There’s been a lot of high pressure over the past few weeks and this has resulted in sunny autumn days followed by quite cold nights, writes Dick Warner.

The summer cruising season is now over and my boat is back at its home base on the River Suck but, thanks to the fact that it has a small solid fuel stove, I can still use it during the autumn and winter. 

At this time of year many perennial plants have to solve a problem. They produce seeds but if they just drop them on the ground the young plants won’t flourish because of competition from their parents. They have evolved a variety of strategies to solve this problem.

As the days get shorter and the nights get colder many animals are preparing strategies for surviving the winter. 

My study window looks out over a 10-acre meadow with a small hill on the far side. Under the grass on the hill there’s esker sand and gravel laid down in the last Ice Age. Back in the days when the main forms of transport round here were powered by horses and donkeys people had to be more locally self-sufficient, particularly for heavy items like sand and gravel, and a small quarry was opened up on the west side of the hill.