The days are getting shorter and its getting harder to awake
in the murky mornings. The leaves are changing colour on the trees and with Storm Brian on the horizon, many are blowing around across the park. There is a great variety of colours from green and brown through to orange and red. The leaf litter provides welcome cover to all sorts of insects and animals to shelter them from the wilder weather. The berries and fruits are also now ripening on the bushes and trees. This adds to the array of colour to be found.
The trees of the park have seen hundreds of seasons before. They will likely see many more again, long after we are gone. While the world around them has changed significantly in their time, I am sure that the park itself has little changed. The same trees would have stood watching over the park in the 1860s when Richards’ Great Great Great Uncle, John Hanning Speke, returned home to the estate from exploring Africa. He was a famous Victorian explorer who discovered the source of the Nile. He named the source after his queen, Lake Victoria.
This month is the Exmoor Dark Skies
festival and there are several exciting evening events taking place. For those not wanting to travel, there is plenty of opportunity to star gaze from the shepherd hut. There have been several meteor showers this month. With the darker days, there is increasing possibility of spotting shooting stars in the night sky. With the view across the park from the hut, there is a good chance of spotting one, cosy beside the log burner. If you look carefully at this photo taken near the hut, there is possibly a shooting star in the upper left area. Don’t believe me? Then come and stay and see for yourself!