It's been a bit wet. No, hang about, that's wrong, it's been VERY wet. It seemed over here in East Anglia that no sooner was a hosepipe ban announced earlier in the year, it rained without stopping for several months. Gloomy stuff, with only small consolation to be gained from splashing in puddles and that lovely fresh scent in the air immediately after a heavy downpour. All sorts of events have been affected - from local fetes, to large music festivals, and equestrian events (Several major three-day-events have been affected, and even more worryingly the Theydon Bois Donkey Derby has had to be postponed until September!). Few sports can have been affected more than speedway though - with the exception of televised meetings, which usually go ahead almost regardless of track conditions and rider safety, too much rain falling almost always means meetings getting abandoned, or postponed, and this year has been exceptional in this respect, with over 100 meetings having now been affected in this way so far this season in the UK. Ipswich alone have suffered 9 meetings being off this year - including a trip down to Plymouth when the entire team got all the way there before the decision to call off had to be made. Other sides have had even more, and it's already being discussed that there is likely to be a serious fixture backlog to deal with from now until the end of the season in October. By the way, for those who don't know, Speedway is not like football - if our boys don't ride, they don't get paid, so this is starting to cause some of them serious problems.
Meanwhile, up in the Hebrides, things are rather different - they are now suffering the effects of a drought, with the shock move being made to turn off the Ferry Terminal Water fountain! Unprecedented stuff indeed! Down here though, we've had enough now. Please make it stop!
Robyn
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