain.
Anyone who has considered organising an outdoor event this summer will have spent many anxious hours scanning the skies for a glimmer of light which probably never came.
“Most shows have been affected in one way or another,” says Nick Utting, secretary of Dalston Show. “Dalston is very lucky – we’ve never cancelled. We have a dry field; water seems to run through it. I feel concerned for those people who come to shows with their trade stands. They are there to make a living, whether it’s selling vehicles, horse tack or ice cream.
“We seem to be in a run of bad Julys and Augusts. The last couple of years have been difficult. You don’t get quite so many people to come. But you carry on with the entertainment and if you get wet in the morning, by the afternoon or evening you might be dry.”
The rain is damaging farmers’ yields, which could have a knock-on effect on food prices. Dairy farmer Les Armstrong from Kirkoswald was last year honoured with an MBE for services to agriculture and the community. He takes the pragmatic approach you might expect from someone who spends much of his life wading through muddy Cumbrian fields.
“This is nothing new,” he says, “but it does make things more difficult. We’re all sick of this weather. It bears down on us. You become less resilient. Small problems always appear much bigger when the weather’s on top of you as well.
“Animals respond the same as we do. Meat yield is down because sheep and cattle don’t thrive. Milk cows are sick of it. Their ground gets puddly and its really bad for their feet. Cereal farmers’ crops come to a lot of harm.
“The grass is full of water and there’s not much in the way of nutrients so you have to buy in feed to maintain milk quality. It has a massive financial cost for farmers, although it’s too early to say if that will affect food prices.”
Mr Armstrong, however, still manages to summon a ray of sunny optimism. “We may just get a month of really good weather yet. It’s happened before. Traditionally September was the harvest month. You rely on the sun on your back to get you through the winter.”
Here he touches on perhaps the biggest effect of bad weather: the hefty toll on our national mood. Smothered by a grey blanket overhead, tormented by a water torture which drizzles and pours but rarely relents, it’s hard to escape the feeling that we’ve been cheated out of our rightful place in the sun.
“I think most people’s perception is true,” says Graham Butler, Met Office advisor for north west England. “It has been a very wet summer. There haven’t been single days with massive amounts of rain but it has rained on lots of days and made things miserable.”
Butler rains down statistics. This summer Cumbria has had nearly twice its average rainfall. This month Shap has been the wettest place in England. The rest of the county has paddled closely behind.
The problem is depressingly familiar. But how about a solution? Although blaming global warming has become a global pastime, our man at the Met Office is not convinced. “You can never relate just one year’s weather to global warming,” he insists. “We need to look at decades. And anyway, climate change suggests hotter, drier summers. The last 10 years have been the hottest on record globally but that hasn’t been reflected in our summers. Our typical climate is changeable. A hot dry summer is not a typical one.”
A glance through the window is surely enough to confirm that, and to persuade thousands of Cumbrians to abandon their homes and workplaces and head for the nearest airport.
Not so, says Mike Patrickson of Key Travel on Carlisle’s Victoria Viaduct. According to him, business has been quieter than usual this summer.
He blames this largely on rising prices since the two biggest tour operators, Thompson and Thomas Cook, bought up smaller rivals. Coupled with the credit crunch, the price of sun has become too high for many.
“There hasn’t been a surge in business but we have had a lot of folk trying to get away for a week. People come in and say ‘I need to get some sun.’
“We do a lot of stuff in the UK and the weather has affected that side of things. We do a lot in Scotland but that’s been even wetter than here. We do a lot of Shearings coach holidays but people don’t want to sit in the rain in Bournemouth or Brighton when they can stay at home and sit in the rain for nothing. I have spent many a wet day in Cornwall. It’s depressing.”
In 2007 the site took £1.65m in accommodation bookings. By the beginning of August this year it had already taken £1.76m. We should remember, however, that 2007 was even wetter.
Ian Stephens, Cumbria Tourism’s chief executive, says: “Most visitors to Cumbria do not rely on unbroken sunshine in the summer and in this sense Cumbria isn’t a weather-dependent destination. It offers numerous attractions, events, shops, pubs and restaurants, many of which perform even better if the weather isn’t at its best.
“In the vast majority of cases those who love the outdoors come prepared and enjoy the scenery whatever the weather.”
In Carlisle visitor figures at Tullie House are slightly up for August. But the border city’s parks have struggled to cope with the deluge. Mowing machines have been clogged up by fast-growing wet grass. Floral displays have suffered as densely packed flower heads on varieties such as marigolds have turned into brown mush.
On the bright side, hanging baskets have thrived from plenty of natural watering, as have the troughs along Hardwicke Circus’s barriers.
Often hidden in the big picture are individual stories. Last Sunday fell runner Rob Jebb of Staveley won the prestigious Senior Guides Race at Grasmere Sports, missing Fred Reeve’s 30-year course record by just 17 seconds. Jebb blamed the rain. “It was just a bit wet, even on the climb, and if you lose your footing by a second that’s it.”
Three times this summer Nigel Lamb from Carlisle psyched himself up to do a 14,000-ft sky dive in aid of Eden Valley Hospice. And three times it was cancelled because of bad weather. But he made it in the end.
If nothing else, the ducks at Talkin Tarn and Hammonds Pond are having a wonderful summer.
