Thanks America For Autumn Colour

When I was grieving for Jazzy dog I met a man and his dog in Epping Forest. He told me that that they often walked at High Beach and that the kiosk owner would get a sausage ready for the dog when she saw them approaching as that is what he always asked for.

I took Ollie dog to the forest today. We sat with the Mamils and enjoyed our hot sausage rolls. We loved it. We met lots of friendly people and their hounds in the forest but didn't see much wildlife. 

Strangely the autumn colours aren't that bright. Many of the leaves are still green. The exception was an oak tree near the Kings Oak pub. I photographed this cyclist with it as the backdrop as I liked the autumn colours in his bike. It was obviously an oak but didn't look quite right. We went for a closer inspection. The leaves are definitely not those of an English oak.

I have discovered that it is an American red oak, renowned for great autumn colour, which was planted when Queen Victoria visited in 1882 and declared, "the forest be dedicated to the use and enjoyment of the public for all time".  On the day of her visit East London was deserted as up to half a million people made their way to the forest for the day.