Melissa Harrison on walking in the rain

'Rain: Four Walks in English Weather' is an evocative meditation on the English landscape in wet weather by the acclaimed novelist and nature writer, Melissa Harrison. In this podcast she reads from the book and explains how and why she went about exploring the countryside in its most quintessentially English weather. Whenever rain falls, our countryside changes. Fields, farms, hills and hedgerows appear altered, the wildlife behaves differently, and over time the terrain itself is transformed. In 'Rain', Melissa Harrison explores our relationship with the weather as she follows the course of four rain showers, in four seasons, across Wicken Fen, Shropshire, the Darent Valley and Dartmoor. Blending these expeditions with reading, research, memory and imagination, she reveals how rain is not just an essential element of the world around us, but a key part of our own identity too. 'Rain is that rare and delightful thing, nature writing that entertains as it informs.' Tristan Gooley, author of 'The Walker's Guide to Outdoor Clues and Signs' 'Wonderful.' James Rebanks, author of 'The Shepherd's Life'