Cross spider

Historian 31 came running in to me this morning to tell me he had found a lovely spider on the lock of the outside chem store!
I rushed out to see, and this little lady was hiding right in the lock, in a very dangerous place where she could easily be squashed.
Luckily for her we were able to gently remove her, and in return she allowed us a photo shoot on her way to a new (safer) home.
The cross or garden spider Araneus diadematus, is a common 'orb web spider' found all across theUK and commonly in gardens between June and November. 
The females grow up to 15mm body length and if you hold them are really quite heavy. They range in colour from brown to burnt orange like this one.
They are completely harmless, and do a grand job catching flies in their large elaborate webs.
A real beauty!