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12th October 2026 
Summer tends to get all the glory. The long evenings, the blue skies, the idea that every weekend ought to involve a picnic somewhere.
But we’ve always thought autumn makes a rather good case for itself.
The air turns cooler. The walks get longer. The dog is considerably more enthusiastic about leaving the house. And somewhere around that first properly crisp morning, you find yourself reaching for a jumper you haven’t seen since spring.
There’s something about this time of year that makes being outdoors feel particularly good. Perhaps it’s knowing the days are getting shorter. Perhaps it’s the colour in the hedgerows, the leaves underfoot, or simply the prospect of a warm pub at the end of a long walk.
And yes, the weather becomes somewhat less cooperative. But that has never really stopped us.
Because autumn isn’t a season for waiting for the perfect day. It’s a season for pulling on a good pair of boots, taking a jacket just in case, and heading out anyway.
At Walker & Hawkes, those are precisely the sort of days we’ve always dressed for.
The first cold morning
It rarely arrives with much ceremony.
One morning, you open the door and the air feels different. There’s a little mist sitting over the fields, the grass is wet underfoot, and for the first time in months, stepping outside in just a shirt suddenly feels rather ambitious.
This is the moment autumn really begins.
The jumper comes back into rotation. A jacket gets left by the door again. Boots replace whatever passed for sensible footwear over summer. Not because anyone has officially decided it’s time, but because the season quietly makes the decision for us.
And there’s something rather nice about that first layer going back on. Like greeting an old friend you’d almost forgotten you missed.
Perhaps that’s one of autumn’s small pleasures: getting dressed for the outdoors becomes part of the ritual again.
The return of the proper walk
Summer walks have their charms, of course. But there’s something about an autumn walk that feels a little more like the real thing.
The routes get longer. The pace gets slower. Dogs rediscover an extraordinary amount of important business in every hedgerow, and a quick half-hour somehow becomes most of the afternoon.
You notice more, too. The changing colour of the trees. The first leaves underfoot. That unmistakable smell of damp earth after rain. Even familiar paths seem to take on a different character.
Perhaps that’s why autumn draws us outside. You’re not necessarily going anywhere in particular. There’s no great plan and very rarely a destination.
You simply put on something warm, call the dog, and see where the path takes you.
And really, some of the best days begin exactly like that.
Dressing for a day that can’t make its mind up
Of course, autumn does come with one small complication: it has absolutely no idea what weather it would like to be.
A bright, crisp morning can become a damp afternoon remarkably quickly. The sun appears just long enough to make you regret the coat, then disappears the moment you take it off.
It’s why autumn dressing has always been about layers rather than certainty.
A Merino wool jumper when there’s a chill in the air. A gilet for those dry days when you know a good walk will soon warm you up. A wax jacket when the clouds look decidedly less trustworthy. And a good hat, quite frankly, rarely goes amiss.
The beauty is in being able to add, remove and carry on without giving the weather too much thought.
Because in Britain, waiting for the perfect conditions is a very good way of never going anywhere at all.
Mud is part of it
There comes a point in autumn when keeping your boots clean becomes a fairly unrealistic ambition.
The paths soften. Puddles appear in all the usual places. Dogs discover them immediately. Children somehow find the deepest one. And before long, everyone looks considerably less polished than when they left the house.
We rather like it that way.
Country clothing was never intended for standing somewhere pristine. It was made for fields and footpaths, wet grass, muddy paws and the occasional decision to take the route that looked slightly less sensible.
It’s why hard-wearing fabrics, dependable outerwear and clothes that don’t mind being properly worn have always mattered to us.
Because a little mud usually means you’ve had a rather good day.
And if everything comes home spotless, we’d be inclined to wonder whether you went far enough.
The pleasure of coming home
Perhaps one of the nicest things about an autumn day outside is what waits at the end of it.
Boots come off at the door. Damp jackets are hung up to dry. The dog heads immediately for the warmest spot in the house, while everyone else starts thinking about tea, something hot to eat, or whether it’s late enough to justify lighting the fire.
There’s a particular satisfaction in coming home cold-cheeked and slightly muddy, knowing you’ve properly made use of the day.
And maybe that’s part of what draws us outside at this time of year. Autumn gives you both halves of the story: the pleasure of wrapping up and heading out, and the equally lovely pleasure of coming back in again.
The clothes are hung by the door, ready for tomorrow.
Because with autumn, there’s always another walk worth taking.
Autumn, properly underway
By now, there’s no pretending it’s still summer.
The leaves have turned, the evenings are drawing in and the jacket that was taken along “just in case” has become a permanent fixture by the door.
And we wouldn’t have it any other way.
Because autumn reminds us of something we’ve always believed at Walker & Hawkes: the outdoors doesn’t need perfect weather to be enjoyed. Sometimes the colder, muddier, slightly windswept days are the ones you remember most.
So take the longer route. Let the dog investigate every hedgerow. Let the children find the puddles. Wear a good jacket rather than saving it for best.
Come home with muddy boots, cold cheeks and something worth talking about.
Summer can keep the sunshine. We’ll take autumn, just as it is.
