Brockholes

In a week of challenges, why not add one more.

I was appointed a member of a Committee with an oversight role in dealing with flooding issues in the north-west of England last October. It’s a voluntary role, and so far meetings I’ve attended have been on-line. They are now alternating the quarterly meetings between on-line and in person, and todays was the latter.

I decided to go on the basis that the room was going to be well ventilated, and I would mask and bag a chair by a window and distance, rather than sit at the table with the other members. I spent 3 hours with a very cool breeze blowing through. I should have worn a jumper, it’s a cool, grey day here. The presentations by communities dealing with flooding issues were really interesting.

Brockholes visitor centre, the HQ of Lancashire Wildlife Trust, opened in 2012 and won loads of prizes. The nature reserve, created from old gravel pits, floods. The design response is for the visitor centre to sit on a floating concrete pontoon on a lake, so that the whole can rise and fall with changing water levels. It’s of largely wooden construction. I especially like the oak shingle roofs of the various buildings (the conference centre is on the left). Their shape and height is to enable the operation of the natural ventilation system which I can attest - works.

So that’s a bit of a milestone. It felt OK, hopefully it was.