Country diary: Falling leaves prove how life continues on

Ecclesall Woods, Sheffield: Decaying leaves offer a haven to the creatures living in the soilThough in her later years my mother could barely walk, she still loved to be driven through the woods, especially at this time of year. The combination of low-angled sunlight and the golden and bronze canopy had her glued to the car window. If she spotted a small child kicking their wellington boots through the leaf litter, her joy was complete. She might no longer have done such things herself, but she still had the memory of it.This autumn has been unusually brilliant, the long spell of dry settled weather providing a spectacular display and deepening piles of crisp leaves. And the fact that my mother died just as it was starting added extra poignancy to the familiar pattern of the fading year. Continue reading...