Rotting tree stump

I came across this tree root beneath the hedgerow beside the bridle way.  At this time of the year, when the grass is comparatively inactive, all sorts of things become visible that are normally not noticed.  At a first cursory glance I was not sure what I had found  –  you can perhaps understand why!  It is, in fact, the rotting root of a hawthorn.  The photo has not been ‘doctored’, except that some of the growth around the trunk has been removed to show its shape more clearly.