Helen Roberts: Walking (and running) on Cranbrook’s floodplains

I live in a new town in Devon called Cranbrook. There was much derision about the location of the development, with many people concerned about it being built on a floodplain. However, that is not the case. Green spaces and country parks have been kept free of development, allowing the floodplains to do their job during heavy rain, and acting as beautiful places to enjoy when not underwater (which is most of the time).

I love having these country parks on my doorstep, I can walk for miles without seeing cars. It’s a popular location for Met Office colleagues to live due to the proximity to our headquarters, and good transport links, so there’s rarely an occasion that I take a walk through Cranbrook without bumping into someone I know talking their dog for a walk, or enjoying some post work fresh air.

Cranbrook Country Park, Devon

In recent years, these walks have turned into runs. I signed up for my first (and last) half marathon last year despite not being a runner at all. I love exercise but HIIT (high intensity interval training) is my thing, I find running really hard. So the green spaces of Cranbrook took on a less enjoyable air for a while as I got the miles in ahead of race day.

However, there’s always something to see, hear or smell, lifting my mood. On warm summer days the crickets and grasshoppers create a lovely background noise reminiscent of holidays overseas, there are the little quacks coming from the reeds as I go past the large pond, then as I leave Cranbrook and head into the surrounding countryside, my route takes me past fields and towards forest where I often see birds of prey. A few days a year Cranbrook becomes overwhelmed with froglets, as these little frogs all start to explore their environment it can sometimes be difficult to walk without accidentally stepping on one.

Helen running on the Cranbrook floodplains

Although I have not metamorphosed into a runner, my husband and I do a 5 km run most Sundays, much appreciated time together, outside, benefiting our physical and mental health. As we run, I am reminded of how the natural world has evolved to cope with extremes of weather, floodplains being a good example. They do a great job of storing and slowly releasing water, but as we concrete over so much of our land, floodplains can become overwhelmed, which combined with increasingly intense downpours due to climate change, means that flash flooding is a growing concern. This is a priority in my job, as a socio-meteorologist working at the intersection of the physical and social sciences, I am looking into how we help people make better decisions to stay safe during extreme weather including preparedness for flash floods.