Along the hedges fluffy seed heads of wild clematis festoon the fading leaves. In appreciation of its vanillascented summer flowers this plant was named “traveller’s joy in the days when people moved across the country following dirt tracks that hugged hedgerows, Today it is more commonly known as “old man’s beard” due to its profusion of shaggy heads, each comprising numerous plumed seeds. But, with the onset of the first autumn storms, the old man’s beard is torn from the hedgerows and cast into the wind.

In the leaf litter at the base of the hedge families of hedgehogs will be rummaging for the last of the autumn pickings in their quest to fatten up before the falling temperatures force them into hibernation. They need to reach a body weight of at least a pound before they can successfully hibernate, so at this time of year you may often spot late-born youngsters frantically foraging in broad daylight for the beetles, worms and slugs that seem so numerous on damp autumn days

This year’s spiders are now fully grown and at this time of the year their large circular webs seem to appear overnight, stretched over hedges and across garden paths, their fine strands catching in your hair each morning. For gardeners, October is the time to clear up your garden in readiness for the cold weather to come. Lawns and other grassy areas need their last cut before the frosts and lack of daylight halt their growth. The spent heads and stalks of summer flowers are sinking back into the borders, and the last leaves are falling from the apple tree. On sunnier days a few butterflies still flutter, supping sweetness from decaying fruit and searching for a place to hibernate. In the woodlands and fields it’s fungus time - October is the prime month for the appearance of their spore-bearing fruiting bodies mushrooms and toadstools.

It is a month of change, and though it can bring glorious golden days that remind us of summer, by the end of the month the sun rises to only just over thirty degrees above the horizon. This means that to reach us here on the earth’s surface its light must travel through a greater depth of atmosphere

The Naughtiest Girl Again, Enid Blyton, 1942

than it does at the height of summer, and this accounts for its rich and golden hue. October can also be very stormy and changeable, with winter storms quickly moving across the country bringing an end to any hopes of a lingering Indian summer.

October 4th brings the feast day of St Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscan order of mendicant friars. Francis was born in Assisi, probably in 1181, the son of a wealthy merchant, and led a carefree, extravagant life until his mid-twenties. His sudden decision to embrace a life of poverty and religious devotion has been variously attributed to severe illness, military experiences and a visionary dream. Today he is perhaps best remembered for his sympathy towards the natural world - he is often shown preaching to birds or surrounded by other animals. In 1980 he was proclaimed patron saint of ecologists and ecology.

October is a great month to get out and about. We’re unlikely to experience any more seriously hot weather, but it’s surprisingly common for a sustained spell of sunshine to occur around the middle of the month, known as “St Luke’s little summer” after the saint’s day that falls on the eighteenth of the month. The days are getting noticeably shorter now, but there’s still plenty of time to take the dogs for an afternoon walk and enjoy scrunching through the fallen leaves.

Here in England, October is the main month for apple-picking and cider-making. Since the early

1990s, as part of a campaign to raise public awareness of the difficulties the apple-growing industry faces in the UK, and to promote the growing and eating of traditional British varieties, 21 October has been celebrated as Apple day. Events organised on or around this date include guided tours of orchards, apple tastings and advice sessions for fruitgrowers as well as fun activities such as contests to produce the longest unbroken pieces of peel from a single apple!

On the last Sunday of October here in the UK the clocks go back, an extra hour in bed to be sure but still a reminder that summer is now well and truly behind us.

The end of the month traditionally brings witches and goblins. In pagan times it was a brief season when the divide between the worlds of the living and the dead became less secure and the dead returned from their graves to haunt the living. Ritual fires were lit at dusk on hilltops and in open spaces to purify the land and defeat the powers of evil. Boisterous games were played and loud noises made to frighten away the evil spirits. In AD 835, in an attempt to distract their congregations from these pagan practices, the Church moved Hallowmas, the feast of All Hallows or All Saints, from mid-May to the first day of November. Undeterred people focused their ghost-hunting rituals on the night before All Hallows and the celebration of Halloween on 31 October came into existence.

Wilkie Collins (18241889)