November

Radio 4 had a good programme on today - they started with the very pessimistic poem "November" by Thomas Hood

November - By Thomas Hood (1799-1845)

No sun - no moon!
No morn - no noon -
No dawn - no dusk - no proper time of day.
No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,
No comfortable feel in any member -
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds! -
November!

They then did some outside broadcasts from various parts of the Lake District, showing how much colour was around (even if they did resort to red squirrels at one point ;-)

Even without the summer weather the scenery is still magnificent round here, and a crisp blue sky over the fells has to be one of the best sights you'll get during the short days of Winter.

They also discussed the old Norse derivation of many of the words like beck, fell, brant (as in Brantwood) and told of how a Norwegian girl could understand some of the local dialect.

If you missed it you can catch it on listen again today.