It’s 10 degrees when I first come in the garden at 10 am, but feeling colder with a stiff breeze. There’s a cold blue sky, almost clear of clouds. Cloudless skies at night give us chilly mornings, as there is no insulating cloud layer. The longer nights add to the chill. The day has less time to climb out of the cold of night. Last night was 13.5 hours long, with the day only 10.5 hours.
Next week the clocks go back, giving us an hour of extra sleep. The mornings will be lighter earlier, as we push back sunrise an hour. There is no more light than if we’d have left the clocks as they were. We are simply giving us more light in the morning at the expense of the evening. That evening darkness is always a shock. Dark at 5 pm. And the same question always arises. Why couldn’t we have stayed on summer time?
There is no answer that will keep everyone happy. Farmers like the extra light in the morning, and we go to work or school in daylight. There is a downside to changing the clocks. There are more death on the roads when the clocks go back.
This was shown when it was decided to stay on British Summer Time (BST) from 1968 to 1971. Over those three years there were 2700 fewer people killed and seriously injured on the roads. But the experiment was still dropped. The cruncher was Scotland. Keeping BST meant that in Scotland mid winter, the sun didn’t rise till 10 am. Even in southern England, it was dark until 9 am.
I worked in the parks in 1970. I recall that winter. We started work at 8 am, but in fact did little work until it got light at 9 am. This could have been got round, as we could have come in at 9 am and gone home an hour later than usual. But that is not as simple as it sounds. It would have meant not only the council (I was working for Haringey) but schools and other workplaces would need to be in sync or, for example, working parents with school age children and transport would need a different timetable too. Imagine trying to organise such things country-wide without an unholy uproar.
We had 2 mm of rain yesterday. Most welcome. But we have had only 22 mm of rain so far this month, as measured by our rain gauge. And the average for October in London is 71 mm. So well down. But we have rainy days forecast this week, so might catch up. Our pond is about 9 inches from full in spite of water added in the worst months. A full pond will be a measure that we have at last caught up. As things are, there remains a hosepipe ban. In October!
Hot lips are still flowering, marigolds too, a few roses are hanging on, some Japanese anemones by the mid gate, and little else. It is mid October, this is to be expected. There’s a tinge of red on the vine leaves and on the Japanese maple, the hazel leaves are going yellow. Fairly soon we will be deluged in fallen leaves.
I am impressed with the ukulele group this morning. They are in the shelter, about 30 of them. They have closed the walls which cuts out the wind, and all those bodies add heat, but it is still chilly, especially on the fingers. I am impressed that so many are following through and keen to keep it up. Down to companionship, I am sure, they are a cheerful crowd, and to the fact of learning through singing. They have song-sheets with a mixture of US folk and pop songs. Most of us like a sing along in good company. A pleasant way to spend an hour on a Sunday morning.
Not many visitors first thing, then close to noon when we are about to close, we suddenly get quite a flurry. It’s sunny and the day has warmed up. I have to tell them we are about to close. But the ukulele group are still playing and ECO7 has arrived for a meeting. And I don’t really want to play the angry park keeper. Most of the visitors leave but a few stick around as they can see others are still here. I leave them as it is too complicated to explain why some can stay and others can’t. And they are little trouble.