Chapter 8: Rhuddin in the rain💦
August 2025
The last day of August rolls in and signs of the autumn are surely approaching up here on the Beacons. The dark nights are cooler now and on clear nights are displaying a dazzling sky full of stars and a bright Milky Way. Berries are out and some of the leaves are turning colour. The land, after a very very dry spring and summer, is getting a really good dousing of rain. The type of rain we have had up here this week has been named “double” rain: this inspired by the little met office symbols of the hourly forecasts with heavy rain showing double the raindrops! On this scale then, the rain up here today has really been “triple” rain and it was SO loud hammering on the roof of the camper van here this morning !
It was exciting hearing it, knowing the young trees are getting the water they need to thrive and also because just before the rain came, Oz set up a makeshift water collection into an IBC from the old barn roof.
It’s filling up quickly…. we collected more than 500litres in the first 48 hours! Like I said, Triple Rain!
This bodes well as our first step towards getting reliable water systems in place. It is just one of the methods to secure water here and there will also be other roof spaces over compost bays and sheds where we will collect rainwater. We’ll also be creating swales (ditches on contour) to collect and distribute water and nutrients across the land and intend to create connected ponds to store water for seasons of low rainfall (as we have experienced this first year here). During high rainfall, these water stores can drain off into the natural stream beds that are already there so that the land doesn’t become waterlogged.
Our hope is to set up systems here that help us to be ready and resilient, designing in to our landscapes and lifestyles a flexibility to adapt to the environment that is changing around us. We cannot predict what the weather will be like over the coming year but we can prepare ourselves and the land the best we can for challenges that may arise, making the most of the natural resources available to us.
