King Alfred's Cakes

According to legend, when King Alfred was in hiding from the Danes, he burnt some cakes by falling asleep and failing to take them out of the oven in time. These fungi, which resemble small burnt cakes, are nicknamed 'King Alfred's Cakes'. They are also sometimes known as coal fungus - possibly because the dried inner flesh burns slowly and was a traditionally used in fire lighting. They are usually found on the fallen trunks of dead ash trees.

Today's the day when the UK switches from British Summer Time to Greenwich Mean Time and the clocks go back by an hour so that the mornings are lighter but evenings are darker. I'm one of those people who don't do this. I prefer life the other way around so my clocks stay on BST. This works fine since my employer allows core working hours of 8-4 (GMT)instead of 9-5. I just have to remember that everyone else has the wrong time. We'll all coincide again in the spring although I'm sure that eventually government will - at least in England - end the so-called daylight saving time.