March 10th – It had been a really grey, overcast, dull day – but briefly and tentatively, as I neared Brownhills the sun came out. Just for a short while. So I headed to Chasewater to catch it, and to check out the water level, which I’d heard was now overflowing as a result of the previous day’s rain.

What I found was life-asserting and beautiful; a mackerel sky over a soft, still reservoir, where the guys from the Wakeboard facility were setting up again for a new season. The swans, rather than being alarmed, seemed to be investigating the activity with interest.

The whole scene was suffused by a soft, slightly misty light. Utterly wonderful.