We started this year with a hosepipe ban, and finished it by breaking records for rainfall. The wettest year in England since records began in 1910, and the second wettest in the UK as a whole. You couldn’t make it up.

The poor souls who live in the south west have had it worst. Here everything is just soggy and water logged.

Some years ago we let the grass grow over our drive as I was fed up of fighting a losing battle with the weedkiller. It didn’t take long for the grass to take over leaving us with an area much better than the actual lawn!

Our postie, who is a keen golfer, can often be seen practicing his golf swing as he walks back to his van. Hence, we now call the drive the ‘fairway’.

People often comment as to how we get our car out. Simple, we just drive on the grass. In summer it’s dry enough not to be a problem, in winter we don’t go out enough for it to be a problem. Until this year.

After only one visit to the supermarket when I aquaplaned along the length of it, there are now deep tyre tracks all the way along, and my beautiful ‘fairway’ is a muddy mess.

Here it is in happier times.

The Fairway