An Autumn Walk
Autumn is a wonderful time of transition. For a period of a month or so, nature changes its colours, before the autumn storms will blow the leaves away leaving the trunks and branches bare, until spring heralds a new season with fresh green leaves again. I went back to many places that I visited before to see them dressed in a new palette of colours.
One such place is Shobdon Hill with its Arches. I told the story of Shobdon Churches before on my website. The original church was Romanesque, consecrated by the bishop of Hereford in 1131. It was torn down in the middle of the 18th C to give space for a new Rococo church, but the arches between the nave and chancel were preserved and wisely brought up to the top of Shobdon Hill as a folly.
The original church and its arches were decorated by the Herefordshire School of Sculptors. Unfortunately, the arches have weathered badly in the centuries since they were erected outdoors on the hill. But my photos here are less about the arches and more about the feeling of autumn during a short walk.
And as a comparison I had to include a photo captured from the same position but taken in early May. We can see how the subtle green colours of the newly formed leaves have been transformed into the mature and autumnal reds and yellows, as the trees – like ourselves – go through a lifecycle from birth in springtime to the time when they fall and cover our paths as we walk the avenue to the ancient remains of the church.
