Autumn Wonders on the Trans Pennine Trail

If you look up into the sky in Longdendale during Autumn you may be fortunate enough to hear and even see the long skeins of pink footed geese that are winging their way from north to south. From their summer breeding grounds, beyond the UK, they are off to their winter feeding grounds, in north Norfolk, in significant numbers. They happen to fly right over Longdendale, but quite high up. I know people that count them but I’ve not managed to myself.

Canada Geese

Other birds are migrating in and out of the valley in autumn. We have some Canada Geese that live here all the year round now, but others join them at this time and swell their ranks. They fly at a lower altitude on the whole and I love to hear their morning and evening fly pasts. This year Bottoms Reservoir remains quite low so you can see them quite clearly when they settle on the water. You get the occasional quirky goose: a cross between a Greylag and a Canada for example, or a Leucistic one (that is to say pale in colour but not albino), or a lost goose of another species may join the flock for a while. The Swallows have gone south and will not be back now until Spring.

Other Autumn migrants arrive to take advantage of the food sources in the valley. Hawthorn and other berries are popular with birds like Redwing. A few years ago we had

Spindle

some Waxwing. Enjoy the berries yourself; not to eat mind you but to feast on the colours which combined with the changing colours of the leaves, really give Autumn its particular look. Along the Trail you will see plenty of birch and oak, which both choose yellows and browns for autumn, but here and there you will find something else a bit more exotic; Field Maple, Norway Maple, Red Oak, even a Service Tree if you are lucky. There’s plenty of Rowan and even some Spindle.

Another thing to look out for is fungi. Please respect these seasonal additions to the scenery of the Trail. I am upset by the way people knock over

Red Fly Agaric

or trample fungi, out of ignorance I assume. Yes, some are poisonous, like the Red Fly Agaric many people think of, but no, your dog will not eat them. Take photos by all means but leave them alone. They are part of an amazing network that links the trees and plants of the valley together under ground. This network of mycelium bear fruiting bodies in the autumn, what we think of as fungi. Those bodies, the mushrooms themselves, bear the spores or seeds which take the fungi onto new places and stages in their life cycle. Some people forage edible fungi, but I choose not to, partly because I’d rather not make a mistake and take an inedible one and partly because I prefer to see them in all their glory.

Birch Polypore

Other fungi pop out of branches. These are called brackets and grow on rotting wood. Again, there’s no need to destroy them. The Birch Polypore is particularly common in the valley as there are a lot of Birch trees. They emerge from the dead trunks like bubble gum but there’s no need to knock them off. They have been known to humans since before Neolithic times and were used by hunters and gatherers for lighting fires. You don’t need to disturb them for this purpose now. They can be as large as a small plate. As with all the nature along the TPT, just admire them.

Janet Lees
Twitter – X @Bambigoesforth
Instagram  @bambigoeswild

Date: 10th October, 2025