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A Walk in the Darent Valley

Writer Melissa Harrison describes a classic English midsummer walk in a thunderstorm. An excerpt from her acclaimed collection Rain: Four Walks in English Weather.

This afternoon's Proms Interval is an account of a classic English summer walk in a thunderstorm. The acclaimed novelist and nature writer Melissa Harrison explores our relationship with the weather as she follows the course of a thundery rain shower deep in the Kent countryside. Fittingly, given this sun-blessed summer, she walks alongside the River Darent at the end of a drought and reflects on how the countryside changes in wet weather - and how the English identity is shaped by the elements.

The extract is introduced and read by the author, and taken from her recently published collection Rain: Four Walks in English Weather which received the following critical acclaim:

'Instantly beautiful.' Robert Macfarlane

'Harrison is writing us a new kind of modern pastoral: peopled, raw, messy and shining.' Helen Macdonald, author of H is for Hawk

Producer Jules Wilkinson.

Release date:

2 hours

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