It's a very grey, gloomy and damp start to the morning here at Horton and looks as if it will remain wet for some time to come.  The rain is steady rather than heavy so we shall have to wait and see just how much it raises the river level.  So far we have just an increased flow rather than a significant rise.

There is good news on the Hot Pot front.  Despite a number of regulars not being able to make it to Horton this weekend I understand that we have at over 20 members and guests attending and I have 12 confirmations from farmers with another 5 or so who usually turn up on the night.  So we should pretty well fill the dining room and make the event worthwhile.

The other day I was looking at the bank repair that the National Park did alongside their footpath just upstream from Tay Bridge.  Regular readers will recall that this involved driving in willow stakes with a wattle infill then back-filling with soil and topping off with a hessian mat.  This has worked remarkably well and now is virtually indistinguishable from the bank either side.  It has formed an very strong yet flexible and well blended repair to this vulnerable spot and shows no sign of damage after the summer spates we have had.  It's so good that I plan to use the same technique at the foot of Cam Beck where the bank is eroding.  Now that the fencing is in place and I have managed to prevent livestock from getting into the buffer strip it is feasible to attempt a repair here possibly in low water after the spawning season in the new year.  If anyone knows of a cheap source of wild flower meadow mix seed that we can use here I would like to know.

Ian