When the rains came: A collection of pics and videos from January 2024

Pictures and videos from Geoff, Barry, Ann, and Jonathan, supplied on 5 and 6 January 2024/

Commentary from Hardly Anyone

The decision by His Majesty’s government to create a new waterpark within  Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, Nottinghamshire and even sunny Rutland, was one that met with a certain level of criticism, given that little chance was given to the natives of the areas to express their own opinion.

But as we know, this is a government that likes to “get things done” and so after a quick chat with the Almighty, (which is to say the local weather centre) it was agreed.

Peterborough and surrounding districts would indeed have their own water park, as they had requested.

Now it was upon the nature of this request that something of a debate began.  Who had actually made the request, upon which date, to whom had it been sent and who had actually approved it?

These of course are questions of some significance, and as is normal in such circumstances, there was little by way of answer.   Indeed it can also be said that at this point there was also an unfortunate lack of documentation and agreement upon the process to be followed.  Who is in charge of approving of downpours?

According to the Regional Files Office, run by a certain Reg Fyles, the request came from none other than the media officer of Peterborough Ramblers, which, if there is such a person, is probably yours truly.

But I have no record of making such a request, although I must admit that it is true that a certain part of the timespan known to those speaking the King’s English as “the holiday period” is for me something of a blank.

So I suppose it is possible that rising late one afternoon after a rather jolly time the evening before, I might have called the Met Office and suggested that a little more rain would be quite welcome but I don’t recall.

But all I can say is, if it were me, a) I am sorry and b) no, I don’t have a pension large enough for me to pay reparations to all those affected.

I have suggested that a more suitable place to look to apportion blame is the Met Office itself – a secretive underground department of government of which it has often been said.

Such a bunch of n’er-do-wells have, I am told, their finger on the pulse, and that, of course, in circumstances such as these, is all that is needed.

But whoever is to blame, I think the picture here is one of interest, for it shows for the first time, trees growing down as well up.   That I think is an issue that should be more widely known, so I have contacted the local media.

You will also have noticed if you were paying attention that the picture above actually moved.

This is again another first for all of us, and I would like to thank the team of 250 who collected the 184,672 separate images and pasted them all together.  If anyone can think of a name for such a moving picture I would be grateful.

However, rather amazingly I have been sent a second such “moving picture” and that too appears to move.   These are indeed wondrous times.

So I can do no more at this moment (not least since I live in Northamptonshire and it ain’t raining here, and everything seems rather dry) than leave you with “Moving Picture Number 2” and say thanks to everyone who supplied the pics.  I’ve not tried to put up moving pics before on this website, and I’m rather amazed to see it is possible.