Tuesday 1st September

At least in England, or so it would seem; here in Eymet it has definitely been, and continues happily to be, Summer.  It has been quite splendid from some time in May.  June and July were really quite hot; the first two weeks of August were a bit cooler but nobody could deny it was still Summer, and we have just had another hot week about to break with the usual thunderstorms.  But we do watch British TV and the weather forecasts have been pretty awful as wave after wave of rain has come in from the Atlantic.  This morning (Monday) I watched as hundreds of holidaymakers were stranded at Calais and Dover as a protest by workers being laid off by a French ferry were stopping ships from entering or leaving Calais.  And what struck me most was the atrocious weather.  People were stuck in their cars for hours and hours as drenching rain pelted down on them.

I have been back three times in what should be the English summer; June was actually quite hot but both July and Augusts visits were full of rain and quite chilly, you would think it was early spring or late Autumn weather.  I seem to remember from childhood lots of hot sunny summers, and cold snowy winters; even one Christmas day when there was snow.  I wonder if that is just memory playing tricks again or if the seasons really were more defined back then.  But of late Winters just seem one wet and windy passage of months before the late spring, and this year must rate as one of the worst Summer’s on record.

The only hope is that September and October will bring a change and all of you in England can at last have something resembling a decent summer.  The seasons are no respecter of the calendar so there is still room for a little hope, but don’t hold your breath.