Farmers have borne the brunt of what the Germans are calling the '100 year winter'. Gareth Wyn Jones farms 3,500 sheep with his father, three uncles and three cousins in the Carneddau Mountains of north Wales. Has he ever known weather like it? "Never. Never," he says. "I'm not exaggerating, it's a bloody disaster."
During the week, inspired by the promise of sunshine in the afternoon, I ended up walking on the Seven Sisters, the chalk cliffs that mark the end of England. Next stop the Channel and France. It's as far south as you can go, more or less. It was freezing, with a stiff north wind. And we found snow! A drift from the recent storms in the south was hanging on.
 |
| Looking east to the Burling Gap and Belle Tout lighthouse on Beachy Head |
 |
| Snow on the south coast near Beachy Head, 28 March 2013 |
While in the area I dropped two old gliders into The Loft to get a checkup. They're a few years old but both still usable. But I've been trying to sell them and the first question people ask is, 'Has it got a test certificate?'
When I say no, they disappear. So I thought better get them checked out. That way I can sell them, or use them on sand dunes happy in the knowledge they're not porous / about to snap, or just pack them away neatly and put them on a shelf, albeit £150 lighter...
0 comments:
Post a Comment