Some Rain Must Fall

 


February has not been a lot of fun so far, has it? Certainly not as far as the weather is concerned, offering us a salad of mud, sodden ground, floods and a miserable pervading damp. But, given the state of the world at the moment, it’s probably more enjoyable to meditate on rain and write about rain than it is to grapple with iniquities of humanity. So, let’s indulge in a few ponderings on women and inclement weather.

The Mud March

February 2026 might be a bit damp, but February 1907 (and specifically February 9, 1907) was particularly memorable for the women who took part in the infamous ‘Mud March’ from Hyde Park to Exeter Hall in the Strand. It was organised by Millicent Fawcett and the Suffragist movement, with 3,000 women joining to demonstrate their support for a bill on women’s suffrage due to be presented in the House of Commons.

Kate Frye, who had joined the suffragists in 1906, described the weather in her diary: ‘…was my utter disgust – and disappointment- to hear the torrents of rain – and there was not a shadow of its coming last night – it was bitterly cold. As it was so heavy I hoped it would stop – but it went on and on into a fine heavy drizzle. They said I should be mad to go…’

Millicent Fawcett said that ‘Mud, mud, mud, was its prominent feature,’ but the march was actually very successful, with powerful and passionate speeches at Exeter Hall from both men and women. Israel Zangwill, for example, said: ‘How do they justify their monstrous proposition that one half of the human race shall have no political rights?’ and argued that the case for women’s suffrage was as simple as proving that one and one are two.

Rainy words

The belief that the Inuit have lots of names for snow has been debunked in recent years. It is a lazy claim, and one which takes no note of the actual evidence. It is more interesting to look at the many terms for poor weather that we use in here the UK. There are the regional words like dreich, siling, mizzling, and plothering, and there are also some intriguing phrases. Where in earth did ‘It’s raining cats and dogs', and ‘cowquaker’ originate, for example?

There are some wonderful literary descriptions of rain. In Iris Murdoch’s in The Sea, The Sea, a downpour is ‘straight and silvery, like a punishment of steel rods,’ and in Pond, Claire-Louise Bennet has an unforgettable image of ‘a squandered chandelier dashing headlong down the hillside.’ Jane Austen cleverly uses weather events to move her plots along. In Emma, because of a snowfall, our heroine is trapped in a carriage with the smirkingly detestable Mr Elton, giving him the opportunity to declare his passion; and in Sense and Sensibility, Marianne Dashwood runs downhill to avoid the heavy rain, falls, is hurt, is carried home in the arms of Captain Willoughby, and consequently finds herself, together with the reader, hurled into an emotional rollercoaster.

In Haworth, the Brontës lived and breathed in a world of wild winds and storms. The weather in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights is often regarded as being the main character of the novel. In the midst of all the controversy about the latest film of the book, even The Weather Channel has something to say, posting a solemn statement about the North Yorkshire Moor and how its ‘high latitude and moisture due to the proximity to the sea’ adds to the dark, moody atmosphere.

Women and climate change

We should always remember that 80% of the people displaced by climate change are women. As primary caregivers, women are most likely to collect food, water, and fuel. They are particularly vulnerable to flooding and drought, and climate related disasters can limit or prevent access to crucial healthcare and emergency support (there is a shocking statistic from the 2004 tsunami which reveals that male survivors outnumbered women by three to one in Sri Lanka, Indonesia and India).

Urgent calls for gender- sensitive responses to climate change come from the United Nations, stressing the importance of including women’s voices in policy and planning. In the UK, the RCOG ( The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists) is doing significant work. Their policy position clarifies the specific health risks to women in the coming years, saying. ‘Climate change is a substantial and growing threat to women’s health and lives in the UK and across the world.......impacts for women will only accelerate without transformative action.’

Into each life….

In the end, there is something reassuringly ‘democratic’ about rain – we all experience it. The well-known piece of doggerel waspishly reminds us that: ‘The rain it raineth on the just / And on the unjust fella / But chiefly on the just, because / The unjust hath the just’s umbrella.’ Other writers have been less cynical. Virginia Woolf evokes ‘the gentle rain, poured equally over the mitred and the bareheaded with an impartiality,’ and for the poet Alice Oswald, rain is transformative: ‘It’s a relief to hear the rain. It's the sound of billions of drops, all equal, all equally committed to falling, like a sudden outbreak of democracy.’

You may be enraged by the constant rain or enthralled by it. Whatever your mood, though, you cannot fail to be soothed by Ella Fitzgerald and the Inkspots and their rendition of Into Each life some rain must fall. Just click on the link.

FEBRUARY UPDATE ON THE MK FAWCETT CAMPAIGN FOR A SAFER, HEALTHIER, FAIRER MILTON KEYNES

  • The latest Evidence Paper, a compilation of data relating to Milton Keynes and our Safer, Healthier and Fairer manifesto, is now published and can be found HERE.
  • We are planning outreach to community events (e.g. lunches, repairs cafes, drop-ins) to promote information about the local elections on 7th May, and capture women’s views on our manifesto. Please let us know of any events in MK where you think we should visit.
  • As the new, enlarged Integrated Care Board (ICB) takes shape, we are continuing to monitor how women’s health needs are considered. We will be attending a seminar on ‘Improving Women’s Health through Group Clinics’ in March. We have met with the Programme Manager for mental health services, following the dissemination of the Evidence Paper, Women’s Lives in Milton Keynes 2026
  • We will continue to follow the progress and implementation of the recently approved MKCC Domestic Abuse Strategy 2025 - 2028
  • Early in the New Year we met with Lisa Antonini, Communications and Engagement Lead for Strategic Development at MK University Hospital for an update on the New Hospitals Programme, including the exciting proposals for the Women and Children’s wards. See: https://www.mkuh.nhs.uk/mkview/estates-projects/mkuh-nhp
  • On 9th-17th March, The Open University Library is hosting the Photographic Exhibition of the craftivism project which was part of MK’s contribution to mark the Day of the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls on 25th November, the start of the UN 16 Days of Action. The Library is open to the public. The craft pieces and photographic exhibition will be touring across other venues in the city during the year. If you have a venue that would like to host, please email us at miltonkeynesfawcettgroup@gmail.com
  • The Fawcett Society Conference will be on June 13th this year. Worth adding to your diary!
  • We will continue to promote the manifesto campaign and encourage people to become more involved with the political process.
  • MKF now has a LinkedIn presence as well as being on BlueSky. Please follow us on these platforms as well as at www.fawcettmk.org.uk

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