{"id":2596,"date":"2024-04-21T09:40:01","date_gmt":"2024-04-21T09:40:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/?p=2596"},"modified":"2025-07-15T15:23:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T14:23:15","slug":"rain-in-cumbria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/21\/rain-in-cumbria\/","title":{"rendered":"Rain in Cumbria"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rain in Cumbria: a rainy day read, with a wry poem at the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018For the rain it raineth every day\u2026\u2019 Feste\u2019s song at the end of Twelfth Night could have been written for 2023-24 \u2013 at least for parts of the UK. Where it started raining in July and doesn\u2019t seem to have stopped for more than the very occasional day since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not just perception: a lot of rainfall records have been broken over the past nine-ten months, causing misery for man and a nightmare for farmers<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And since that report in January, we\u2019ve had a lot more of the same. Recently, Storm Kathleen<\/a>\u00a0 caused more damage, as well as bringing yet more rain in Cumbria (and much of the UK).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Helm Wind<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Cumbria, of course, has its own unique wind to contend with, on top of the storms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

France has le mistral. The Alps have the (German) f\u00f6hn. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Helm Wind (the only named wind in the UK<\/a>) is a strong north-easterly wind hitting the southwest slopes of Cross Fell in Cumbria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rain in Cumbria<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Whenever someone has told me they went on holiday to the Lake District, \u2018but\u2019 it rained a lot, my response is a gentle chiding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why it\u2019s called the Lake District. Not the Dry Holes Between Mountains District.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Likewise, anyone wishing to visit Wales might want to remember the famous book title is \u2018How Green was my Valley<\/em>\u2019. Not \u2018How Brown was my Valley<\/em>\u2019.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Floods<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

However, climate change and other factors have meant that in the last 20 years, Cumbria has suffered several bouts of serious flooding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Joiner\u2019s Arms pub, in Carlisle, has two plaques on its (outside) walls, showing the level the flood waters reached in 2005 and 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Those floods took out Carr\u2019s Biscuit Factory and Sainsbury\u2019s. And the 2015 floods were the final nail in the coffin for the student flats at the Old Brewery, which were already run-down and in need of updating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, in 2009, Cockermouth and the surrounding area suffered extensive flooding, after 31.4cm of rain fell in 24hours, on already heavily saturated ground. The volume of water was too much for the rivers Derwent and Cocker \u2013 and for existing flood defences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(The main picture is a 2016 news bill, after the 2015 flooding).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dry humour on a wet topic<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 1895, a visitor to the Lakes wrote in a London newspaper that \u2018there is much to be said in favour of the Cumberland lakes\u2019. Even though \u2018very few Englishmen know anything about the beautiful Lake District\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having left behind brown fields and a \u2018water famine\u2019, the writer admired the greenness of Cumbria. And jotted down a rhyme pinned up in the billiard room of his hotel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ambleside Weather Glass<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When Wansfell wears cap of cloud. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The roar of Brathay will be loud; <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When mists come down from Loughrigg Fell,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A drenching day greyheads foretell; <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Red Screes frowns on Ambleside,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rain will pour both far and wide; <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Wansfell smiles and Loughrigg\u2019s bright, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘Twill surely rain before the night; <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When breezes blow from Coniston, best a macintosh put on; <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If down from Kirkstone Pass they come<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019d better not go far from home<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For pouring rain and drenching wet <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is what you will most surely get. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If breezes blow from Bowness Bay, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2019Tis certain to be wet all day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if they blow from Rydal Lake, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019d better an umbrella take; <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If winds are calm, and all is still, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rain will pour and streams will fill. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if no rain will fall all day, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Keswick Town to Bowness Bay, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upon that morning you will see <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fishes and eels on every tree. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Rothay runs up Wansfell height, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sun will shine from morn to night. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When sheep on Blelham Tarn shall graze,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sun will shine with fiery rays. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When in the nets of Windermere <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Twelve pickled salmon shall appear<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No rain will fall upon that day<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And men may safely make their hay. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Skiddaw stands in Rydal Lake,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When whales in Longhrigg Tarn they take, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Robinson his boat shall sail <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Windermere to Patterdale, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When every visitor shall pay <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A pound hour for boats all day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When no one at the pier has cried: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘This is the \u2019bus for Ambleside,\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When all of us shall mend our ways, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sun shall shine for seven days. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rain in Cumbria: a rainy day read, with a wry poem at the end. \u2018For the rain it raineth every day\u2026\u2019 Feste\u2019s song at the end of Twelfth Night could have been written for 2023-24 \u2013 at least for parts of the UK. Where it started raining in July and doesn\u2019t seem to have stopped […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2597,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[264],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-weather"],"yoast_head":"\nRain in Cumbria - Cumbrian Characters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Rain in Cumbria is kind of a given. But did you know someone wrote a humorous poem about it, in 1895? 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