Where has our summer gone?
YES, autumn has come early (Mail). My blackberry canes are weighed down by fruit. They were two weeks earlier than usual — I picked 1lb fruit on July 15 and 4lb on July 24 and July 25. Since then, I have been picking 1lb a day, which I give away to friends, eat as a dessert or make into wine. JUNE LUCAS, Greenford, Middlesex. ON AUGUST 1, I saw swallows gathering and then flying south. I have never seen this happen so early in the year. Is it because of global warming or a sign of a bad winter to come? JAMES DICKSON, Coldstream, Berwickshire.