REBECCA GETHIN .sx Dartmoor diary .sx .sx .. but where has all the water gone ?sx Most of us have been thankful for the rains of the winter now dying , but some more than others .sx As the heavens poured down in the weeks before Christmas , Rebecca Gethin wrote from the smallholding where she lives on the edge of Dartmoor .sx NOW WE CAN HEAR the River Dart thundering through the valley more than a mile away .sx But the bed of our own little stream here is still dry .sx It is a mosaic of leaves and rocks which stand out like old bones .sx Even now there are people who are unable to have baths or make use of water in the same way as the rest of us usually do by simply turning on a tap .sx We have become so accustomed to the convenience of tap water that we take it for granted , like breathing .sx But people in some rural areas still rely on springs for their water supply .sx Some streams , of course , never dried up at all and ran , less torrentially , but still miraculously , throughout the summer of last year .sx Many of the older farms or settlements were sited at points where the slope of the hill changes from concave to convex .sx Here the stream's flow is slowed and conserved .sx Such homes have not lost water for farm or house .sx Others were not so lucky .sx The rivers , so sluggish during the summer , seem now to be flowing with their customary exuberance .sx Our River Dart is cheerfully turbulent once more , snaking its way from Dartmoor to Dartmouth , but it is a very sensitive river :sx a few days without rain and its pace noticeably subsides .sx R. J. Chorley , in his book , Water , Earth and Man , points out that " the sustained flow of rivers is truly remarkable , considering that precipitation is an unusual event in most areas of the earth .sx Localisation of precipitation in space or time is striking .sx Few storms last more than a few hours , so that even storm days are mainly rainless .sx Yet rivers flow throughout the year .sx The sustaining source of rivers is effluent ground water .sx .. The amount of soil water is about 15 times the amount in channel storage rivers .sx " .sx If a spring is a true , deep , ground-water emission , the water may go on flowing even in a drought .sx If it dries up it will take a long time to return , for the relevant soil layer has to be resaturated .sx If the water is from a shallow source , it will dry up much more quickly , but will return as soon as the rain falls heavily .sx During the last two summers our spring dried up and it took several weeks of fairly heavy rainfall for it to be replenished .sx The stream runs along the back of the cottages on the edge of the moor and then tumbles through our garden .sx It is a useful watering-place for wild cattle and ponies :sx the nearest alternative source of water is a long way away .sx In summer the mossy banks are often crowded with bees loading themselves up with water to take back to their hives .sx But here we are well into winter and the spring , usually a continuous , gurgling bubble , still shows no sign of life .sx The bed of the stream has been dry since August :sx the banks are beginning to smooth out and the vegetation is changing .sx We humans are all right for , after the last drought about ten years ago , the cottages were provided with mains water .sx A tank below ground stores a fairly large amount and then pipes it to an outside tap at the back of the houses .sx There has to be considerable pressure in the system to enable this to happen .sx When I remember I fill the kettle from the outside tap .sx Our children drink from this tap , often preferring this water to juice or squash .sx Our goats clearly prefer it to tap-water !sx It is absolutely delicious , and is full of minerals and free of any polluting chemicals , for it is way beyond the height of cultivable land .sx Admittedly , the odd small spider or beetle appears but we are not complaining .sx The spring itself is a magical place of reeds and trees which also provide shelter in the winter for moorland stock .sx In the autumn the sound of flocks of birds feeding on the berries and seeds by the spring is almost deafening .sx In old records the source of the stream is noted , too .sx The National Rivers Authority has been notified of many such springs and it is keeping records .sx They may well be useful in times to come .sx There must be many others that are not heard about .sx The NRA does not wish to speculate on the reasons for keeping these records or on their implications for the future , but clearly it is a response to two years of drought .sx There have never been two consecutive summers of such dryness and such heat since records began .sx Long-term figures show that usually this country's rainfall is fairly evenly spread through the seasons .sx Our rivers are made up of many different streams and small tributaries .sx If some of these are not feeding into the rivers then the flow of water in the rivers will be less despite times of rainfall and flood .sx The ecology of those small streams will be changing already to cope with the erratic flow .sx We may all need to become more aware of how we use water , to learn ways of managing and conserving supplies .sx Water-butts placed so as to catch the run-off from roofs are a useful way of watering lawns and gardens , replenishing garden ponds , even washing the car .sx Ingenious folk might like to think of ways of providing drip-irrigation for fruit-trees or for thirsty plants in the greenhouse .sx Mulching ornamental plants and vegetables can save labour as well as crops .sx Mulch can be anything from compost to straw ( not hay for it contains seeds ) , from shredded bark to old newspapers .sx Mulches conserve moisture and moderate soil temperatures very effectively and so you can slap on as much as you like .sx Remember not to cover the ground when it is already bone-dry for by then it is already too late !sx You could also build a garden pond , fill it with oxygenating plants to keep the water fresher and let the wildlife take over .sx Planting trees , even small ones in a small garden , is also useful , for trees are a sort of biological storage of water .sx To the bulk of the population our water supplies seem back to normal :sx the panic is over .sx The grass is growing in the meadows and the weeds are having a field day late in the year .sx But , a week before Christmas , Burrator reservoir , on Dartmoor near Princetown , was holding barely two-thirds of its capacity .sx So think twice before you curse that hose-pipe ban that lingers even when the rain is pouring down and the river is in spate .sx LINDSAY CAMPBELL .sx Duncan , the kenner .sx DUNCAN IS FAMED in the Highlands for being a man of even fewer words than most men of few words :sx if he says " Mhm" , you have caught him on a chatty day .sx But after all , you don't have to say more than that to a sheep , or to a wise sheepdog who knows the work as well as his master .sx Duncan is a hill shepherd , which by itself means he belongs to a remarkable breed .sx But he is more than that ; he is one of the specially gifted shepherds known as kenners .sx Shepherds all learn to recognise certain individuals in their flocks ; the best sheep and the worst , the bottle-fed pets who stay friendly all their lives , and the ones with unusual markings .sx Most of all , like schoolteachers , they get to know the mischief-makers , sheep who will stand and swear at them or run in any direction but the right one .sx Every shepherd remembers sheep like these , but a kenner knows every sheep in his flock of hundreds , and recognises her through all the changing seasons of her life .sx It is a skill that can never be taught in an agricultural college , and is worth more than any that are .sx In a farming system where no written records are kept of individual animals , a kenner will know the mother and have a shrewd idea of the father of every sheep , so he will have a good understanding of their potential .sx He will know who is likely to have twins and benefit from extra feeding during the winter .sx He will know who is liable to have difficulty lambing and need special attention , and he will know who is proving a poor breeder and not worth her keep .sx But Duncan is exceptional even among kenners .sx Sometimes it seems he knows every Blackface sheep in Scotland .sx Nobody sells another man's sheep if Duncan is in the market .sx Not that this is often tried deliberately , because even in these corrupt days most Highland sheep - men are scrupulously honest .sx But sometimes one is in a hurry to sort out a bunch of fat lambs before the next downpour , and sometimes the previous night went on a dram too long , and it's easy to miss the notch in an ear , tucked behind a horn , that means one plump wedder [wether] is a stray .sx Duncan never misses it though , even from the other side of the market .sx The offending shepherd is led over to check his marks , and dismissed with " Hm !sx Doesn't even look like your sheep !sx " .sx The highlight of the shepherds' year is the tup sales in the autumn , when they go to buy young males for the breeding season .sx This is how they hope to improve the quality of their flocks , and competition is fierce for the best tup lambs .sx These are big fluffy balls of white wool - or possibly yellow or orange , as many breeders favour bathing them in coloured dip for the occasion .sx Their black-and-white faces are glossy , their eyes big and shining , and their elegant curving horns have been smoothed and polished .sx A few years later , when too many of their daughters are running with the flock , many of them will be back in the market again .sx By then , they will be great grizzled , battle-scarred warriors that look like rocks walking .sx Their horns are big gnarled spirals and the roots of them have met in a bony ridge across their brows .sx Little blood - shot eyes glower out of lumpy , dusty , wrinkled faces battered by years of hurling themselves at well-armed rivals .sx Many will go to the butcher , but the best can still be a good bargain for a farmer who can use them for another year or so .sx Some years ago a farmer in the area bought two tup lambs with almost identical markings , but he paid pounds500 for one and only pounds100 for the other .sx Four years later , the good tup was back in the local market .sx " This is the tup that Mr McDonald bought in Stirling for pounds500 .sx .. " began the auctioneer , hoping for one of the better sales of the day .sx " No , it isnae , " said Duncan from the ringside .sx The auctioneer was shocked , the seller furious , and the ring - side crowd very , very interested .sx " It is so !sx I've the old sale-ticket here in my pocket , " McDonald protested .sx " Better check the number , " Duncan grunted , and retired from the dispute , exhausted from saying so many words in one day .sx There was a concerted rush at the bewildered sheep while the market men deciphered the original sale number burnt into the cracked and flaking horn .sx It was the pounds100 tup .sx The farmer had got the two tup lambs mixed up on his way home from Stirling .sx For years he had been selecting his best ewes to put to the inferior tup , to improve his flock .sx Duncan , who had seen it only once and fleetingly as a lamb , recognised it instantly .sx So far , perhaps , Duncan's achievements could be put down to a phenomenal visual memory ; but I see no way to explain away this next example of his ability .sx