The autumn, called “the back end” here in England, comes very gently.  There is no astounding and heartbreaking blaze of color as there is in New England, just a slow, almost unnoticeable blur as various shades of green merge into shades of brown, and the berries take on a brilliant red hue.

I came across the following article in the Guardian about the New England autumn, and it made me homesick for the glory of the American fall, with its “spectrum of viridian-olive-green-lime-yellow-sepia-orange-russet-vermilion-purple” . . . “among the beeches and the silver birch, the willow, oak, dogwood and spruce, the arboreal palette ranges from amber, saffron and russet to ochre, orange, and cinnamon.  Laurels and white cedars don’t mutate, of course, but it’s not unusual to see maples seared in half between brilliant summer green and blazing autumn gold.”  www. guardian.co.uk/travel/2011/oct/30/new-england-autumn-fall.

The England autumn is much quieter with its subtle shades of color and the smells rising from the ground from the sodden leaves and crumpled bracken. Everything here in England is quieter–seasons, clothing, conversations–but it’s still lovely, even haunting, but it requires that you pay attention. Here are photographs I took during the month of October showing the coming of fall in Derbyshire’s Peak District.

Longway Bank, Whatstandwell, Derbyshire

Longway Bank, Whatstandwell, Derbyshire

View from the Tors over Alderwasley, Derbyshire

Longway Bank, Whatstandwell, DerbyshireLongway Bank, Whatstandwell, DerbyshireThe mist rising from the fields in South Wingfield, DerbyshireNear Black Rocks, Cromford, DerbyshireLongway Bank, Whatstandwell, Derbyshire