So goes the song.........and the relevance? Well, we visited Westonbirt Aboretum yesterday on another lovely sunny autumn day! It was our first encounter with the new 'welcome building' - not quite as large and comprehensive as we'd thought it would be given the write-up in the 'Friends' magazine. However it was good that there were not too many other visitors there, giving us room to enjoy the tree collection mostly unhindered - it being mid-week. The new entrance is now some distance from the 'start' of the trails to the old aboretum and Silk Wood and the facilities. Jane was a little concerned that Colin might not be able to return to the car park on foot at the end of the visit in addition to walking some of the trails. With this in mind, we chose the old aboretum for a walk (it is smaller than Silk Wood) and stuck to the autumn trail rather than our meandering which we had been prone to in the past. In addition, each available bench was duly considered and we used them frequently throughout the day, as well as having our fall-back plan of the fold-up seat at hand.
The tree collection is only just on the turn for autumn colours, but in a way, this was more enjoyable and colourful as the palette was more diverse - the sun shining through the leaves made it all the more so. Yesterday the ground was firm but we guess that after the forecast rain which is to come, things might just get that bit more slippery and tricky underfoot! As the colours progress - assuming the winds don't take most of the leaves to the ground - and the visitors increase, so the ground gets more slippery until it becomes a quagmire - and oh, how we have experienced that in the past!
In addition to the colours we were lucky to experience (again) the sweet, candyfloss smells of the Cercidiphyllum japonicum - the Katsura tree - mmmm! There was also an array of colourful berries and seeds - including those of the pretty orange/pink Euonymus.
It was a splendid day, we had a good walk around the aboretum, availed ourselves of the tea (this time no cake) and Colin managed to return to the car without starting to list!
Colin and Jane.