Well, we're getting to the time of year when late autumn is heralding the onset of winter. I could be downhearted but it does open up the possibility of walking out to country pubs with log fires, good beer and hearty food.
 If you happen to be passing through the village of Preston in Hertfordshire I can recommend the Red Lion for all of those things, set in some nice countryside in the Chilterns. No, I don't have shares in the pub to be recommending it so highly.
 Actually the villagers do- it was the first pub in the country to be bought by the community when there were plans to close it down in the 1980s.