Back from Upton Not Quite Under Severn

[sollers]

Upton upon Severn, by a monumental effort, managed to hold the Folk Weekend despite really adverse conditions.

To deal with the increased risk of flooding (about which more later) they have been carrying out major works, which weren't quite finished but this time were just enough. However, the fields where we usually camp are outside the defences and were most definitely under water. So camping was provided elsewhere, basically on a farm about a mile outside town, where it was a major problem to cram in as many as possible. Generally speaking, it was well organised, with a shuttle bus to take us into town and back and (wonderful!) in a barn food, coffee and papers available.

The down side, which was pretty bad, was I think connected to the fact that we were all so close together: on the first night a lot of thefts took place from tents - during the night, while people were inside. I suspect the fact that you really couldn't see if people were wandering around in the middle of the night had a lot to do with it. The real irony was that the worst sufferers were a Border Morris side called the Thieving Magpies.

That apart, all went well, and the weather managed a special twist for a Bank Holiday: dry on Saturday, sunshine for the procession (somewhere near four dozen sides), and then on Monday it rained. I have never been more happy not to be in a tent, and not because of the theft bit (where I suspect we would have been less vulnerable because the first thing they would have been confrotned with would have been Zoe bung full of attitude): no tent to put up when we got there, no tent to take down in the rain. The minibus is awesome, with bags of space and, for changing, we can stand up comfortably. We also got it out easily; the front wheels were down in a dip but it only needed a bit of a shove from G to get it moving, and we're talking about a big ambulance style minibus pushed by a 65 year old woman.

Now for an explanation about flooding. What made trouble for Tewkesbury a few years ago and, increasingly, Upton upon Severn, is largely a result of house building further up the Severn, on what had originally been water meadows. These are a key feature of river flood plains; they let the surplus water spread out safely and take the strain off. If they are built on, the water can't spread out - often there are defences built - so further down the water spreads out further. This is why our usual campsite was flooded: Upton left it outside the defences so it could do its job.

In terms of farming, the only really safe thing that can be done with water meadows is use them for pasture. You may get some gloomy looking cows standing in six inches plus of water (from which they can be retrieved without too much trouble) but you don't get an entire crop ruined, which is what happens if you try to grow grain there. It's one of the two main types of area (the other is upland sheep pastures) where you really cannot grow crops instead of rearing animals.

Comments

[kalypso]

From the lack of reference to it, I hope your health stood up to the trip.

[sollers]

Yes, it did, partly by taking things gently; I don't feel as reinvigorated as I often do but I definitely feel a great deal better.

And the trip to London is weekend after next, not next, so I should be fine by then and really OK by the end of July/beginning of August ready for Sidmouth.

I may have to rethink beds. A camp bed is fine to me but doggies were not happy - too narrow and they couldn't crawl inside the sleeping bag. However, G is talking of sleeping in the big tent so once we get there I may take a chance on combination large airbed (I have had some bad experiences) and big cushions.

[kalypso]

The last couple of times I used an air mattress I slept so much better than usual that I wondered if I should scrap my bed. Not sure what the cats would make of it, though...

[sollers]

They're wonderful as long as the air stays in them. I've had too much of mattresses gently subsiding during the night alternated with subsiding rapidly.

[kalypso]

Yes, it's important to find one with a good stopper. (Though I remember a friend who forgot to put the stopper in and then wondered why he ended up on the floor!)

[sollers]

I don't think any of mine have had really reliable stoppers.

I can trump your friend's story: I once spent half an hour pumping away at a mattress where I had forgotten to put back the big stopper there for easier emptying.

[tree_and_leaf]

Might be worth looking at thermarest mattresses, although I don't know how wide they make them. But I find the thicker end of their range is much more comfortable than an air mattress, and easier to transport and inflate, too.

[fyrdrakken]

We lived in a flood plain area when I was a teenager. There'd actually been some sense involved when planning the freeway into town -- the road was well elevated, with pasturage on either side down in the low-lying plain. Much less forethought went into building the neighborhood we lived in -- our house was at the most low-lying point, and we had a problem with rainwater flowing down the driveway, under our front door, through the carpeting and on out the back door, at least until a drain was set up in the front walkway and flowerbeds to create a catchment basin and gutters to send the water to either side of the house. Eventually the land just beyond ours was bought up and turned into a golf course, and they excavated to turn the little stream into ponds for water traps, which largely corrected the tendency of our back property to flood in the rain. (We were right at the edge of the neighborhood -- in fact, our back property line was the city limit -- and several of the houses on our street were using the acres in back to keep a couple of horses. Also a donkey, a goat or two and IIRC at one point a cow. Their drainage may have been a bit better than ours even before the golf course improved it, but still -- pasturage.)

[raincitygirl]

I did not know this about water meadows. I always learn stuff when I'm on DW. I'm glad the folk weekend went well in spite of all the flooding and thieving and sundry bad things.