8 February

Since I last wrote we have had buckets of torrential rain, some river catchments not too far away having over five inches - yes, 12.5cm in modern parlance - in just one day last week. At one point the River Kent had decided to go on a trip down the A6, whilst in parts of the Dee Valley grayling were feeding in the fields.

I went for a walk along the river yesterday, just to see what damage there had been to the work that we had done on creating new pools. Thankfully, though one flood had lifted the water level 11 feet above summer low, there was no damage and the river was still a couple of feet up and running clear. I saw one fish move at the surface... chub or grayling or trout? I didn't get a good enough view. But I wil on Thursday when I take the rod out during my next riverside stroll! I'll let you know how I get on.