Country diary: This wetland is dry and scratchy as a loofah - for now | Richard Smyth

Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire: The River Calder isn't always as low and agreeable as it is today, and that's why this nature reserve was createdAs wetlands go, this one isn't. It's a hot, dry day in what has so far been a hot, dry summer. There hasn't yet been summer enough to really frazzle the landscape, and green still just about holds the balance over parched yellow. Indeed, the only water here at Brearley Fields, in the deep trough of the Calder Valley, occupies that grey area between small pond and large puddle. Elsewhere, grasshoppers chirp and reel in the scrub. Fibrous grasses, cleavers, thistles and greater plantain grow waist-high. This is a wetland only when it needs to be.The threat of flood has long hung over the towns and villages of the valley here. The harrowing Boxing Day floods of 2015 remain all too fresh in the memory, as does the dismal wail of the repurposed second world war air-raid sirens that serve as the valley's flood alert. This is why Slow The Flow, a local volunteer force, is working to find natural, sustainable ways to accommodate the flood waters of the Calder in spate. Continue reading...