Westonbirt Arboretum

 We have just returned from a weekend trip where the primary objective was a visit to Westonbirt Arboretum to see its "spectacular display of autumn colour". We stayed in an excellent self-catering cottage in nearby Crudwell.

Westonbirt is the National Arboretum containing over 15,000 trees spread over 2,500 species ...

Paperbark Maple?

We had booked a guided walk around the old arboretum at 2 pm but managed to get on the 11 am walk as the weather did not look too promising. Our two volunteer guides were knowledgeable and friendly - the guided walks are free so well worth going on.

Now you might think this post will just be a lot of photographs of trees. And you would be right!

And as a change from trees: a splash of colour from these nerines near the entrance to the new arboretum, Silk Wood ...

Nerines at Westonbirt

Where we also found this ubiquitous woodland dweller ...

Gruffalo

... and this unsavoury character ...

... from the children's game ...

What's the time, Mr Wolf?

Anyway, back to the trees. This lime tree is thought to be 2000 years old, though it could be much younger as they are difficult to age when coppiced like this one. 

2000-year-old lime tree?

At this time of year, everyone comes to see the acers/maples in their glorious autumn colours ...

Larches are deciduous conifers made famous in this sketch by Monty Python. Being deciduous, larches are often grown with acers because they allow light to fall on the acers in spring while providing important shade in summer.

No. 1 The Larch

More acers ...

Although the weather had been fairly kind (no strong winds or rain), we were probably a week or two too late to see the acer trees in tiptop condition. The best leaf displays were often found on the ground ...

Mozaic of Acer Leaves

Serbian Spruce

With a few exceptions, grey squirrels dominate UK woodlands ...

Mary couldn't resist getting the lowdown on these fungi ...

Hare's Foot Inkcap

All the day was a little on the damp side, it was highly enjoyable and informative. The bread and mushroom soup in the cafe was tasty and washed down with hot chocolate. We had time for tea and cake in Tetbury (Llamas in Pyjamas) before returning to our cottage.

On returning home, we could appreciate the autumn colour changes in our miniature wood ...

Miniature Wood back home

and the magnificence of acers ...

Flame red Acer in the back garden