A Taste of Autumn

This afternoon Liz and I caught a bus out to Low Bradfield for a stroll around Agden Reservoir and Dam Flask.

There was a more than a hint of autumn in the woods and hedgerows along the way. The air was cool and damp following yesterday’s torrential rain, which had dislodged a lot dead leaves from the trees. I had to keep telling myself that it’ll be six weeks or so before leaf fall begins in earnest. There’s still plenty of time for an Indian Summer.

After a picnic lunch we stopped to pick blackberries. There seems to be a bumper crop this year, with hardly any wasps to share it! It didn't take us long to fill a sandwich box with berries. They'll be delicious stewed with Bramleys and dark muscovado sugar.

We noticed a few fungi had appeared in the damp weather: russulas, earthballs, slippery jacks and false chanterelles, but nothing worth picking for the pot.