Fallen tree trunk, Stratford Park

My work session today involved the special school nativity tableau and concert, which was indeed very special. My favourite part was when Mary and Joseph were wheeled on to the stage, and, as the story was read aloud, the helper gently removed the 'bump' from Mary's costume, which turned out to be a doll, and a recording was played of a baby screaming lustily! We do use a lot of pre-recorded speech and sounds and communication aids in school productions, because it's how our students communicate, but the bawling baby was a classic.

Afterwards I went down to Stratford park to spend five minutes with the swans before tackling the torment that is Tesco's. It was raining Norwegian Forest Cats and German Shepherds, and my path around the lake took me through what seemed suspiciously like a burst water main pouring downhill towards the lake. It was there on Monday too, perhaps no one has realised! The stream/brook was in spate, but would have made an ugly blip. So I walked towards the mansion/museum, and eventually came upon a fallen tree trunk of immense length. I paused to eat my snacks, then turned round to ponder how I might fit into one shot the fallen trunk, and the tall tree it had evidently snapped off (both 'parts' had matching jagged ends). It was then I noticed the amazing colours on the fallen trunk, and decided to concentrate on them in super macro, mostly with the dramatic filter on. The advantage of this was that the lens was facing downwards, and wasn't getting rained on! I did get a couple of shots of the still-standing tree, but the rain made it look as if I was blipping in a thick fog! So, abstract it is today.

CleanSteve fears the fallen tree may be the Arucaria/Monkey puzzle tree. I think it's more likely to be a conifer, but the limbs had been chopped off. The mature trees in the park are over 100 years old, and were gifted as saplings to the then owner of the mansion by his great friend, who just happened to be starting an arboretum at Westonbirt! I have blipped the arboretum several times, most recently on 9th December.