Rain and gain

IT WAS all rain and gain for a man from Odsey last week.

Jeremy Fordham was presented with a special award for high quality rain observation by the Environmental Agency and the Met Office, after his family had kept rain records for them over a period of 133 years.

Mr Fordham has kept the records by checking rainfall everyday since 1977 by using a rain measurer on his grounds. His father and other family members had kept them previous to this – going back to 1877.

Mr Fordham said: “It’s always been a very interesting thing for me to do. I have enjoyed doing this every day over the years.”

The measurements taken by Mr Fordham are sent to the Met Office every month, which in turn send them onto the environmental agency to use as official records for the area.

Steve Haynes of the Met Office, who made the presentation of a plaque and certificate, said: “These records are very valuable, and the longer it goes back, the more information we have about the area.

“Mr Fordham’s records are certainly in the top 20 oldest in the country, possibly even older.”

The highest year for rainfall on the Fordham’s records is 1903, when an average of 32.84 inches per month was recorded. The lowest year was 1921, when just 11.01 inches was observed. The average rainfall over the 133 years was 23.61 inches.