I finally did what the photography magazines have been recommended for the last month and looked on the floor. There are, ass they point out, colourful leaves on the floor.
The problem is that on a well-walked path many of the leaves are looking a bit threadbare. I’m sure there are still plenty of nice ones in the woods but I didn’t really have chance to check today. Another trip is needed.
Here is a selection of a few of the better ones.
They are reasonably easy to photograph compared to birds, as they aren’t very mobile and you can move them round a bit. However, they are trickier than teasel as they tend to blow away as the breeze stiffens. See my last post for further comments on this.
I’ve added a couple of other shots too – one of leaves catching the light whilst still attached to a tree and a couple of an archway that links two of the islands in the lake (taken from different sides of the lake). I can’t recall the exact date when the lake was built but a quick scan of the internet suggests 1750, which seems reasonable. It looks a bit like a bridge but it looks a bit steep and impractical so I’ll stick with “archway”.
The final picture is an example of “health and safety gone mad”, as I would say if I was writing for a tabloid. I’m waiting for the warning about uneven ground. There was one at Donna Nook on Monday. Uneven ground in the countryside, whatever next?
Yes, I’m sure they can. I expect the sign is more about avoiding liability than about preventing people being injured. Or am I just been cynical?
A week or two ago I would have said that the sign was ludicrous, but then a heavy branch fell on my head. Nothing valuable there fortunately.
Glad you survived. 🙂
I like the photos of the arch/bridge on the lake.
In those days when they dug garden pond they gave it 100%! 🙂
Yes! 🙂
I went to Clumber Park today – the lake is 87 acres. Mo half measures! 🙂
My goodness! Is it a lake that was enlarged or was it all dug out by countless minions?
Apart from the bit that dug itself when mineworkings collapsed I think they dammed a stream, though they did have their very own sailing ship on the lake.
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/clumber-park/features/clumber-parks-lost-treasures—the-lincoln
Thank-you for the link. Amazing!
Different times… 🙂
Yes 🙂
I always tend to think that the force is with the Dark Side. It may also be with me, as the two things need not be exclusive. 🙂
Nice leaf study, it’s great to see the colors and I can recognise a few. I agree with you about the sign..common sense though is dwindling in great batches.
Yes, common sense seems to be increasingly uncommon, though as Tootlepedal points out, there are other forces at work… 🙂
So maybe the force is with us? or the dark side?
Who can tell? In terms of housework Julia is quite clear that I’m on the Dark Side…
I am sure that you are right about the need for the sign but blame people who go into woods in storms and rapacious lawyers not the people who put the signs up.
When we were cooking for school parties (as opposed to “cooking with kids” as I nearly said) I was told by one of the teachers that as long as I asked if anyone had allergies (and had it documented) I was free to go ahead and make them as ill as I liked. I am now cynical about signs, in addition to idiots and lawyers. 🙂
I used to do mountain walks with children in the ‘good old days’ without a care in the world but I think a little health and safely actually might have not gone amiss. We were lucky but I was also a bit reckless in retrospect.
I don’t mind Health and Safety as such – mobile phone, first aid kit, sufficient adult help – all good. Stopping kids eating edible flowers, feeding animals and putting up notices to warn of uneven ground in the sand dunes at Donna Nook – not so good.
Fair enough.
🙂
I _love_ your leaf pictures! I like the composition in the close-up still lifes, but my favourite is the one where the light hit the yellow leaves still on the tree just so. Beautiful!
Thank you. I was looking for swans when the sun came out. It seemed too good to miss, though I wasn’t son the computer. 🙂
As someone who lives in the woods, I take the sign’s warning very seriously. Big branches coming down are a real threat and a tree even more so. When it is very windy, as it has been lately, we avoid our backyard, going there only when the dog needs to do his business. Still the woods are beautiful, especially in the fall, and so far we have escaped injury. But we are vigilant in windy weather. I suppose it all depends on how many trees are around your house.
I don’t discount the danger from falling trees or branches,as I’ve seen the damage they can do, even in a lightly wooded country like the UK. However, I do think we are using signs where we used to use common sense.
Yes, I am sure you are right. On the other hand, if people aren’t used to being in a wooded area, perhaps a sign is needed. 😉
🙂
We have some very tall, old ash trees out in the wooded section of our farm. They have dropped some sizeable branches.
My mum and dad had a branch drop off a horse chestnut. It crushed a substantial set of iron railings. Fortunately nobody was under it.
Sorry – posted too early. Was going to add that as they have the power to pock the gates in bad weather that would make more sense than a notice, which is just an insurance cop out. 🙂
That can be a little scary.
I like trees but it made me look at the in a different way. 🙂
Good photos, Quercus. Never mind the magazines, focus on what you see. 🙂
Thank you Derrick. I’m thinking I really need to photograph some Full English Breakfasts next. 🙂
🙂
🙂
They’re the sort of people who would have put signs up for Robin Hood. “Beware. This forest may contain Merry Men”.
:-):-):-)
Sounds about right.