fbpx

It is well known that the British like to talk about the weather, and the odd bit of weather lore never goes amiss. For weather watchers the 15th of July is highly significant as it is St Swithin’s Day. There’s even a proverb all about it:

St Swithun’s day if thou dost rain
For forty days it will remain
St Swithun’s day if thou be fair
For forty days ‘twill rain nae mare

According to the Royal Meteorological Society, there hasn’t been any recorded 40-day droughts or monsoons. There is, however, some science behind the myth. The Jet Stream settles into a pattern around the middle of July, with continental high pressure bringing sunshine if it lies to the North of Britain, but Arctic weather systems taking over if it lies further South.

Why should this weather proverb be linked with Saint Swithin, and who was he anyway? Swithin was an Anglo-Saxon Bishop of Winchester and became the patron saint of the cathedral there. When the new basilica was erected, it was decided to move Swithin’s body from his chosen resting place, and it is said that 40 days of rain occurred to delay this event, presumably because Swithin was showing his displeasure.

I’ve always been familiar with this story, possibly because I was brought up in Hampshire and he is a local patron saint. Interestingly, the author David Nichols chose to set his novel One Day around 15th July which is noted in the book to be St Swithin’s Day. I wondered if he had any connections to the Winchester area, and I was gratified to discover that (according to Wikipedia!) he was born in Eastleigh, Hampshire and even attended the same secondary school as I did!

Is St Swithin’s Day so well known nationally?

Just as 15th July marks a turning point where the weather pattern is set for the foreseeable future, so it is also a good time to set your plans for the rest of the summer!  With staff and customers taking annual leave, what better time is there to focus on your business planning while the quotidian fire-fighting pressures are eased?

While you are thinking about your business, don’t forget your IT setup!

  • Are your systems being monitored and maintained to perform at their best?
  • Do you have antivirus protection in place?
  • Is all your valuable data backed up?
  • Could you benefit from new IT equipment – a new server, a better laptop?
  • Is it time you moved to a cloud-based email system such as Office 365?
  • And what about your phones; you could ditch the landline and never have an engaged phoneline again with VOIP.

Computer Troubleshooters won’t be taking a break, so we are ready to support you in your systems review, or simply help you out if your business computers have been affected by 40 days of sunshine or rain!

This St Swithin’s Day, why not make a resolution to set up your IT how you mean to go on, both for the next 40 days and into the Autumn.

Contact Suzanne Rice on 01732 300064
SuzanneRice@ct-tonbridge.co.uk