It was cool, clear morning when last week I found myself parking in the Town facility, sandwiched between two Royal Mail vans. My exit route took me past the west border and the ground over which I walked was festooned with small oval berries. Looking up I saw that overhanging branches were similarly endowed. I had stumbled serendipitously across the annual ripening of the cornelian cherry. Not really a cherry but a member of the dogwood family, one renowned for its star-like yellow flowers in early spring. Whilst an undistinguished foliage plant, the fruit produced in early September is astonishing, turning from pale to deep red on ripening. I would describe the flavour as 'sub-acid', the sort of thing you could turn into a jelly to eat with the remainder of the Christmas turkey.

Mother Nature surprises us with occasional manifestations of mouth-watering opulence; I have found St George's mushrooms in May and blewits amongst the tufts of grass on a clay hillside in November.

It wasn't Mother Nature who endowed Radstock and Westfield with a cool million in 2013 but the National Lottery. Over the last few years most of the money has been spent on worthy causes but there is still something like a third left, to be spent before 2025. If you have any ideas, do please get in touch with Rob Wycke at the Big Local: Email: [email protected]. Mobile: 07901 950114.

If you would like to offer your services, Rob would be grateful for them too.