Walking Journal – November 2022
This is my monthly walking journal for November 2022. I’ve done only a few months to date, but it will be good to look back and compare after a few years.
This month has been wet. Very wet. And very wild too. We have had just two frosty mornings here in Cornwall with daily temperatures typically between 5 to 12 degrees.
Unbelievably, the hosepipe ban is still in place in Cornwall due to the lack of water in our reservoirs, despite the torrential rain. SW Water sent us all a letter on the 28th of November stating that, as of the 1st of November, Colliford reservoir was just 15.3% full. Also, we will all receive £30 if we use less water to get it to 30% full by the end of 2022. I smell a rat! A friend who walks Dartmoor regularly took some snaps of Burrator Reservoir, which was nearly full earlier this month. Also, SW Water’s shareholders would not be at all pleased for them to be forcing customers to use less water where water equals revenue. Giving away profits to customers to reduce water/revenue is unheard of. They must be getting funding elsewhere.
Avian flu is still rife, although it hasn’t been in the news much this month.
Politics
This isn’t a section I intend to keep reporting on.
We have had a fairly stable month in politics. There’s been the usual bitching between the parties, but overall not nearly as bad as with the last two months. We will be paying more taxes and the economy is in recession. Inflation is high, as are high street prices. I hope poorer families will be able to cope.
Autumn
This month, everything looks and feels about right. The leaves on deciduous trees have all but fallen now, helped by strong winds and rainfall. There have been plenty of squirrels around still, but now, at the end of the month, it is getting colder.
Country and Coast – November
I have done just one long walk around the village this month. It’s been a month of decorating for me so, aside from my lunchtime walks, not enough daylight time for the longer routes. I have to admit, the weather hasn’t been great, so this has eased my yearning for getting out there. I’m no mild-weather-walker, but non-stop rain isn’t much fun.
The ground has softened up a lot and is very boggy, as it often is at this time of the year.
Geese
Last month I mentioned that we have Canadian geese that settle on our tidal rivers around St Germans. As soon as the weather turns a little colder, the geese move from, usually, the south to the north in the evenings and we get beautiful displays of their arrow-like formations flying low overhead.
I mentioned that I hadn’t heard them for a while and then saw that they were simply soaking up the last of the October warmth on the banks of the Tiddy. Well, this month they are moving around much more and can be seen and heard on both sides of the village.
