I was lucky enough to enjoy an early morning walk in the woods last week. It was a beautiful morning with a clear blue sky, and the sun was just creeping over the horizon. The rays of the sun shone between the trunks of the trees, making patterns on the ground. It had been dry for quite a few days, so the brown and red leaves underfoot were crisp and crunchy as I meandered along the narrow path between the trees – now empty of leaves, apart from the occasional green holly bush laden with red berries.

Further along my route, there were pine trees full of green needles, with a carpet of discarded pine cones at their foot, some showing signs of having been eaten by the squirrels that lived in this wood.

However, this area was mainly filled with oak, elm and birch trees. There were many acorns on and around the oak trees – a sign of new life for the spring. Squirrels were busy up in the branches, then frantically digging holes in the ground to hide their secret store of nuts and seeds for the long winter ahead.

As I walked along, I kept an eye open for fungi. Both the amazing variety of toadstools and mushrooms that lined my route, and the unusual shapes and colours growing on the tree trunks themselves.

Another miracle of the Autumn is the amount of spiders webs that seem to suddenly appear hanging effortlessly from the branches of trees and bushes. This morning there was a particularly heavy dew and the resulting diamond like glittering webs seemed so fragile, yet beautifully built. Often there was a particularly large spider sitting in the centre of the web, waiting for some unlucky prey to come along.

Once again, I breathed the fresh air, felt the warmth of the sun and felt my stresses melt away. The Autumn walk had worked its magic again