While ongoing national and world events unfold at a dizzying pace, nature has quietly transitioned from late-summer false autumn to real autumn.

In September, scarecrows once again brought ingenuity and humour to the community (congratulations to Humpty Trumpty!), and the new Platt Memorial Hall celebrated its tenth anniversary. Having been on the committee when it first opened its doors in 2016, I was sad to miss the celebrations, and I’ve since heard what a wonderful evening it was. The hall remains a fantastic, highly successful community asset. I’m sure I won’t be the last person to remind locals that volunteers run it, and they’d be pleased to hear from anyone else interested in getting involved.

In Wrotham Heath, a popular new restaurant opened in the old Royal Oak pub, and as a result, the village has become a giant car park on most evenings. Hopefully this will calm down in the coming weeks, and some normality will resume for those of us who live here.

Red Kites and Buzzards above, lambs, horses and Platt cats below, the landscape, gently preparing to hibernate for the winter, remains active and vibrant. Extremely tough times are ahead, they say, and one can only hope that the gathering storm blows over.

In the meantime, this is Platt in early autumn 2026.