AN AUTUMN WALK IN THE WOODS

I had to show this first picture of a Sweet Chestnut. Nearly 30 years ago when we walked at Winkworth Arboretum we collected chestnuts with the children. I planted them in the garden and several grew. Realising that I did not want a vegetable bed with huge chestnut trees I transplanted to the edge of the woods. This is one near the road that survived . There is also a Horse Chestnut tree a little further in.

I once said to Christina the old lady who lived opposite this space what I had done and that perhaps one day we would be able to collect chestnuts for the fire with our grandchildren. She remembered what I said over the years and often chuckled about it.

The year Mike's eldest Grandchild was born was the first year it had chestnuts on. That was 13 years ago.

So far the autumn colours haven't really come into their own.

This is taken a few paces from our house which is on the edge of a housing estate.

Down the track to the left into part of the woods is my most frequent afternoon walk with Beth.

You just have to look up at the lovely canopy.

These woods are not really managed and many of the trees are strangled with ivy.

Trunks are such tactile things don't you think.

At this point my flash started to go off and I think it spoils the true colour. Also I ran out of battery so had to give up taking photos on this walk.

On my next walk the weather was very dull so I tried experimenting on 1600ISO setting for most. I found setting the F number aperture first was best because that enabled me to set the shutter time at the minimum suitable for each shot. I did not take a tripod and so hand shake was a problem with a long shutter time.

Did that make sense? I am on such a steep learning curve with photography and was actually very pleased that the shots came out at all. All the automatic ones wanted to use flash and I was definitely not happy with those few I took.

Dreaming spires and as I said so tactile.

Always a shame when such a large tree has had to be felled.

This group of three trees always looks so special one has a paint mark on so I am hoping it is to remove a branch and not the whole tree.

Out in the field and then back to the woods on the homeward journey Beth in the distance. You can see what I mean about Autumn colours not quite here yet.

This lovely old Oak is such a magical tree, how many tales it could tell and how many generations of children have swung in it's branches.

At that point I had to close as it started to speck with rain and yes there is just a slight mark on this photo from a raindrop. That is going to be a wet winters day treat, to learn how to touch up photos.

Other walks this way were in Snow and A Walk in the Woods.

If you enjoyed these photos you really must go to Kiki's wonderful blog Awake with charm and spirit her photos are truly amazing and her prose are enchanting transporting you into a truly magical world of trees.