I’ve always found ‘bookending’ the day by witnessing both the sun rising and then setting strangely fulfilling, as if I’ve made the most of the daylight hours. Of course, in the winter, one doesn’t have to get up quite so early, and often, conditions mean that the day’s closing salvo doesn’t always echo its start. However, the stunning weather over the last few months has provided ample opportunities to photograph both front and back covers in all their glory, and, occasionally, time allowing, some of the pages in between.

Good luck to all the young people in the district receiving their exam results today. Congratulations to those who have secured what they need to board the next train, and to those who have not, speaking from personal experience, today is just the start of a different journey. Winston Churchill once said, “Success is not final. Failure is not fatal. It’s the courage to continue that counts.”

Roe deer, sparrowhawks, horses wrapped in fly guards and partly-harvested fields.

This is Platt on 12 August 2025.