Sun 2011-10-23 
From back in mid summer, a hoverfly that doesn't look like a hoverfly: a Brachyopa sp, possibly Brachyopa bicolor (Diptera: Syrphidae), but there are several other species on the UK list that it could also be. It was in a woodland clearing, near a recently cut tree stump on which a bacterial mat was growing.
Photos taken in the Wilderness, Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2011-06-13.
Sat 2011-10-22 The online version of the 1901 UK Census contains this entry:
Name: Ahadish Brelstaff
Age: 49
Where born: Haughton Le Spring, Durham
Administrative County: North Riding
Civil Parish: Guisborough
Occupation: Milk Seller
The name 'Ahadish' is an error; the man was called 'Obadiah Brelstaff'. I presume the person (or algorithm) that transcribed the handwritten original misread the 'O' for a curly capital 'A', the 'b' for an 'h', and the small 'a' for an 's'. (I notice that they have also misspelt the name of 'Houghton le Spring' too.)
Obadiah was the head of the family that adopted my grandfather Walter in 1903. That is how we came to hijack the name 'Brelstaff'. On a visit to Great Ayton, probably in the early 1970s, Walter took me to see Obadiah's grave in a churchyard there. The name 'Obadiah' seems to have been handed down for at least 3 generations, see these 3 entries in the 1851 Census records:
Name: Obadiah Brelstaff, Age: 0, Administrative Area: Houghton Le Spring, Hetton Le Hole
Name: Obadiah Brelstaff, Age: 39, Administrative Area: Houghton Le Spring, Hetton Le Hole
Name: Obadiah Brelstaff, Age: 88, Administrative Area: Guisborough
Sat 2011-10-22 
From back in June: the side view of a longhorn beetle Phytoecia cylindrica (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), showing the orange front legs rather nicely. See here for one from June the previous year.
Photo taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2011-06-13.
Fri 2011-10-21 
From back in early summer: a flower of grass vetchling (Lathyrus nissolia).
The following photo, taken in front of my camera bag, gives a clearer view of the overall structure of the plant:
Photos taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2011-06-01.
Thu 2011-10-20 
A pale pink slime mould with elongated sporangia. It was on a decaying log.
[Note added 2012-12-17: this is probably Stemonitopsis typhina (=Comatrichia typhoides)]
Photo taken in the Wilderness, Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2011-10-05.
