Autumn at Newmillerdam, Wakefield

Late October is when Newmillerdam really shows its colours.

I walked the main lake loop this afternoon - just under two miles around the water, flat and easy under a thick carpet of fallen leaves. The woodland is at peak autumn right now. Oak, beech and birch all turned at once - golds, coppers and deep reds reflected perfectly across the lake, with the old Grade II listed boathouse framed in colour.

It was as much about sound as sight. The woods were noisy - tits and nuthatches in the canopy, the rustle of leaves, and the waterfowl out on the lake. Mute swans, mallards, coots and geese all out in good numbers.

And squirrels everywhere. Grey squirrels darting across the Broad Walk, busy with the last of the beech mast - I counted six or seven in one stretch alone.

Short walk, full-on autumn. One of Wakefield's best spots at this time of year.