No rain for a month... owzat for driest place in England!
SCORCHED and dusty with only a hint of a cricket pitch, this is one thirsty village green.
Indeed the usually more picturesque Odiham in Hertfordshire has had absolutely no rain this month, making it the driest place in the country.
The Daily Mail visited the parched village – population circa 4,500 – to see the impact.
At the Pickled Pepper deli, owner Amanda Coomber showed us the sorry state of the grass in the garden of her nearby home. ‘All our lawns have dried up,’ said the 57-year-old who, in line with water companies’ advice, has not been watering the garden.
‘People around us seem to have had thunderstorms. Some say we’re in a triangle that has funny weather.’ She explained how her hot water taps take a long time to warm up so she collects the cold excess in her mop bucket to tip on her roses and other shrubs. At Odiham and Greywell Cricket Club – which, according to some reports, dates back to 17 4, making it the second oldest in the country – Cara Evans, the bar and events manager, was busy preparing the tea during the home side’s match against touring side Glodwick from Oldham, Greater Manchester.
Looking out at the brown outfield, Miss Evans, 34, said: ‘It’s ridiculously dry. It’s a lovely vil
lage and people are very proud of their plants and gardens. They know their beautiful surroundings are struggling and everyone is talking about how dry it’s been.’
Speaking before Southern Water announced a hosepipe ban for Hampshire that will come into force from next Friday, she said: ‘Everyone’s worried there could be a hosepipe ban. For us, it’d be a problem too. We have up to seven matches a week and, for example, the Heartaches, the side founded by Sir Tim Rice, are coming on Sunday.
‘If it gets to the point where we can’t play because it’s too dry we’d lose a lot of business and custom at the bar.’
Yesterday the cricket club was waiting anxiously to hear how the ban announced by Southern Water will apply to them. Phil Thomas, 35, the club’s first team captain and volunteer groundsman, said: ‘Sports clubs like ours are usually allowed to carry on with some kind of restricted use on a time limit, but we haven’t had any directives yet.
‘I can’t remember the last time we had any substantial rain, it’s got to be seven or eight weeks ago. It’s getting pretty desperate. We haven’t cut the outfield for four weeks. Normally we do it twice a week. You have to get water out there to keep the pitch sustainable.’
A Met Office spokesman said on Thursday: ‘Odiham has recorded 0mm of rainfall so far this July. The average rainfall for July in Hampshire is 55.24mm.
‘It is unusual for there to be 0mm, but the month is not quite over and there may be some rain on Sunday – although there is some uncertainty in the forecast.’