Climate change is a topical subject today; mysterious and inexplicable to most of us. No wonder we comment on the weather when greeting each other “Not very nice today is it?”.

Paul’s chapter is entitled Climate Change

Long, hot days of summer and bitterly cold days of winter soon fade from the memory. Few people can put a date to either with certainty. Fortunately Prof. Paul Whitehead can quote both recent weather changes and those of the far distant past.

This fascinating perspective on climate puts Blewbury in the picture. It helps us to imagine what life was like as fauna, flora and people came to and fro. “The dawning of the Iron Age was climatically warm and dry in the Blewbury area”. The early Middle Ages would have been a good time to live here. But in the 17th century life would have been harsh with bitterly cold winters.