Photographically, the second half of November is often more challenging than the first. The late-autumn colours have all but gone – saturated yellows, reds and oranges replaced by muddy browns and bare, skeletal branches. Heralding the beginning of winter, the light has a brooding intensity, and this afternoon, after the rain had all but petered out, was no exception. In the stillness of half light, one could hear a solitary tawny owl in Platt Woods, and nothing else. The festive season will soon be upon us, but the landscape sleeps. Good enough reason for a comforting pint of the black stuff in the Blue Anchor…

This is Platt on 14 November 2025.