On Thursday I had a dental appointment in a nearby town so travelled down the dale out into what I now think of as the ‘real world’. Though of course it’s debatable as to whether life in the remote parts of the upper dales is the ‘real life’ with its spirit of community help and need for self-reliance. 

There was a yellow weather warning for wind and gusts of 70 mph were recorded for Tan Hill, Britain’s highest pub at 1,732 feet (528m) above sea level. The A66 main road over the Pennines was closed to high-sided vehicles, but even then I saw reports of a lorry being blown over.

So, I kept away from the high moor to avoid the gusts and stayed on the sheltered roads along the bottom of the dale, taking detours for the road works that seem to have sprung up everywhere. My friend from London told me that road works appear at the end of the financial year when councils spend any surplus funds. I don’t know if this is true or not, but it certainly makes navigation in the dales difficult as the low roads are hemmed in by the fells and weather can close the high roads.

Coming home later in the afternoon was not so easy. There had been some rain and wind in the town where I was, but nothing particularly unusual for March. Then as I was coming into the upper part of the dale I saw that the river was unusually high, fast flowing and brown. The big white bus that takes children to and from school flashed its lights and the driver flagged me down, opened his window and leant out to speak to me. “The road is flooded not far beyond here, I had trouble getting through with the bus, a car won’t make it”.

I knew there was a turning up on to the high moor quite close, a narrow single-track road that would take me up and over into the dale to the south where I could pick up another single-track road to come back again and so avoid the floods. It’s a lovely scenic drive on a fine day and I’d taken it few times before just for the views, despite it being a long way round.

Well. That turned out to be something of an adventure. The track was a river where it went uphill and downhill; and the normally gentle becks that gurgled in culverts underneath the track were now gushing torrents above it. One of these was so fierce that I had to stop and have a bit of a think before driving through. I got home safely in the end, and was very grateful for that. 

The community was responding too, I saw that the local Facebook groups were letting people know that village halls along the dale had been opened and there was shelter, tea and coffee, in case anyone needed somewhere safe to be whilst they waited for the flood to recede. Long term residents were also saying that they’d never seen the river so high and wondering why rain wasn’t in the forecast weather warning.

In other news the real world is rather forcing itself on me due to conflict in the Middle East. Most homes here use domestic heating oil. I’d topped my tank up before Christmas and it was now low and needed refilling. I called the fuel company last week and they it told me would take ten days before they could deliver. It’s now run out and the gauge in the boiler room is merrily chirping away telling me the tank is empty. I switched off the heating and hot water, and called the fuel company again. The price has more than doubled and apparently it’s complete mayhem.

Fortunately, I have a wood burning stove and a good supply of logs; and can heat a kettle on the wood burner to provide some hot water. But it struck me how everything is connected in the modern world. Even here in the remote upper dales, the choices made by people a couple of years ago in a distant country thousands of miles away are now imposing major costs on me.

Do you have any ways for avoiding anxiety caused by climate change and geopolitics? I found a page on the Natural History Museum website that acknowledges the impact of ecoanxiety on mental health. I’ve put the link below. They suggest 1. Don’t bury your feelings. 2. Speak up. 3. Language is important. 4. Find your superpower. 5. Choose ‘do’. What are your suggestions (avoiding politics if possible!)?

Rowan on the Moor

A Moodscope member

Eco-anxiety: How to cope at a time of climate crisis

Climate change and the state of nature is taking its toll on the mental health of people around the world. Find ways to cope with your eco-anxiety and channel it into action for the planet.

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/how-to-cope-with-eco-anxiety.html