In article ,
Charlie Pridham wrote:

Thanks Nick, there was a large tree in the area and some of the pictures do
look to be spot on.

For the record, I was similarly puzzled some years back by one,
and someone on this group suggested a slime mould. Since then,
I have looked out for them, and have seen several in my garden
alone. Many of them are saprophytic, so can occur anywhere, but
are particularly obvious on lawns.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.