Sunday, September 6th, 2026
After a summer of chaos and utter confusion, with road closures left, right and centre, and the road between us and Benenden Hospital being closed since the end of June, we are pleased to report that all the local roads are now open. The photo above, taken a couple of weeks ago, shows the incomprehensible signage at the crossroads near us, causing bewildered drivers to stop in the middle of a notoriously dangerous junction which has seen a lot of fatalities in the years that I’ve lived here.
A lot of the closures related to emergency repairs to burst water pipes in the area as the clay has shrunk over the summer, as well as (on the Benenden side) to long-overdue upgrades to the local mains water system which is struggling to pump enough water to the higher-lying properties, of which we are one. Our supply has been unreliable for years, ranging from low pressure to no water at all, particularly during the summer months. This morning, however, in spite of the completion of these road works, our water pressure was right down once again, failing to reach our upper storey and preventing our loos from flushing. This always happens at the weekend when we invariably have guests. The particular problem today has been caused by a burst pipe about a hundred yards away from the crossroads in this photo. But the water authority attributes the more general long-standing disruptions not to its leaky pipes but to high demand resulting from the unusually hot weather we’ve had this year. It’s hardly what you might call very hot — the forecast is for a pleasant 24 degrees C later today — but up the road near the hospital, 85 new houses are now in various stages of completion, which is going to increase demand whatever the weather, and that scenario is being replicated in and around our Wealden villages all over the water authority’s patch. Watch this space for more road closures!