And so this witching time is upon us….how delicious…..my favourite festival of the year. A group of us gathered to honour our Ancestors beneath a beautiful  Beech tree, turning from its dark leaves to coppery brown. We spoke names of loved friends and family into the circle, which was lit by candles in jam jars….simple but moving, as dusk fell around us, ushering in the winter.

Today, a quieter walk through Slad woods, catching spiralling leaves,  our footsteps winding slowly up the very steep Swifts Hill. At the top, looking out over the gently misted five valleys that I call home, sharing spiced apple juice (thank you Barbara for the apples!) and homemade chocolate biscuits, soft and crumbly.

The time of roots, and of resting. It begins.

Thursday 21st was Apple Day here in the U.K, launched originally by Common Ground in 1990. From the start, it was intended to be both a celebration and a demonstration of the variety we are in danger of losing – not simply in apples, but richness and diversity of landscape, place, ecology and culture too.

In Stroud we are spoilt – our local apple growers are Dave and Helen at Days Cottage who make delicious organic juice made with apples from their traditional, mature orchards. The fruit comes only from unsprayed apples and dozens of varieties are used, some unique to the county, such as Taynton Codlin, Flower of the West and Underleaves.