Dan Spencer writes:

In common with most of the rest of the UK, Kelston Roundhill has played host to two uninvited visitors over the past fortnight- Ciara and Dennis.

With both storms wreaking havoc across the country, the team here at the Roundhill have been keeping an eye out for damage to the site. We’ve already documented the damage to the wind array. Other storm damage has included a broken shutter on the barn, damage to shed roofs, the demise of the large dove box in the ash tree by the barn, and the relocation of quite a lot of the gravel driveway by the flow of water.

With speeds of 70mph recorded in Barn Ground during Storm Ciara this was no mild breeze.

What is quite notable about this damage is that it has almost entirely affected the manmade structures on site. Apart from the loss of one (dead) tree, the natural environment around the farm has fared well. Neither the clump on the Roundhill Summit, nor the windswept Abbots Copse have seen any significant damage. Hedgerows still stand strong, and even the trees in the new plantations have weathered the storm well (although the same can’t be said for some of the plastic tree guards).

The Roundhill has also been a good vantage point to survey the Avon Valley, and to watch the floodwaters rise (and, thankfully, begin to fall) as the floodplains do the job they have been doing for millennia.