“Meteorological Autumn” has finally arrived and here we are in September of 2022, but of course there is something of a paradox; whilst meteorologically it is Autumn, Summer on the other hand eventually transitions into “full Autumn” on the 23rd of September; but then again that could be something of a strange oddity of nature and the way it works, thus keeps us all on our tip toes. Still though If I was to bid farewell to “Meteorological Summer” I wanted to do it with style and I wanted to find the farewell charm; which of course had to include light, atmosphere and a slight feeling of transition, something along the lines of,
“One minute you can see the summer, the next minute in the next scene you can feel Autumn beginning to encroach upon us.”
And that in itself was a challenge within its own rights. But here I was, at Brinsley Headstocks, an area that is now green and full of beauty with wildlife - some hiding and some being visible; yet it was not always the case, Brinsley Headstocks before it was a nature reserve and a place of sanctuary used to be called Brinsley Colliery; back then the landscape would have been very different to how it looks today. However the only two remains of the old Colliery are the headstocks and of course the old railway route which is now a pathway and one that I had started to walk along, before long I arrived at a gate and ahead of me against an interesting looking sky I could see the headstocks and the trees behind them. The light at this point was magical and I captured the following photographs.
Mood of the Headstocks - (Black and White). 
Mood of the Headstocks - (Colour).
Then I continued along the pathway; yet I had to look backwards at where I had walked and a simple composition I was now faced with, the greenery and the path which once would have carried Coal, now sitting silent providing a sanctuary for all to enjoy - yet the echoes and stories of yesteryear could still be heard.
Where the old tracks run.
Before long I had walked down the rather strange dip of the footpath and up the gentle yet short incline; things had changed by now and to the left of me I noticed the wooden bridge over the aptly named “Brinsley Brook” at one time water would have been in it; yet because of the heat wave, the recent summer time temperatures that broke records of some 40.3 degrees, the brook now has little water at all, instead it is sad and dry; made even sadder by the new development of houses being built just a short distance away from this beautiful site and of course the developers have had to alter the brook; but I wondered to myself “Will the brook ever have water in it again?” or is that over at the hand of the developers building the housing?
Portal of Beauty.
After seeing the rather magical portal of the Bridge over the sparse and dry brook, I continued and ahead of me the light was even more magical and magnificent - here the light was creating the artwork and I knew I had to capture what was in front of me, serene is what it was; silent and I was thinking to myself “Summer you have been full of surprises, some of them good, some of them bad what with wildfires, yet Autumn, you need to be a healer.” Either way I loved the simplicity of the scene in front of me.
Magical end light of Summer.
Then came a change, whilst I could have gone straight on along the pathway ahead of me, I opted to turn of the pathway that I was on, a ghost of an old freight train from yesteryear carrying Coal, had gone by, and now the path that I was on was narrow; overgrown yet providing a home for nature to thrive; before long I had found myself noticing colour everywhere and it was almost as if I had stepped into a painting; the plants that I had discovered along with the interesting purple, red and white attributes were all saying a final farewell before they enter the sleep state for Autumn and Winter, after which they all come back out and blossom next spring.
The magic of getting close. 
Standing out in Purple. 
Purple is the Painting. 
An alien growth. 
Textures of Plants.
But hold on, the way that I was walking took me towards the wooden bridge over Brinsley Brook, and after seeing the beauty of the flora and fauna, something magical happened, I could see to the right of me the bridge and with it a magical and magnificent light. It was really unlike anything else that I had seen before and I knew that I only had moments to capture it, for will I ever see the same scene again? More than likely not; but I had just documented it.
End of summer framed.
Crossing over the bridge, the brook dry as bones I turned right, now it felt as if I was in some form of rainforest or alien planet, green everywhere and a strange humidity, I walked along the path before I arrived at a location that I have photographed on many occasions before; yet I could just here the scene in front of me whispering “Autumn will soon be here, and next time you see me an explosion of colour will have happened.” But the steps leading up to the top of Brinsley Hill just looked magical and like it had been copied from a Science Fiction novel and placed in front of me.
The route of Aliens.
I then continued; the woodland that I had walked through had disappeared and before long I could see the headstocks again, in front of me remaining silent. However, though the magic this time was in the skies, I paused for a moment and eventually found the perfect compositions to take, some panoramic, others not panoramic and it goes without saying I loved the results.
Incoming changes in Drama. 
A "Headstocks" of a Panorama. 
Catching the last of Summer Light.
After taking those photos it was time to take a short break, I sat on the bench and contemplated at what I had seen so far; the magical light, the flora and fauna and in a strange way the way in which Summer was beginning to say goodbye, for I knew the day after would be the start of Meteorological Autumn - but this was a final farewell before the weather slowly begins to change. Ahead of me I could see an interesting composition looking down to the final gate that I would pass through and the one where at the start of the walk I had captured the first views of the Headstocks.
Leading onwards.
Welcome was the short break - but now it was time to move on, I walked towards the gate; clunk and clang, the gate had closed behind me, then I looked back yet again towards the Headstocks, this time the light was even more magical, and behind the headstocks the trees I could see had a certain magic to them.
When you can see a Change.
For whilst I could still see elements of Summer time, I could also see an encroaching Autumn, albeit beginning to arrive slowly; but what I had witnessed was a sense of magic with light and beauty; for this was the meteorological summer time saying goodbye in a strange way and one that I had witnessed in art form, the light affecting the landscape and affecting the scenery making things look magical, yet it came with a warning, a stark warning that soon, lurking in the wings will be an explosion of colour that is just waiting to be captured and with the explosion of Autumn colour on the way, that is also something that I am looking forward to capturing. However, what will summer be like next year? Will it be full of beauty and magical light, or will it be different bringing with it new stories to tell? I for one do not know, but I do know that I had bid farewell to summer and it had bid farewell to me with an ethereal beauty like nothing else that I had ever seen before - that in itself is something that will remain with me for years to come.
