A Yellow Wood

In our English woodlands the heavy greens of late summer slide slowly and almost imperceptibly into gentle browns and yellows. This yellow wood has many old roads within it and we chose several of them to make a day's pleasant walking.

We're in a small, surprisingly very wooded wedge of country, just south of the town of Hertford. It's usually referred to as Broxbourne Woods, though each of these contiguous woodlands has its own name and character. We made our way steadily beside Danemead Wood, around Hoddesdonpark Wood, through Benfield Wood and Wormley Wood, and with brief excursions into Westfield Grove and Derry's Wood.

These are all far from wild areas, having been worked and exploited for centuries. There are ponds, banks and old hedgerows which speak of a complex history - far too complex for me to figure out anyway! So lets just wander along, enjoying the colour and details....

  

So none of your gaudy reds and oranges, just the gentle, understated shades of brown and yellow that are typical of Oak and Hornbeam woodlands like these. There were quite a few fungi which seemed to appear wherever we stopped to look for them (though several of my pictures were taken on one decaying log, and the fungi look different depending on how the low sunlight is illuminating them). And a nearly pristine Red Admiral butterfly putting in a very late appearance.

Take care.