Perhaps Chestnut Coppice should be renamed Toadstool Wood? There are certainly lots of chestnuts – we left with our pockets full – but there’s also a fine crop of all kinds of fungi. Mushrooms? Toadstools? I’m no judge, I just enjoy finding them, in all their different shapes and sizes, ranging from single isolated specimens to large family groups. And I’d much rather leave them for everyone else to enjoy.
The fallen chestnuts are in a different category. We’ll roast them and enjoy eating them – and rest assured, there are plenty left for the squirrels and other nibblers of nuts…

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There ought to be! There’s colour on the way there – in the haws, sloes and bright pink mallow. Less to catch the eye in Red Lane itself, apart from the blue of the sky on this pleasant afternoon

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Who needs sunshine? We all do, of course, but even on a dull afternoon (the sun’s trying to break through) the season provides rich colours in the lanes and hedgerows around Willey

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Monday 6 October: What a beautiful afternoon! It would be a crime not to be out on the hills, though we can hardly call this Long Mynd wander a hill walk. We’ve parked the car at about 1530′, and the highest point, Pole Bank, is 1680′. A good leg stretch though, through the rich colours of the autumnal moorland. Returning to the start, we realise we’ve had the best of the sunshine – clouds are starting to gather – but it’s been really pleasant out on these hills

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Hadn’t realised until I looked at the map! There’s a certain symmetry about an out-and-back route in any case. Not that it has anything to do with the feel of the walk – a real “blow the cobwebs away” struggle against storm Amy, while the few clouds fly past, taking me from light to shade and back in seconds. No great height here, but there are sweeping views to the south – and it really catches the wind. I’m not hanging around!

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It’s truly autumn on the Edge at Much Wenlock – fruits and berries, colours, skies… The days are rapidly getting shorter, but it’s not cold – very pleasant for an afternoon wander.

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A perfect day for it! For a number of years it’s been an annual event at the village hall. There’s no shortage of good fruit around here – this year the crops have been exceptional. It grieves me to see piles of rotting apples where no-one has bothered to pick them, but there are no such piles around Willey (and windfalls are not allowed access to the press). They’ve all been picked and are being chopped by the scratter and squeezed in the press. We’ve parked about a mile and a half away and walked here (the lanes are very narrow and parking could be tricky) so we’ve earned a drink and a piece of (delicious!) home-made cake, bought some local (Willey) honey and had a large bottle filled with golden juice. Something to enjoy over the next day or two…

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