July

July got off to a wet start: on Sunday 1 a ‘fun day’ at the bowls club (wacky hats) was cancelled after a morning of torrential rain, but, as we now know, it was to get worse. Teresa photographed several spectacular sunsets. Is there a hint of trouble in them belying the old saw?

Roger had his annual medical check on Tuesday 3 followed by a dental check a week later. He went back later for some further blood tests – so far nothing adverse to report (cross fingers).

A busy start to the month on the bowling green. Roger made an early exit in three club competitions but survived in one. The Overbury men’s team recorded rare wins over both Broadway and Droitwich in the space of three days, and went to the top of the Concorde league, though, having played more matches, this would not last. However, one or two poor triples results have probably put paid to any chance of retaining that title.

On Saturday 14 Teresa and Jay went the annual fete at Stanway House. They saw a parade of steam transport and more morris dancers.

A steam traction engine … and an old caravan

Jay with a bronze garden sculpture The morris men

Friday 20 brought continuous heavy rain for well over twelve hours, resulting in local flooding and transport difficulties, far exceeding those of the heavy rain the previous month when Teresa had to negotiate floods to get Jay to her exams.

This time we had no commitments, and were able to stay in and watch the measuring jug we put outside fill up relentlessly during the course of the day. Though Toddington is mostly on generally high ground, the River Isbourne runs through one side of the village, and elsewhere the clay sub-soil will cause temporary puddling, or even flooding, in the hollows. During the afternoon the river burst its banks, closing temporarily the road to Tewkesbury, and flooding a number of properties in the village. Closer to home, surface water problems affected houses just down the road, including our near neighbour’s, whom we helped with mopping up operations.

From the news we later discovered that the Cotswolds and south Worcestershire were the worst affected areas, and many properties had to be evacuated, some by helicopter, while others provided overnight homes for the scores of stranded motorists. Evesham and Tewkesbury, our nearest towns were badly flooded.

On Saturday 21 we discovered that Clyde’s stables had also been hit. The Isbourne runs through the farm, and a four foot wall of water had devastated the yard. The horses had all been rescued and turned out to graze, but one of the goats was drowned. All but a few of the stables were unusable, all the bales of hay and straw had been washed away, and the sand from the main schooling ring ruined.

On Sunday 22 our mains water supply was suspended. For the next week we collected rain water gushing from a broken gutter to use for flushing the toilets, while the village quickly organised door to door deliveries of bottled water for drinking and cooking. Bowsers of water for washing and cleaning arrived in Toddington in the middle of the following week

Jay collecting from a bowser in Greet before

they arrived in Toddington

On Sunday 29 a trickle of water emerged briefly through the taps, but it wasn’t until the following day that the mains supply was restored, though not for drinking or cooking. Hot showers again on Tuesday 31 – what a relief!

Bowls fixtures were also affected: greens at our nearest neighbours’ greens, at Tewkesbury and Evesham, were under water and would probably not be used again this season, and all inter-club matches were cancelled for a week. Overbury itself, however, drains well, and we had our usual Wednesday roll up, and club competitions resumed towards the end of the week.

Plans for visitors towards the end of the month had to be changed. Teresa’s cousin and her family had hired a cottage in Stow-on-the-Wold for a week, and on Sunday 29 we went to see them, taking a load of washing for their washing machine, and having an excellent lunch at the Fox Inn in Broadwell (whence Roger and Jay have just emerged (left).. The following day they came to see us, bringing picnic lunches (though our water was just beginning to come on again by then). They wanted to see Clyde and the children enjoyed brief rides on him. In the afternoon we took them round Sudeley Castle, where a number of modern sculptures adorned the gardens; the trompe l’oeil below caught our attention. On the Tuesday, Teresa and Jay met them again at the Cotswold Farm Park in Guiting Power.

A trompe l’oeil sculpture at Sudeley

Home Diary 2007