From mysterious trumpet mushrooms and golden velvet shanks to the vivid pink berries of spindle trees, discover the quieter side of Britain's winter woodlands.
There's a particular kind of beauty to a woodland in winter. The leaves have fallen, the branches are bare, and the landscape seems to have settled into a slower rhythm. Beneath the trees, the ground is a patchwork of copper beech leaves, damp moss, fallen branches and the occasional flash of colour.
Look a little closer, though, and you'll discover that winter is anything but lifeless.
Strange, trumpet-shaped mushrooms emerge from the leaf litter. Golden fungi gather on old tree stumps. Bright pink seed cases hang from otherwise unremarkable branches, and the woodland floor becomes a miniature world of textures, colours and unexpected discoveries.
Our Trumpet Red IPA takes its inspiration from this quieter, more curious side of the countryside. Its label celebrates trumpet mushrooms, velvet shank fungi and spindle berries, bringing together some of the wonderful things you might encounter on a winter walk through South East England.
Some have a history in cooking, others in traditional crafts or folklore. All are worth taking a moment to appreciate. So, pull on your boots, wrap up warm and join us for a little winter wandering.
Trumpet Mushrooms
The woodland's hidden treasure
With their dark, funnel-shaped bodies and delicate, curled edges, trumpet mushrooms look almost as though they've grown straight from the pages of a fairy tale.
Also known as horn of plenty or black trumpets, these remarkable fungi are easy to overlook. Their charcoal-grey colouring blends beautifully into fallen leaves, making them surprisingly difficult to spot, even when growing in groups. But once you've found one, you may start noticing them everywhere.
Where to find them
Trumpet mushrooms favour established deciduous woodland, particularly where the soil is moist and rich in leaf litter.
Look for them:
- Beneath beech and oak trees
- Among fallen autumn leaves
- On mossy woodland slopes
- In damp, shaded hollows
- In undisturbed, mature woodland
They can appear from late summer into autumn, sometimes persisting into early winter during mild weather.
In South East England, suitable woodland across Berkshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Surrey and the Chilterns can provide the right conditions. Their dark colouring makes them particularly difficult to find among fallen beech leaves, so it's worth slowing down and looking carefully at the woodland floor.
What could they be confused with?
Black trumpets have a distinctive hollow, funnel-shaped appearance, but several other dark or funnel-shaped fungi can look superficially similar.
Other Craterellus species may resemble them, while some dark cup fungi can be confusing to inexperienced observers.
One useful identification feature is their relatively smooth or slightly wrinkled outer surface, rather than the obvious gills found on many mushrooms.
However, never identify a wild mushroom from colour, shape or photographs alone. Accurate identification requires examining multiple features, and mistakes can have serious consequences.
A little history and folklore
The name cornucopioides refers to the cornucopia, or horn of plenty, an ancient symbol of abundance and nourishment. In France, these mushrooms are known as trompettes de la mort, or trumpets of death. Despite the rather ominous name, it refers to their dark appearance and association with the autumn season, rather than their culinary reputation.
In European cooking, correctly identified black trumpets are prized for their deep, earthy flavour. They've traditionally been dried and stored for winter, when their concentrated flavour can bring richness to soups, sauces and stews.
Try this: Creamy Trumpet Mushroom & Thyme Pasta
Black trumpet mushrooms are celebrated for their rich, earthy, even smoky flavour, which works beautifully with cream, garlic and fresh herbs.
You'll need:
- 200g tagliatelle
- 100g correctly identified black trumpet mushrooms
- 1 small shallot
- 1 garlic clove
- A knob of butter
- A few sprigs of thyme
- 100ml double cream
- Parmesan, salt and black pepper
Gently cook the shallot and garlic in butter, then add the cleaned mushrooms and thyme.
Cook the mushrooms thoroughly before stirring through the cream and a little pasta water.
Toss with freshly cooked tagliatelle and finish with Parmesan and black pepper.
For an easy alternative, cultivated oyster mushrooms work beautifully too.
Never cook or consume self-foraged mushrooms unless their identity and edibility have been confirmed by a suitably experienced expert.
Velvet Shank
A little golden light in the winter woods
While many mushrooms disappear as temperatures fall, velvet shank seems quite content to make its appearance when the weather turns colder. Its glossy, honey-coloured caps glow against dark, damp wood, often appearing in clusters on fallen branches and old tree stumps.
It's one of the few mushrooms you might encounter during the coldest months of the year, making it a particularly rewarding find on a winter woodland walk.
Where to find it
Velvet shank grows on dead or dying hardwood, where it helps break down wood and return nutrients to the woodland ecosystem.
Look for it:
- On fallen trunks and branches
- Around old tree stumps
- On dead or damaged elm, ash, willow and other hardwoods
- In damp woodland
- Along wooded riverbanks
It typically appears from late autumn through winter and can sometimes be found after frosty weather. Its bright orange-brown caps stand out beautifully against the muted colours of the woodland floor.
What could it be confused with?
Velvet shank has potentially deadly lookalikes.
One of the most dangerous is the funeral bell, a highly poisonous mushroom that can also grow on decaying wood. Other small brown or orange mushrooms can also cause confusion.
Velvet shank typically has a sticky orange-brown cap, pale gills and a darker, velvety stem towards the base. However, these features are not sufficient for safe identification by a beginner.
Do not eat wild velvet shank without expert confirmation. The consequences of confusing it with a poisonous species can be severe.
A little history
Velvet shank has an interesting connection to a mushroom you may already know from the supermarket.
The cultivated enoki mushroom, commonly used in Japanese and other East Asian cooking, is a cultivated form. Commercial enoki mushrooms are usually grown in conditions that produce long, pale stems and small white caps. Wild velvet shank looks remarkably different, with its golden colouring and shorter, darker stems.
It's a lovely reminder of how growing conditions can dramatically change a mushroom's appearance. Velvet shank also plays an important ecological role, helping to decompose dead wood and recycle nutrients.
Try this: A Warming Winter Mushroom Broth
Rather than risking confusion with poisonous wild mushrooms, use commercially cultivated enoki for this simple winter recipe.
You'll need:
- 100g shop-bought enoki mushrooms
- 750ml vegetable stock
- A thumb-sized piece of ginger
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- A handful of spring onions
- A little sesame oil
Bring the stock, sliced ginger and garlic to a gentle simmer.
Add the soy sauce and trimmed enoki mushrooms, then cook thoroughly according to the packet instructions.
Finish with sliced spring onions and a few drops of sesame oil.
Simple, warming and ideal after a cold afternoon outdoors.
Spindle
The brightest surprise in the hedgerow
At first glance, spindle is an unassuming little tree. For much of the year, it blends into the hedgerows and woodland edges, easily overlooked among hawthorn, hazel and field maple. But come autumn, spindle puts on one of the most extraordinary displays in the British countryside.
Its bright pink seed cases split open to reveal vivid orange seeds, creating a colour combination that looks almost tropical against the muted tones of the season. It's one of those plants that makes you stop and wonder how something so striking can be growing quietly beside a country footpath.
Where to find it
Spindle is a native British tree that particularly enjoys chalky and limestone-rich soils.
It's often found in:
- Established hedgerows
- Woodland edges
- Chalk downland
- Scrubland
- Old field boundaries
Its berries are most noticeable in autumn and can sometimes remain on the branches into early winter.
What could it be confused with?
Spindle's vivid pink and orange fruits are distinctive, although some ornamental Euonymus species have similar seed cases. The leaves and branches can be less obvious outside the fruiting season, so identification should consider the whole plant. Spindle berries and other parts of the plant are poisonous to humans. They must never be eaten.
The bright fruits may be attractive to children, so it's worth being particularly careful when exploring hedgerows with little ones.
A little history and folklore
Spindle takes its name from one of its oldest practical uses. Its hard, fine-grained wood was traditionally used to make spindles for spinning wool, along with knitting needles, skewers and other small wooden tools. Before modern manufacturing, these everyday objects were often made from locally available trees. Spindle wood was also valued for making artists' charcoal, particularly for fine drawing.
In folklore, spindle sometimes carried associations with protection and good fortune, although traditions varied between regions.
Try this: A Little Woodland Colour for Christmas
Spindle's colourful fruits are beautiful to observe and photograph, but because they are poisonous, we'd recommend leaving them on the tree rather than bringing them indoors.
Instead, take inspiration from their extraordinary colours.
Create a small festive decoration using pink and orange wool, paper or dried flowers to echo the spindle's distinctive seed cases. Attach them to a willow wreath alongside pine, ivy and dried seed heads. It's a lovely way to bring the colours of the hedgerow home without removing food or habitat from the countryside.
And it means the spindle berries remain where they belong, available to the wildlife that uses them.
More Things to Discover on the Winter Woodland Floor
The woodland floor is a fascinating place during late autumn and winter, without the distraction of summer's lush greenery, smaller details become easier to notice.
Beech Leaves & Nuts
A copper-coloured woodland carpet
Few sights are more beautiful than a beech woodland in late autumn. The leaves turn golden, bronze and copper before falling into thick layers beneath the trees. Among them, you may find the distinctive spiky husks of beech nuts.Find them beneath established beech trees, particularly in mature woodland and old country estates.
What to look out for: The triangular nuts sit inside small, prickly husks. Beech leaves have smooth, gently wavy edges and prominent parallel veins.
Turkey Tail Fungi
Nature's miniature works of art
If you come across a fallen branch covered in overlapping, fan-shaped fungi, take a closer look. Turkey tail fungi form beautiful bands of brown, grey, cream and sometimes blue-grey, resembling the feathers of a turkey's tail. Find them on dead hardwood branches, logs and stumps throughout the year.
A little history: Turkey tail has a long history of traditional use in parts of Asia and has attracted modern scientific interest. However, this doesn't mean wild specimens should be consumed or used medicinally without professional guidance. Why not photograph the different colours and patterns you find. No two clusters look quite the same, and they make wonderful inspiration for drawing, printing or textile design.
Mosses & Lichens
The tiny forests beneath our feet
Winter is one of the best times to appreciate mosses and lichens, find them in damp woodland, shaded banks, old stone walls and decaying wood. Mosses and lichens are often mistaken for one another. Mosses are small plants with leaf-like structures, while lichens are partnerships involving fungi and photosynthetic organisms.
Moss was historically used for packing, insulation and, in some circumstances, absorbent dressings. Sphagnum moss became particularly important for wound dressings during the First World War, although wild moss should never be used on wounds today.
Fallen Pine Cones & Twigs
The small things that make a woodland
Sometimes the most familiar discoveries are the most interesting. Pine cones, fallen twigs, seed cases and fragments of bark all tell a story about the trees above.
The Beauty of a Woodland in Winter
There's a temptation to think that the countryside becomes less interesting once the flowers have faded and the leaves have fallen. but winter offers something different, the details become more important.
The golden caps of velvet shank against dark wood. The strange silhouettes of trumpet mushrooms emerging from fallen leaves. The extraordinary pink and orange of spindle berries. Even the smallest things, a curled beech leaf, a patch of moss or a delicate bracket fungus, become worth noticing. And perhaps that's the pleasure of winter walking; there's no particular destination, no great harvest to gather and no reason to hurry.
Just the opportunity to look a little closer.
A Beer for the Darker Months
Our Trumpet Red IPA takes its inspiration from this wonderful, slightly mysterious time of year. The woodland floor, the changing colours, the unexpected discoveries and the natural beauty that remains when everything else has quietened down. Its label brings together trumpet mushrooms, velvet shank and spindle berries, celebrating the curious shapes and colours of the British winter landscape. It's a beer rooted in the season, made for slower evenings, good company and coming home after a cold walk.
A reminder that there's always something worth discovering, even when the days are short.
A Note on Responsible Foraging
Foraging can be a wonderful way to reconnect with nature, but it should always begin with curiosity, care and respect. Never consume a wild plant, mushroom, berry or other natural material unless you are 100% certain of its identity and know that it is safe to eat.
Some edible mushrooms have extremely poisonous lookalikes. Velvet shank, for example, can be confused with the deadly funeral bell. Identification should always be confirmed by a suitably experienced expert before any wild mushroom is consumed.
Spindle berries are poisonous and must never be eaten.
Remember that even correctly identified plants and fungi may be unsafe if prepared incorrectly or collected from contaminated locations.
When exploring the countryside:
- Take only what you need. A small amount is usually enough, and sometimes a photograph is better than collecting anything at all.
- Leave plenty for wildlife. Fungi, berries, seeds and fallen wood are important parts of woodland ecosystems.
- Respect the land. Obtain permission where required and follow local restrictions. Public access does not automatically permit gathering natural materials.
- Never uproot wild plants without permission. Some species and habitats have additional legal protections.
- Avoid damaging trees and woodland habitats. Leave dead wood, mosses and lichens undisturbed.
- Choose clean locations. Avoid collecting near busy roads, sprayed land or potentially contaminated ground.
- Leave no trace. Take litter home and allow others to enjoy the same discoveries.
Above all, remember that the woodland is home to far more than the things we can see, every fallen branch, patch of moss and cluster of mushrooms has a role to play.
This article is intended for educational and cultural interest. It is not a guide to determining whether wild mushrooms, plants or berries are safe to eat.
