…we’ll take a few photos. It’s very cold, barely above freezing – on the way out, we need to keep moving until we’re well warmed up. The forecast said there would be sunny intervals this afternoon, but despite some patches of blue sky, there’s no real sunshine.

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=365660&Y=298545&A=Y&Z=120

Before Bella – a boxing day stroll along Shirlett Lane. It’s windy, and there’s rain on the way.

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=365660&Y=298545&A=Y&Z=120

… we stayed at home. It’s not much less misty in the afternoon, but we need a leg-stretch – didn’t get out yesterday (far too moisty!). It’s grey along Shirlett Lane (it feels grey!) but there’s lots of colour in the woods, most of it on the warm side of the spectrum. There are still some colourful autumn leaves, but very few of them are on the trees. They’re mostly lining the road and the paths (hiding the deep muddy holes!). It feels brighter down by the Smithies – is the sun going to come out? No – it’s just as misty and moisty on Shirlett Lane as it was earlier, and though it’s only 3.40 pm, it’s beginning to get dark when we arrive back at the car.

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=366345&Y=297885&A=Y&Z=120

1st October: there will be showers this afternoon – perhaps we can dodge them? The next couple of days look like being rather wet, so we’d better make the most of today. We’ll hedge our bets with a route where there’s plenty of shelter… Sure enough, there are a few drops getting past the trees down Ned’s Lane, and a few more, with the sun behind them, along the Smithies lane. Otherwise, our luck’s still with us.

There are some truly splendid toadstools amongst the trees – some fine colonies of smaller specimens, and later we find some huge things like seriously-warped dinner plates. Some people would be able to put a name to them. Some would even eat them, I suspect. Not me!

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=366240&Y=297950&A=Y&Z=120

The toadstools are really coming into season now – there’s a wide variety of shapes and sizes down Ned’s Lane. Further on, as we approach Round Hill, I remember the dragonfly that posed for us here a week or so ago. Today there are two of them, both posing obligingly (a brown hawker and a southern hawker – I think…). Elsewhere a red admiral basks in the sunshine. It may be autumn meteorologically, but astronomically it’s still summer…

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=366240&Y=297950&A=Y&Z=120

Sunset is coming earlier – the nights are drawing in, and there’s a distinct lack of light this evening .Soon such walks will be out of the question. Deep in the woods below Hawthorn Bank it’s really gloomy, but the camera can just-about cope.

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=365200&Y=297975&A=Y&Z=120