Winter walks in the dark days

Since I’m still largely confined to the settee with a painful shoulder, I might as well post some photos of local walks we took from late November to just before Christmas, when I suddenly stopped being able to drive to interesting places.

Here are some photos of Blaise Castle taken about six weeks ago, when there was still some colour clinging to the trees ...

... and here’s Badock’s Wood, a couple of miles upstream on the Trym, on a magical morning of mist and lingering leaves at the beginning of December.

Mill Tut

 Meanwhile, the wintry Frome has been running fast with flood water from copious amounts of rainfall. Luckily, Cwtch is deeply suspicious of water and very careful around it.

She doesn’t even like the section of path through Snuff Mills that always floods in winter.

the Frome from Halfpenny Bridge

I haven’t seen the heron that hangs out in Eastville Park lake for at least a couple of months, but there have been kingfishers and cormorants, so I can’t complain.

Purdown, above the Frome valley, is a good place to walk in winter when you haven't time to get muddy, and Cwtch and I have had several shiny-bright walks up there.

I haven't been able to find out what this stone on Sir John’s Lane signifies – a boundary marker, perhaps?

winter oak

Finally, a walk at Three Brooks nature reserve in Bradley Stoke on a day so bright the first wise man must have wrapped it up as a gift.  

Can spring be far behind? 

Finally, a reminder that even when you can't drive anywhere, the most familiar and mundane of places can still delight you: here, starlings gate-crashing a colony of sparrows. 

Autumn swansong

I was expecting a conflagration this autumn after the hot, dry summer. In my head I had a vision of the autumn of 2007, though I don't know if the brilliance of the foliage that year was exceptional, or if my state of mind at the time just made it seem like the world was on fire.   

Anyhow, it hasn't been like that at all - more a long, slow burn which is now dying down. Today I noticed that the leaves on the ground more black than gold. The trees more bare than leaved. The fog dropping. 

Winter is coming, so here's autumn's swansong ...

... though actually it's the resident heron on the lake in Eastville Park that draws the attention of passers-by - and the local black-headed gulls.

Meanwhile, I've been wondering which of these two photos to submit to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition - it's so hard to choose between them. ☺

The park and nearby Wickham Glen were looking so beautiful the last few times I've been there.

Wickham Glen

my favourite little willow by the Frome

Meanwhile, the yew that had recently fallen across C*lston Hill, largely blocking it, has been removed ... 

... only for a second tree to fall just a little higher up the lane. It's a sobering reminder of the potential danger of walking in woods after a period of drought.

Further upstream, Snuff Mills, the narrow wooded valley of which is dark in winter and darker still in summer, has been looking its best.

Quarry below Ham Lane

Glenfrome weir

We also walked up the mossy lane to Vassal's Park a couple of times, which has some fabulous trees.

ring-necked parakeet and crow

High above this section of the Frome is Purdown, which we've also visited a lot. Yes, it can be a bit edgy and urban ...

... but it's had its moments of beauty too. 

my favourite oak in the woods on Purdown

One just-after dawn morning I was reminded of the stunning sunrises I watched around New Year and the fact that even winter has its highlights, despite the cold and dark. I look forward to doing that again over the next couple of months, if any bright, clear days coincide with my days off. 

There are more spectacular trees at Ashton Court, of course, above the River Avon, though the one morning we were there it was dull and wet, which made for less than spectacular photos.

Badock's Wood has been lovely ... 

... though I was sad to see that the bench I used to sit on to remember my parents and my darling Ted has now gone. Inevitable, I suppose.

I never expect to find much hoggin in autumn, because of all the leaf litter, but I have come across a few bits. (It's the looking, and staying in the moment to look, that is most important for me.) 

Fungi spotting is also a useful trick for keeping me present. There's been masses this autumn, though they're mostly waning now.

Our final walking spot has been Blaise estate. Here are just a few of the lovely old trees in the open space near the Henbury Road entrance, which are at their most striking in autumn ... 

... though perhaps the most beautiful walks of all have been along Hazel Brook (a tributary of the River Trym) and Kings Weston Down on bright Sunday mornings (followed by a cappuccino in the cafe, and doggy ice cream for Cwtch).

Though at times there might be an ocean between us ... 

... I have the two best walking companions in the world.