Big slough

"But spare the bald young clerks who add

The profits of the stinking cad;

It's not their fault that they are mad, 

They've tasted Hell.

It's not their fault they do not know 

The birdsong from the radio, 

It's not their fault they often go 

To Maidenhead

And talk of sport and makes of cars

In various bogus-Tudor bars 

And daren't look up and see the stars

But belch instead.

In labour-saving homes, with care

Their wives frizz out peroxide hair

And dry it in synthetic air

And paint their nails.

Come, friendly bombs and fall on Slough

To get it ready for the plough.

The cabbages are coming now;

The earth exhales."

from Slough (1937)

by John Betjeman

We took our first canoe trip on the larger slough by my 

brother-in-law’s field. While this year has been wet, last 

year we experienced a drought with early summer marred 

by the smoke and stench of devastating wildfires hundred 

of miles to the north. This drought meant reduced hay yields 

last year and the level of the slough is noticeably lower this 

year. Sloughs or potholes are not feed by springs or part of 

river systems. They obtain water via rain, snow melt and 

groundwater so any reduction can be quickly apparent. 

We did not see any herons or kingfishers which could 

indicate a higher mortality among over wintering fish 

due to reduced oxygen. The water was certainly lower. 

This is always an interesting cycle to watch. My copy 

of Wildfowl Carving Magazine, Winter 2016 (70) noted 

“Blue-winged teal populations dropped by a worrisome 

40 percent in the prairie pothole region North America 

during a prolonged 1990’s drought, but their numbers 

doubled within a decade when the rains returned."

”My wife and I certainly remember this drought when the 

roadside sloughs drained like bathtubs. The beaver population 

also plummeted, it has now recovered, they are literally 

everywhere taking down trees and blocking culverts. 

My mother-in-law mentioned that in earlier droughts 

the family actually hayed parts of the areas we paddled 

over today.

"Come friendly bombs, and fall on Jersey; 

Each town and city along the Mersey; 

Destroy Southampton, the West Midlands, too; 

And, for a starting-point, that ought to do."

............

"Kind bombs, pray smite all points between

The Nullarbor Plain and the Forest of Dean.

And last of all, oh bombs, come fall on me; 

For writing such abysmal poetry :) "

both verses from Slough Revisted

by William Mark