Cowden Garden in autumn

During my October holidays the autumn leaves were as spectacular as I've ever seen them. One sunny lunchtime I suddenly decided to head to the Japanese garden at Cowden, 45 minutes away. It wasn't until I saw the sign to turn off that I remembered my purse was in my living room and I wouldn't be able to pay the entrance fee!

But every cloud has a silver lining, as the following morning the weather was still lovely and I was the first to arrive at the garden so had it to myself for a while.

Visiting this garden, with its colourful trees, curved bridge, and perfectly reflecting water, was the next best thing to being in Japan in autumn, as you can see from the photo above!