In the clear light of day

I wonder what factors were considered when the brewery was first sited here. I expect there were things like land ownership, access, availability of ground water, pre-existing buildings, disposal of waste. Did anyone think about extreme weather?

The buildings sit beside the Rop stream - waste water is still released into this; these days, only after suitable on-site treatment. Looking at the contours on the map, it is very clear that exactly where the brewery lies, a side valley meets the Rop - I'm standing in that valley to take this picture. There is no blue line shown on the map, because it is not a permanent watercourse, but I have seen it running with water in previous very wet periods - heading straight for the brewery buildings, trying to find its way to the main channel

Diversions have been created around the buildings. These work most of the time, but can be overwhelmed by events like the recent deluge. Trying to anticipate that, the brewery built this buffer zone over the summer - hoping to hold back some of the water long enough for the various channels to disperse it. Possibly it helped, but it wasn't enough. There has been damage the newly landscaped ground beyond the bund, and water flooded the cellars, damaging some stock. It's not a catastrophe, but it's no longer possible to assume it is a once-in-a-lifetime event

All over the country, people must be having similar thoughts at the moment: how to protect property from former extremes that are the new normal; how much that will cost; must some places be abandoned as no longer economocally viable? In 'The Price of Coal', Ken Loach used that bitter play on words to refer to lives lost down the pit. In a modern version, it would be all of us who are paying the price for two centuries of burning fossil carbon. Time for reflection