Ilkley Baptist

No, not a comment on the eloquent David Nutt's disgraceful sacking. Much more prosaic.

A packet of 16 soluble aspirin from Boots. 79p. A bargain, I thought.

A packet of 16 soluble aspirin (Aspro) from a corner shop. £2.49. Not really surprising.

A packet of 16 'dispersible aspirin' (no fizz) from Tesco. 16p. Don't know what to say.

You can see that, though you lead a restricted life with swine flu, it isn't entirely without interest.

How nice. I have swine flu. Nikki went down with it at the start of our half-term holiday, and I enjoyed my first symptoms on Tuesday evening. It has progressed from there, giving me one night of horrible, repetitive thoughts, and three days, so far, of sweats and shivers, slowly improving, and a dry, painful cough. Today I have to decide whether to preach tomorrow or not. Not sure, but think I will have a go.

I went to the Parish Council tonight. Another boring meeting for a clergy representative, sitting in the dark on the back row while the councillors, bless them, drone on correcting minutes and saying there's nothing to report, or so I thought. I could hardly get in the room! Ilkley Residents Against Tesco Encroachment were there. Not particularly irate, I must say, but cogent and resolute, determined to oppose the re-siting and massive enlargement of our local store.

I must say, I agree with them. I wonder if the churches in Ilkley should get stuck in, too. Interestingly, IRATE thought it might be too political for us. I think that community issues are our sort of politics, though. I'm not sure I want to oppose Tesco as such (though their fairtrade record might be a bit weak), but there comes a point where consumerism and capitalism stop supporting democracy and liberty and start being destructive. We need to learn the meaning of 'enough,' and I think the churches might want to voice concerns.

8.63 inches makes June the wettest month I've recorded. What I'd really like now is a couple of record breakingly dry month. Especially August when we'll be camping!

Up to 7.99 inches today. A few passing showers aren't going to get us to the record, though.

On Tuesday I'm leading a church walk on the moor, taking in some of the prehistoric sites. It's been fascinating discovering them over the past few years. I've also enjoyed working out some of the geology and botany. Going east from Lanshaw Delves, which is a lateral morraine of the Wharfedale glacier, past the Little Skirtful of Stones you come to a green grassy knoll with wild thyme growing on it (in flower, now). This, I think, must be a patch of limey soil, made alkaline by limestone transported from upper Wharfedale. The heather plants shrink to nothing and the grass grows like a sheep's dream!

Yesterday's rain exceeded an inch, the fourth such day this month, so June 2007 is in second place behind August 2004 in the rainfall stakes. We're at 7.93 inches today, 8.32 is the target to beat, and we have until 9am on Sunday morning to get there!

I've been comparing the two top months. August 2004 had two very wet spells, well spaced out, whereas the bulk of this month's rainfall has fallen from the 13th to the 25th; more than 5 inches in that 12 day period, so considerably more concentrated than August 2004. Yesterday I tried to drive to Harrogate, taking the back way from Otley, up Leathley Lane. We drove through many floods, one of them alarmingly deep, and began to regret setting out! A surprisingly good tempered police officer, standing by his car in six inches of torrent, turned us back before we got to the Otley Road turn. I didn't fancy risking the deep flood twice, so headed back via Fewstone, which was a bit better. But everywhere we went the gutters were awash, often the whole road was submerged, and stones were scattered across the tarmac. All very exciting for a weather geek!

Rainfall for June has reached 6.86 inches this morning, and I'm starting to think of records. The second highest total I've measured was September 1997 in Cheadle Hulme, when we had 7.29 inches; we had more than 7 ins the next month, and more than 5 ins in November, and there was widespread flooding. It looks likely that we'll pass 7.29 today. The highest ever was August 2004, in Ilkley, with 8.32 inches. The weatherforecast suggests that even this might be at risk today. As I sit here typing, it's slackened off a bit, so I doubt we'll get that much, but there's quite a bit of the month left and rain expected for the next few days, so there's a chance of a new monthly record.

Over the past few weeks I've been watching a kestrel's nest on Ilkley Moor. There seemed to be two chicks (though the bundle of grey fluff was hard to make out). The very heavy rain on the 15th June caused a bit of flooding in town, and up on the moor the streams were hugely swollen. I went up on the 16th and found the nest empty. My first assumption was that the chicks had succumbed to the rain, but there were no bodies and no feathers anywhere, so perhaps they had fledged sufficiently to leave the nest. Whether their feathers would have been sufficiently developed to keep them warm and dry away from the safetly of their ledge is another matter. Poor things.

The moor is a delightful place to be at the moment. I saw the first swallow this afternoon (I say swallows further south in the country a couple of weeks ago, but this is the first I've seen here). Also the first willow warbler, but heard rather than seen. Cotton grass is flowering, and I found some oxalis, too. I also found a flower I haven't identified yet. Fairly low growing, with five paired equal pink petals, looking shiny, almost metallic. The leaves are very unusual, large, spearshaped, opposite and with longish petioles, gradually flaring so that the outline from tip to axil makes a very elegant curve.

I also watched peacock butterflies sunbathing, and a pair of kestrels mating.

I saw the first wheatear of the year near Backstone Beck on the moor today, a happy sight. Things are much more advanced than last year. I heard a chiffchaff on the second of April this year. On holiday after Easter I saw a swallow near Birmingham on the eighth, and hawthorn in flower on the Somerset levels on the eleventh.

Last year hawthorn round Ilkley was mostly not in flower until the very last week of May. I haven't seen any out yet, this year, but if the weather remains as warm as it has been I would expect to see some before April is over. Last year swifts arrived in early May, again I'm hoping to see them before the month's end.

I saw the first wheatear of the year near Backstone Beck on the moor today, a happy sight. Things are much more advanced than last year. I heard a chiffchaff on the second of April this year. On holiday after Easter I saw a swallow near Birmingham on the eighth, and hawthorn in flower on the Somerset levels on the eleventh.

Last year hawthorn round Ilkley was mostly not in flower until the very last week of May. I haven't seen any out yet, this year, but if the weather remains as warm as it has been I would expect to see some before April is over. Last year swifts arrived in early May, again I'm hoping to see them before the month's end.