Matthew Arnold

And its getting worse by the hour

Some shots from today. Blanny town centre is flooding as the Pimperne brook pumping station is out of action due to 3 pumps burning out. EA are on scene with two pumps on route from the Somerset Levels to try and prevent further flooding. Our office is already flooded as is most of the town centre at the East Street end.

I'm on there @DorsetRanger89

More pics to come tomorrow morning:thumbup: She rose 5 ft in the space of 5 hours today and was still rising.

Wild swing in the Dark but i'm gonna say Cherry. Just by going off the bark markings and basal flares.

Pics of the local Stour after the recent deluge.

Blowing like billyo in Blan Fransisco. Belting it down in that rain which gets ya soaked in 5 mins no matter how good your waterproofs are.

Todays pics. Got one bridge to refirm. Gonna try a new anchoring technique as it keeps moving in the floods.

The stour has just broken its banks again from Hammoon North. It is rising faster than last week so will be packing as much of a punch as last week and could possibly rise higher than last week too.

Great way to end the year by seeing mum and her kits this morning. I was the only person with a camera down there so took full advantage.

This mornings pics.

Very frosty but wall to wall blue skies and a gentle breeze. Could see for miles up on the plains. Now its belting it down don't ya just love the british weather.

Cracking day out. Had a good little turnout. Lots of mud covered trucks. The plains were heaving with people today even a big group from Surrey.

Gonna be a good laugh tomorrow. Will try and keep the scratchiness to a minimum (Pete aka Yaffle you've heard that one before:lol: ) Will have a tow rope front and back fitted ready before we go anywhere off road. We will be the only truck with M/T tyres and being the lead vehicle we will pull out any stuck vehicle. We never leave a fallen green laner behind:thumbup:

18 stoner - I don't mind if people would like to discuss it or not. Its nice to have a proper grown up discussion about Fox hunting. Not the usual "you did this and you did that brigade" that spoil it. Shavey - I agree. Hunting with dogs has been a tradition for thousands of years. Rhodesian Ridgebacks were bred for hunting lions, well before Fox Hounds were bred for hunting Basil. In my opinion, Hunting with dogs is healthier for the Fox population because it takes out the weak, ill and diseased stock and keeps a healthy blood line going. Since the Act came into force, on a commercial shoot i now beat on we saw a fourfold increase in numbers. Most of which were weak, ill and diseased. We have photographic evidence which i am not allowed to share on any forum (due to ongoing court case with a very well known national animal "rescue" charity) which showed urban foxes being released into the countryside complete with stitches from the back of one of the vans. So now i have put the Cat among the pigeons as it were..........................DISCUSS

Will be nipping into a local pub on the way back if anyone is interested.

Not just me then. The Oak branches look like they have been pulled/ snapped out of another tree or it flattened a smaller neighbouring Oak.

Feel free to slap me but that looks more like a monster Ash with those black brackets.. It might be my eyes after the xmas booze though

More pics

Cracking day at Crichel. Was very nice to see the old faces and chat about everything. Will be back there on the 6th Jan and 2 days as a thank you for the beaters at the end of jan.

I've never seen the stour flow with such ferocity. It was ripping lumps of tarmac off footpaths in Sturminster Newton and washing monster trees down river.

My dads Grandad was on the HMS Belfast on the Arctic Convoy. He just got his medal for it.

I recon they surveyed their local members and not the general public to get those figures. We did have a group of about 10 antis but they left when 2000 supporters surrounded them.

Today's hunt meet. Glorious weather and a big turnout. Mulled Cider went down a treat too.

Yup had another inch of rain but was dropping like a stone but its stabilized just below the banks. This is shots of a newly laid riverside path which has been destroyed thanks to the river and down to a large tree blocking the river.