Country mouse casts his eyes heavenwards
Looking back at eight years as editor, Mark finds himself thinking how strange the weather patterns have become


A mini tornado swept through Hampshire and West Sussex on Saturday afternoon, bringing down yet more trees, including one on our drive. However, it's the flooding that has been the real sickener of this winter. My sister lives on the Somerset Levels and lives in fear of every shower. The bridge next to her house has been closed for weeks and there is water in every direction.
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Later this week, the shooting season will come to a close. The last few days of shooting are always traditionally given to the beaters-never can they have been better deserved than after this soaking winter. A huge thank-you to all of you. However, every cloud has a silver lining. My fishing friends are ecstatic at the volume of water that's filled the rivers, topped up the aquifers and washed all the rubbish and debris away. Water is their godsend.
Looking back at the past eight years that I've edited this magazine, we seem to have constantly been in either a drought or a flood. It's not that long ago that we had an article on whether we should transport water from northern Britain to the South-East. Outside, it's raining again, but I suspect we'll be revisiting those sorts of plans before too long. The weather is becoming more and more unusual.
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Country Life is unlike any other magazine: the only glossy weekly on the newsstand and the only magazine that has been guest-edited by HRH The King not once, but twice. It is a celebration of modern rural life and all its diverse joys and pleasures — that was first published in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year. Our eclectic mixture of witty and informative content — from the most up-to-date property news and commentary and a coveted glimpse inside some of the UK's best houses and gardens, to gardening, the arts and interior design, written by experts in their field — still cannot be found in print or online, anywhere else.
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