I am standing on a stone bridge over the swollen River Eden in the quaint - and, for 51 weeks of the year, blissfully quiet - town of Appleby as a tracksuit-clad child walks past pulling a tiny, ragged pony.

I am standing on a stone bridge in the quaint - and, for 51 weeks of the year, blissfully quiet - Cumbrian town of Appleby as a tracksuit-clad child walks past pulling a tiny,…

I am standing on a stone bridge in the quaint - and, for 51 weeks of the year, blissfully quiet - Cumbrian town of Appleby as a tracksuit-clad child walks past pulling a tiny,…

I am standing on a stone bridge over the swollen River Eden in the quaint - and, for 51 weeks of the year, blissfully quiet - town of Appleby as a tracksuit-clad child walks past…