An autumn show in the parks

We’ve had some incredible blue skies this week. So I head down the road to the University Parks, to take pictures of the autumn colours. As the clocks go back, and the days get shorter, this place is always the perfect tonic. Here you can walk the 70 acres of parkland in the heart of Oxford, flanked by the river Cherwell, between dawn and dusk every day of the year bar one. And if you’re quick you will catch a free carnival. For as November beckons, a delicious mix of colourful dahlias, purple ‘roxanne’ and hot pink salvia are still shouting for your attention from the flower beds, the pathways choreographed with swaying ornamental grasses.

But it is the trees that are the star turn. 250 different varieties, bearing leaves of all shapes, sizes and shades. From burnt browns to raucous reds, there are yellows as bright as custard and show off marmalade oranges. For this is their last hurrah. And as they dance their last dance, spiralling up to dizzy heights before falling to take their bows at the end of another season, it is a display that will sustain me through the long winter. Until the green shoots of spring return.