Late Summer or early Autumn?

By Laurence -
Here we are in mid August and somehow it feels that we are on the cusp of  changing seasons! On the one hand we have farmers still reaping the corn from their fields, and then we have a hint of change in the colour of the trees and hedgerows, plus the hedgerows are full of fruit and the roadsides and woodlands seem to have a lot of fungi.

 Local farmer kicks up the dust as he `combines` his crops.

Summer sky and parched ground says `Summer`.


Sudbury Victorian bathing pool

Hints of autumn in the trees around Sudbury old Victorian bathing pool. The Old Bathing Place was opened on the river in 1898 and was in use until the late 1930s when it was closed after an outbreak of diphtheria in the town. There are steps for the bathers to descend into a semi-circular section for non-swimmers which divided by an iron rails from the deep water. Once they could swim they could go out further - there are also steps on the opposite bank.


Wild Plums - ripe for picking.

Wild plums, sometimes called American plum, Sandhill plum, Osage plum, River plum or Sand Cherry, are botanically classified as Prunus Americana. They are seldom favored as a fresh eating plum, especially when compared to most commercial varieties, but rather provide food for wild animals and foragers. Wild plums were widely used by American Indian tribes as food and medicine. The entire tree from roots, bark and fruit may be used to treat various skin problems, cuts and wounds, as well as digestive ailments.

Common Puffballs. 

Not all puffballs are edible, and not all are edible at all stages, but if you stick with the rule of pure white inside with no markings (especially gills) then you will only be eating edible puffballs. Sound advice I thought, not that we eat them - just photograph them. However, a sign of autumn pending to me!


Then, a definite autumnal sign - hedgerows laden with blackberries.

Haws are the fruit of the hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) and provide food for many birds at this time of year. They are a very common sight in the hedgerows of Britain in the autumn.


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