Storm Pia arrived on the longest night of the year in Stonehouse . She wasn’t particularly expected in this neck of the woods but must have had a change of heart and blew up trouble for Cornwall and the Tamar Valley. She had a powerful strength about her.

20 mile an hour winds with gusts of 48mph made our chimneys and fire- places scream like banshees. There is a lovely security in living in a house that is 150 years old and has seen many a storm and survived a very close brush with German World War ll bombs. Pia was able to do her psychedelic worst and we could just feel snug indoors.

I always feel a huge sense of relief once the longest night has passed. However grim the winter gets we are heading towards the light and that can only be a good thing.