The landscape / fields change colour south-east / east of Milton Keynes (or thereabouts). AIBU?

[eyespy1]

Just on the train back to London from Chester and I'm noticing what I often notice - that the fields in the north west are a much darker green than those in the south east? Particularly, once you get to about Milton Keynes, the landscape 'lightens."

Also, when we go uo to Cambridge, the fields always seem much lighter in colour - almost golden. But somewhere like Stafford, everything is very dark green.

Is this just me? I was thinking it must be due to rainfall variations?

You realise that not all fields are planted with the same crop, right?

I'd guess it's a combination of weather and underlying geology. Maybe look at a map of soil types and see if it matches the different areas you can see.

Yes, but also the basic grass is a lighter green in general.

Farming is variable by county. There are a lot of dairy farms in Cheshire, more likely fields are planted with grass for silage and some forage crops. You’ll also get a lot of potato’s in Cheshire, white or purple flowers. In the south east you you’ll probably be looking at wheat and barley for the majority.

I used to manage a farm just south of Milton Keynes that bordered the main line to London - you’d find wheat, barley, OSR and a bit of linseed on rotation generally.

The east of England is the region of the UK with the lowest rainfall, so the grass is likely to be paler.

There's also a lot of rapeseed planted as you go towards Cambridge.

Spring starts earlier in the south. I notice it when we go up to Scotland and the lambs are tiny compared with down here. The crops are ready and harvested earlier too.

YANBU!!! I have always thought this and thought it was just me!! I live in SE but grew up in the East Midlands - I notice the change every time I travel between the two. I feel like the north has more hawthorn??

Different soil, different crops, different average temperatures and different rainfall. So many variables, of course you will see differences between regions.

Also don’t discount what the topography of the landscape does to your perception of colour and form. Cambridgeshire is flat, flat, flat. The way light travels is different to a hillier landscape like the north-west.