Richard Williamson's weekly nature notes

In autumn they all knew where the female yew trees grew-usually in the churchyard- from which children could help themselves and they knew about the deadly poisonous pip in the middle to avoid- see end paragraph.

Female yews normally produced tens of thousands of red, sticky arils. Actually they are a kind of ancient fir cones. They look like tiny Chinese lanterns.

They are sugary sweet, bright red, juicy to the point of melting in the mouth, and very plesant once you have got used to them. I have eaten hundeds in my 40 years or more in Sussex.

For full feature see West Sussex Gazette, November 15.