CLIMBS ETC

Go to the beech runs near Bix Bottom in the Chilterns and see spooky mushrooms weaving their autumn magic. It's a sure sign that we are well into autumn when these spotty hats stand up through the golden litter of November leaves. They're called Magpie Fungus but to me they could just as well be known as Witch's Hats. Here they are in the damp days after Halloween and Guy Fawkes, huddled in little groups, quietly cackling in the shadows, hidden under protective branches of be

Transport yourself to the chestnut forests of Southern Tuscany, on the slopes and valleys around a long-silent volcano, Monte Amiata, not far from the old pilgrim's path to Rome, the Via Francigena. Walking in the woods you will come across oddly shaped boulders, remnants of volcanic rock spewed out in a former era. And if - like me - you can't resist a bit of climbing or, in this case, bouldering, you try out some of the boulders for size. The rock is rough, trachyte, eas