In pursuit of autumn colours

This morning we set off early to drive back north from my folks'. We were in the car and on the road around 7pm although we found that the A3 and the M25 were already busy: I can't imagine what it's like to start every day like that.

We stopped at the first services on the M40 to grab coffees and some breakfast before resuming the journey. It was a lovely day for driving and the Minx pointed out how gorgeous the colours were in the trees lining either side of the motorway.

There's something to be said for an early start and every time I looked at the clock, I couldn't believe how little of the day had passed. It was like being given an extra day within the scheduled one!

After I'd dropped the Minx home, I headed back to Kirkby Lonsdale to squeeze in a swim before I picked up Dan and Abi. I turned off the motorway at Junction 34 - where lots of exciting and impressive landscaping is going on - and drove up the Lune valley. I was looking for somewhere to stop and photograph the kind of beautiful colours that we'd seen this morning but each time I saw something worth photographing, there was nowhere to pull over.

In the end I turned off at Burrow to take the lane up to Cowan Bridge and, as I rounded a bend, I saw this tree, which looked beautiful. However once I'd found somewhere to park up it turned out I was facing roughly south-west, so the light behind it - from that tiny golden sun - made it look all dark :-/