Thwarted again! (Climate grumbles)

[Rynglieder]

A few weeks back I got a call from a mate suggesting the day looked good for a short run out. It would be the last one of the year together as Steve wraps up his bike for the winter.

I suggested a run out into Shropshire as there was a castle I wanted to visit and the route out there would provide good roads for motorcycling. All went well until we left Craven Arms and turned toward Clun but as I lead us south toward Clungunford we came across "Road Closed" signs. Being the optimist, I gave the barriers a bit of a swerve and tried to push on, but sure enough I found the road completely flooded and was forced back onto the B4368. Carrying on toward Aston on Clun, I spotted another sign for Clungunford and decided to give it a try, but it just bought us back out at the road closure barriers.

Back onto the B4368 again then I reached the village of Purslow and found another signed left turn enticing me. We probably got a mile down this one before we found it impassable and once again was forced into a 180-degree turn. Thankfully I was on the Z1000 which is a light enough bike to do this sort of thing, turning the GTR would probably have needed help from Steve and three or four farm labourers.

In the end the planned destination was abandoned and we settled for a coffee and BLT baguette at a pub in Clun. Some of the locals seemed surprised "tourists" had got through and were asking us where we had come from, I think some believed they were completely cut of – certainly, as we left the pub and glanced down toward the town's bridge all we could see were the parapets above the flooded river and an abandoned pick-up truck impersonating a swan.

To cap off a frustrating day we got hit with rain that the BBC had failed to forecast for our run home. Steve had a much harder clean down on his baby than he was expecting before tucking it up.

Roll on a couple of weeks and I decided to go for a short run on the Z1000 again as the GSX is currently out of reach. I knew very well it had been raining a lot over the last few days (Storm Bert) but there were no big issues at home and as I was only planning a few miles I set out with no preparation and an innocent smile.
A brief stop in Bewdley revealed the River Severn was looking quite high, but well below the flood defences. I pushed on toward Tenbury Wells in yet another shower on a supposedly dry day. Pulling up in Tenbury for a coffee I was confronted with flashing blue lights at the far end of the main street and "Road Closed" signs barring my intended destination. A quick chat with the natives when I bought my coffee confirmed there was no chance of getting through on the Bromyard road, so once again The Environment had stuck its boot on the neck of my ride out.

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It wasn't until I got home and caught the national news that I realised how bad things were, specifically in Tenbury. The main river through the town (The Teme) hadn't breached, but a smaller river (The Kyre Brook) at the other end of town had washed away its retaining wall. Video on the news showed the effect of some inconsiderate agricultural type driving a tractor through the flood and adding to the already considerable damage with his bow-wave.

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Which brings me on to Climate Change – now, some of you may be mentally switching off at this point, I know I have started to do so. The dreaded CC is being forcibly inserted into every documentary or news item these days (in the same way that every drama has to have one woman in a position of power, a minimum of one person of an ethnic persuasion, a character with a disability and one or two that are implied Gay if not overtly so. I now sit in front of my TV every evening ticking them off, I can't settle down into the plot until I've got them all).

I believe the climate is changing, I'm not a "denier" but I also believe that the climate and planet have always changed. Even if humankind was not around, the planet and climate will change. Go to Wrens Nest Nature reserve on a hill near Dudley and you will find fossils showing it was once a tropical sea bed. The isle of Wight used to be connected to mainland Britain – The Needles on the IOW and Old Harry Rocks in Dorset reveal the point of connection. England was linked to France years before the channel tunnel was constructed and none of this change was due to industrialisation or human CO2 emissions.

If there is a way of producing cheaper, cleaner energy, I'm all for it. Despite this, some bloke from Stourbridge going for a blast on an orange Kawasaki for the shear joy of it is probably not helping. I think it makes little or no difference. We are going to have to live with change whatever and just make sure we are more prepared.

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Stay out of the deep stuff.

Pete.

[O.C.]

Pete, as ever your post and pictures are superb, and FWIW I totally agree with you in regard to the inclusion of certain parts of our society

Good post sir...I loved it ...stay dry