Month: April 2012

April 13th – Ah, the true English. Yesterday, I feature my first bluebell of the year, spotted on a verge at Sandhills, near Brownhills. Sadly, it was the foreign, invasive variety. I should, have course, realised that the English ones would have been easy to find in the Arrow Valley, also a haven of my beloved wild garlic. If you compare this plant with that featured yesterday, you’ll note the blooms droop more, are generally more delicate, largely on one side of the stem and the colour is a richer violet.

You can’t beat the real thing… even in Redditch.

April 13th – By heck, it was nippy this morning. Not cold by winter standards, of course, but cold by spring ones. There was quite a heavy frost last night, and it made for an interesting mist. The sunrise wasn’t vivid like earlier in the week, but pastel-hued and ever changing. At Stonnall, my muse, Grove Hill, was stunning, as were the pylons and woods at Mill Green. An hour and a half later, on the Arrow Valley cycle route in Redditch, the lake was also captivating, it’s fringes holding a light mist, softening the light that made even the Canada Geese precious.

Your blog keeps me entertained, whenever I do a search for the local villages and towns I always end up on your blog! I’d love to see some more nice photos of Pelsall if you do requests? You should’ve had a mile-o-meter put on your bike, or if you have an iPhone used the app that tracks your route etc. Keep the blog going! Great work!

Hi James

Glad you like the 365days project. I wondered when I started if anyone would be interested and if it wasn’t a bit self indulgent. It just goes to show…

To answer the milage question, in the 366 days of the first year (up until April 1st, 2012) I did 9442 miles. I posted about it on my main blog, here.

I will endeavour to feature more of Pelsall for you. It is a bit remiss of me. I’ll have to be a tad quicker so the border guards don’t catch me… ;0)

Thanks for your interest and best wishes

Bob

April 12th – That’s what I love about spring – the firsts. First snowdrop, first daffodil. First yellowhammer. First house martin. Everything starts over in spring, and so it is with the bluebells. These are my first this year. Sadly, they’re the foreign interlopers rather than the English variety, but they’ll do (the English only have blooms on one side of the stem). They’re growing beside the busy A461 Lichfield Road at Sandhills, just near Brownhills. Now we’ve got bluebells, can my favourite, the wild garlic, be far behind?

April 12th – I don’t know much about the Little Holms in Shenstone. This secluded, rather pretty public open space runs from the railway bridge by the Pumphouse along the banks of the Footherley Brook. It’s been there as long as I can remember, and is delightful at any time of year. A great spot for quiet contemplation. It’s also a great place to appreciate the bridge and it’s architecture. 

April 11th – This makes me angry. Very angry indeed. This small bungalow – the lodge to Owletts Hall Farm, in Lynn, on the road between Shenstone and Stonnall, is another long-empty property being left to collapse by its selfish owners. This wrecked, derelict house – like Keepers Cottage and the abandoned terraces in Footherley – could make someone a lovely little home. But for some reason, the owner would rather see the building carried to dust. I’ve known this building to be empty for over thirty years. There ought to be a law against this. 

April 11 – For a few days, I’ll be up before sunlight. Today, I had to go to Redditch, which meant cycling to Four Oaks to get a through train. It was jolly cold this morning at 6AM, and there was a ground frost in the hollows – but what more than made up for it was an absolutely stunning sunrise, viewed from the best place around here to see it – Shire Oak. As I piled it in down the Chester Road, I caught sight of Grove Hill with a fiery red backdrop, and slammed the anchors on, and pulled out the camera. What a start to the day. These images are untouched and exactly as I took them.

The smudge of rising stem on the horizon to the north east is Radcliffe On Soar power station, between Derby and Nottingham.

April 10th – I saw something remarkable today. It’s usual for the red deer hinds to congregate in groups at this time of year, and I’d been missing them at Chasewater. I actually set out to find them there today, and disappointed, headed back down the old railway line towards Engine Lane. it was on the way that i struct gold. in a meadow between the former track and Marklew’s Pond, a herd of about 30 hinds were loafing, unpeturbed by the cyclist guy. I’ve seen large groups before, but rarely this big of a single sex. I found it a bit odd there were no young, though, although one or two of the ladies here seemed to be looking rather rotund. The general condition seemed a little poor, although this could be just the moult. They hung around watching me for about 5 minutes, before being spooked by something, whereupon they moved over toward the pond, before crossing it a disappearing into the scrub. A fine sight, and one I never, ever imagined seeing here as a young man. We are privileged indeed.

April 10th – Didn’t go far today. Had lots to do, so contented myself with a spin round Chasewater and Brownhills Common. I was pleased to note that on this windy, but sunny afternoon, windsurfers had returned to Chasewater. This is momentous. The water level has risen perceptibly over the weekend, which is good, and the activity on the water was heartening. I hope they’re taking care where they drive those cars, though – some of that mud is still very soft…

April 9th – Now, here’s a thing. This lost lane used to cut off the junction between the B5014 Lichfield Road and A515 Tewnalls Lane at Seedy Mill, just north of Lichfield. It offered a short-cut alternative for cyclists and walkers who didn’t fancy the busy junction of two main roads. I’m not sure it ever had a name, but it was cut off and abandoned when the railway that passes through here was expanded to 4 tracks wide towards the end of the last decade. The junctions at either end may have gone, but the metalled road surface remains under a layer of thick moss and weed, as nature slowly claws itself back. You can still walk and cycle it, but from the A515 end, it’s a bit of a scramble up the bank. I think I must be the only person who still uses it.