The farmhouse at Howbarrow is sheltered in the lee of the hillside, the prevailing winds from the South West whipping over the chimney tops, with clear views across to the Eastern Fells the Howgills and beyond.

Winter Easterly winds make the house whistle, rattling the slates and blowing smoke down the chimneys. You put on an extra jumper to keep you warm, put the winter curtains up over the front door to keep out the draft, and shuffle the kitchen table closer to the wood fired range.

It's a banked building built into the hillside, with features dating parts of the house to have been here for more than 500 years.

The oldest part has a ground floor room with one wall completely below ground level and off from this is a dry larder cellar with a floor some 12 feet underground.

They knew what they were doing when the house was built - simple yet well engineered land drains take the water from the hillside around the house and down the hill - an air gap between the four foot thick walls and the hillside keeps the damp at bay.

We have lived in this friendly house for nearly 25 year - its very solidness offering reassurance and sustenance as we have endeavoured in various ways in the local food economy.

The water arrived suddenly, travelling fast over the flags. Within minutes it was inches deep. We rolled up carpets, put the sofas on plastic crates and quickly made some sandbags out of old potato sacks. The water pouring through a retaining wall had overwhelmed one of the land drains and the level was only going to continue to rise, eventually coming over the sand bags.

We have a large submersible pump at the bottom of our rainwater holding tanks which we have used in time of draught on the farm to water our tunnel crops. This was brought into action as it is capable of pumping thousands of litres an hour. Twenty-four hours later the pump was still working hard.

We accepted that the water had to continue its journey down hill so into the kitchen it came. The builders had planned for this day - all the slate floors slope gently to the front of the house. We hadn't noticed - but the water did, continuing on its journey through the house and away.

Little damage and disruption has meant our life has quickly returned to normal, It is our good fortune to live on a hillside with the beauty and ruggedness of the county before us. The view is forged by the weather in all its forms and the ingenuity of mankind to harness its productivity.

It is now over a year since we refocused our energies back into growing organic food. The box scheme we established is now in other hands, and ours are back in the soil where we started. The prospects for the coming growing season are exciting and, with the winter solstice only three weeks away, the dark days of winter will soon be behind us.