Hot weather is no joke when you wear a fur coat, I can tell you, but while the hot sunny days lasted, my servants seemed to enjoy themselves if the number of bottles in the recycling bin is anything to go by.
Of course, one of the advantages of living in Cumbria is we will never be short of water and what little rain we had this summer was very welcome by gardeners and farmers alike. While so many parts of the country are having to watch their lawns turn brown, here at Cumbria Crack Towers, they are green as ever – and, no we don’t have a sprinkler, the only bits that get watered are the hanging baskets and the tubs.
The Met Office statisticians have been working overtime to work out what difference climate change will make to the weather in all areas of the country.
For Cumbria, generally, there will not be much change. Maybe more warmer days in the summer but, rainfall wise, there doesn’t appear to be much change and we will still be able to send our liquid gold down the pipes to Manchester.
The history of Thirlmere and its aqueduct demonstrate that, not for the first time, our Victorian ancestors knew a thing or two about planning for the future. Manchester Corporation, for it was them who built these in the late 1800s and the early part of the last century, had the foresight to recognise that however wet it was on the Pennines and with ever increasing demands as the city grew, they needed a reliable supply of fresh water.
With Liverpool tapping into the rainfall of North Wales, the urban planners of the North West embarked on a project that, in today’s terms would rival HS2 but without the delays and the overspend!
HS2, by contrast, offers absolutely nothing for the country at large save for the humongous profits for the construction companies that are building it as the cost rises even as bits of the original plan are parked.
The Government claims that the new rail link will cut journey times from London to Birmingham and Manchester and, therefore, to Cumbria and Scotland beyond. Of course, this cynical cat looks at this the other way round. It will cut journey times FROM Scotland, Cumbria, Manchester and Birmingham TO London. Why do they never acknowledge this obvious truth?
If anyone is in any doubt that, despite so much hot air about ‘levelling up’, as the national piggy bank is controlled from London by civil servants and bankers who cherish their idyllic life in the Home Counties and their weekly Waitrose delivery, just look at how much has been spent on Heathrow with its shiny new Terminal 5 and the certainty of a new runway.
No, if we are to spend squillions on major, national capital projects, here’s a suggestion that might appeal to those in the south of England. A national water grid connecting the reservoirs and mighty rivers of the north with the dry, arid lands of the south.
About Cumbria Cat
Born in Cumberland and, from 2023, will be back living in Cumberland, having spent most of the past 50 years in some place called Cumbria, this cat has used up all nine lives as well as a few others.
Always happy to curl up on a friendly lap, the preference is for a local lap and not a lap that wants to descend on the county to change it into something it isn’t. After all, you might think Cumbria/Cumberland/Westmorland is a land forged by nature – the glaciers, the rivers, breaking down the volcanic rocks or the sedimentary layers – but, in reality, the Cumbria we know today was forged by generations of local people, farmers, miners, quarriers, and foresters.
This cat is a local moggy, not a Burmese, Ocicat or Persian, and although I have been around the block a few times, whenever I jump, I end up on my feet back in my home county. I am passionate about the area, its people, past, present and future, and those who come to admire what we hold dear, be it lakes and mountains, wild sea shores, vibrant communities or the history as rich and diverse as anywhere in the world.
Then, alongside nuclear power and Kendal Mint cake, we would have something we could flog to our southern neighbours, something that would bring a wealth bonus to the cash-strapped North of England and Cumbria in particular.
