The heavy rains of the past few weeks have stopped for the moment but the River Cerne is still swollen and the water table raised so that fields are boggy and covered with pools. The stretch of this small chalk river between the villages of Charlton Down and Charminster in Dorset, England, is shown in the images here. Most of the shots are taken from the east side of the valley following the Cerne Valley Trail (14 January 2016). At one point the engorged river channels itself under a narrow footbridge of re-used railway sleepers and gushes out downstream with waves and foam. In another place, a bank-side tree has lost the footing for its roots and leans right over the water. Ripple-strewn and reflecting shallow ponds have accumulated in the sheep pastures, while the area by the ford has over spilled into Mill Lane making it look like a canal and tow path.
Jessica's Nature Blog 
A familiar looking sight these last couple of months Jessica. Some snow appearing here now, which would be a welcome change.
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Yes, for some people and areas this has been a horrendous time with the flooding. We have been fortunate so far in that the roads have mostly been passable locally even when flooded, and the situation is much better than further north. Last night there was a sharp frost and the some of the ‘puddles’ in the fields were frozen today – but so far no snow here.
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Lovely, Jessica. The Cerne & Sydling valleys are so beautiful – and the waters full of wild brown trout. They are where I first saw the (now commonplace) white egrets. We are lucky to live so close. RH
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Thank you, R H. It certainly is a beautiful area and I love to walk along the Cerne valley – although funnily enough I have not yet seen any wild brown trout along the stretch I am familiar with.
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That’s the way they like it! Small, wily and very hard to catch. [Barbless hook and straight back into the water, if you wondered].
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