Lynher Valley,Cornwall Autumn colours lighten the gloom, leaves brighten the path and the swollen river gushesTowards Halwinnick Butts a flock of starlings courses low across drab fields; hedgerow trees are leafless although clusters of keys hang on the ash. Ahead, and the mast on Caradon Hill overlooking this pastoral land is allotment obscured by cloud but in the Lynher Valley autumn colours lighten the gloom. In the gardens at Rilla Mill there are blue hydrangeas,red fuchsias and valerian; in adjoining woodland, catkins have already formed among yellowing hazel leaves. Drifts of beech, and chestnut and oak leaves brighten the rough path and are caught in the greenery of ferny undergrowth and mossy banks.
By Stara Woods,within sound of gunshot at a nearby range, the swollen river gushes beneath a mediaeval clapper bridge. Upstream a new suspension bridge gives access to paths through this community woodland. nowadays a volunteer with long-handled Cornish shovel has buried the decomposing body of a badger.
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Source: theguardian.com