A walk up the River Teifi in Cardigan reveals trees that are beginning to fade into new season colour, and the low blur of a weasel. It is rare for the writer to visit the same place twice within a couple of weeks, but a recent walk in the Teifi Marshes was curtailed by heavy rain, leaving unfinished business. Last time the walk started from the Cilgerran end of the marsh, so today begins at the seaward side - crossing the bridge over the Teifi and heading upstream past the site of the old, sadly long-departed Cardigan railway station.

The route follows the former course of the railway line, but briefly diverts along a boardwalk into the broad reedbeds at the heart of the marsh. Here, the ambient sound of the wind in the reeds ebbs and flows with an almost animate organic static - pushing back the distant sounds of traffic on the main road. Scrub and small trees interact with the reeds at the margins, their autumn bounty of fruits already well advanced. The blackberries are almost over, but the sloes are plump and mature with the promise of a warming winter spirit to come.