The Desert (September 2021)

There is an area in Clipstone Forest that is known as the Desert. It is a remnant from the mining days, being close to the old Rufford Colliery. In recent years it has also been used as a coal reclamation site. 

Back in 2019, I speculated that the site was being regenerated, perhaps returning it back to nature, and it seems I was right. The area now has a sizeable pond/lake with a small island in the middle, which I could only capture with a series of shots, presented below in a panoramic format:

Overtime I suspect that it will become more green but currently, as can be seen above, it is still a mixture of dried mud and old coal deposits. I was also intrigued by the mud patterns at the edge of the water...the shapes in the first image below looking distinctly like crocodile snouts!

Budby South Forest (September 2021)

Budby South Forest is an area of heathland within the wider Sherwood Forest setting. In early autumn there are still the remnants of flowering heather, ferns turning from green to yellow and plenty of parched  grasses. 

These elements combined for the following series of photographs with the first image being my favourite…a simple composition made from complementary colours - the yellowing fern set against the muted lilac tones of the the flowering heather:

The heathland abruptly changes to broadleaf woods at Hanger Hill. There were a few signs of the new autumn season with a few birch trees starting to change colour but it was mostly still very green in the forest:

September on the Southwell Trail (2021)

My posts have been a bit erratic in the last couple of months, as I respond to a bereavement within the family. It is a sad time and photography, like many other activities, has taken a back seat.

On the occasions that I did manage to get out with the camera, it was a welcome release. This selection notes the first seasonal changes along the Southwell Trail in September and features an avenue of horse chestnut trees that line the entrance to Spring's Farm and then onwards to the Hexgreave Estate. 

The avenue cuts the Southwell Trail and its associated paths in three places which provides the vantage points for all of the images…the horse chestnuts being one of the first trees to show autumn colours as the leaves dry out, some due to a leaf mould which seems to impact from early summer: