The local home range - another sunny autumn walk

Last week I posted images from one of my regular local walks - a loop of about 4km, along a wooded path, by the side of a stream, and then past the church, through the churchyard, and round a lake surrounded by trees. This week it's my other regular walk, through a wood and along a Greenway - but not a loop, just walk out and walk home; so the length is variable . . . at what point do I turn back? My most usual turning point is the railway bridge (below) - turning back there makes for a walk of about an hour.

The Shaggy Ink Cap mushrooms (in the collage below) were in full sun and looked almost metallic as the sunlight reflected off their surface.

The walk out

The walk home

At the Sunday Market

 Alpaca and an electric cello!

The local home range - a sunny autumn walk

Autumn sun and blue skies:

buzzard circles on a thermal

twisty tree - perch for a jackdaw

along the hedgerow

bulrushes in the lake, squirrel in the churchyard

through the churchyard

bridge near the lake

and the stonework in monochrome . . . because I always prefer it!

sunset over the allotments*

*But not from today! I found this in the camera, having been using a different one recently - this sunset was in July.

A week in the Forest of Dean (7) - Westbury Court

 The National Trust property of Westbury Court Garden lies on the edge of the village of Westbury on Severn. It is the only surviving 17th-century Dutch water garden in the UK. It lies close by the River Severn, with access to walks taking in the riverside cliffs and the village centre.

A week in the Forest of Dean (6) - Parkend

Parkend Station is one terminus of the Dean Forest Railway (Lydney Harbour is the other). The village of Parkend was once a significant place in the mining industry of the Forest. It is now a tranquil village with a striking octagonal church - at the top of a hill, in a forest clearing, with a graveyard in the midst of the trees. It seems a wonderful place to spend eternity.

A week in the Forest of Dean (5) - Dean Forest Railway

 The Dean Forest Railway originally served the various mining operations in the Forest, moving the ores by rail to the port at Lydney, to be taken onward by boat. As the mining industry was overtaken by larger scale industry elsewhere, and fell into disuse, so did the railway. Now it's a heritage tourist line, with steam trains and vintage diesel locomotives. The line goes through dense forest, with the trees almost touching the train, making for a very immersive experience.

A week in the Forest of Dean (4) - Cannop Ponds

 Now a tranquil site for nature and recreation, Cannop Ponds exist as a result of historic iron ore mining.

Mandarin ducks - posing and displaying:

A sleeping swan: