June 3rd – The photography was as lousy as the weather. The light was grim and every interesting shot was into the rain. Splashing despondently along the canal to Chasewater, something caught my eye. There was, in the midst of the rain, a temperature inversion going on. It was colder than it had been for days, and the canal water was clearly warmer than the air, and it was gently, almost imperceptibly, generating mist. I stood in the rain, watching the steam form and disperse, mesmerised. There’s beauty everywhere if you look for it. Even in Brownhills. In the rain.

