Autumn is my favourite time of year. Down by the river, the Kelvin erupts, mud swirled waters racing round the bends. The trees reveal their skeletons and an endless fall of golden, burnt orange, sienna, umber and viridian leaves pave the way from Botanic Gardens to the regal expanse of Kelvingrove park. My dog barks and chases squirrels, magpies and ducks, skidding through puddles and unctuous mud. We echo under the old bridges, fire stone red and bellowing history beneath their arches and pause at the old Flint Mill and clamber its crumbly walls.

The Kelvin River Walkway stretches 17km from Yorkhill to the small town of Milngavie just outside of Glasgow. But the most popular part of the walkway stretches from Kelvingrove Park near the city centre to Botanic Gardens at the heart of Glasgow’s West End. This part of the river is very popular with joggers, cyclists and dog walkers and awash with families out for a promenade at the weekends.

For the keen ornithologists there are many species of birds and ducks along the river bank. Everyday I meet the heron standing resplendent, watching over its domain and occasionally one of the family of kingfishers with its electric blue and fluorescent orange flash before my eyes.

Summer’s over and done and the frost is beginning  it’s morning bite. The wind blows the leaves onto the water and Winnie sees her prey revealed in the bare branches of the trees…..Run squirrels…run!!