Autumn is a season that happens more or less when it is expected, whilst others seem to drift from one into another, and you can hardly mark their beginnings. The first day of September can still be warm and summery, but by the end of the month colder nights and misty mornings are commonplace. There is no criticism however, for what can match the beauty of such mornings, when through a hazy mist the earth is bathed in gold and every spider’s web is hung with dew. For the farmer, the annual harvest is well on its way, with hay being cut throughout the month, especially on the drier days.

At this time of year the hedges and woods yield up tasty morsels for every walker who cares to pause for a while. Blackberries (Rubus fructicosus) are at their best, for surely this is the most well known of all our wild fruits and Wild Raspberries (Rubus idaeus) are also tempting our palate. On moorland and in open woods, Bilberry or should I say Blaeberry, can be discovered, also providing a delicious harvest.

Another edible berry the Cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccus) is found on wet moorland and is famous for the sauce made to accompany turkey or venison. Cowberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea) often confused with Cranberry is also commonplace but the red berries, although edible are bitter to the taste. The third of these moorland species is the Cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus) a close relation of the blackberry, low growing with crinkled, glossy, lobed leaves and having hard yellow fruits. These last three are all bitter eaten straight from the plant but make delicious sauces, jellies and jams.

Richard Wesley, Natural History Editor

• The top photograph of fallen autumn leaves is by copyright holder FIR0002 i=and is reproduced here under the GNU Free Documentation Licence
• The other photographs are by copyright holder Richard Wesley and are reproduced here with his permission.

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