April 1st – The smallholding near the canal at Newtown, in Brownhills, seems to be thriving. The pigs look happy and in good condition, and seem to be increasing in number. As I passed, this cheeky fellow was proving the old adage that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. He’s obviously deft at this, and I collected the wool he’d snagged on the barbed wire to hang up for nesting birds at home.
April 1st – Didn’t get time to go far today. I did get to Chasewater during the dog-end of a gorgeous afternoon, however. There was a stiff breeze, but it was still relatively warm. I noticed along the canal that the hawthorn leaves were coming out, and the gradual greening of fields and woods has started in earnest. I noticed at Ogley Basin in Brownhills that the dredging equipment and silt screens from Anglesey basin were now finished with, and the stricken dredger was still in dry dock. Little dredging actually seems to have been done, so I’ve no idea what actually happened there. At Chasewater itself, access has now been opened up again to foot and bicycle traffic from the canal, and access now seems possible to the park once more. During an enjoyable hour talking to a very knowledgable old hand by the new nine-foot, I learned that the contractors will be offsite by next weekend. I also discovered that the marsh in the spillway isn’t the Sphagnum Lawn, but a different bit of preserved wetland from the old nine-foot. Whoops… must correct that on the main blog.
The works are looking pretty decent, and all that’s left to do now is a little rain dance and hope the water level rises as quickly as possible.
A commute from the 26th March, turned to video to go with an article on my main blog noting the first anniversary of this journal. Please read the original article by clicking here – and if the video above is blocked in your country, there’s an alternate version linked in the article.
Here’s to more of the same… and another 365daysofbiking.
March 31st – this chicken shed/barn stands in Raikes Lane, Between Lynn, Shenstone and Chesterfield. I only noticed it recently. Over the road there’s a large, modern chicken farm, and I suspect this to be it’s antecedent. I think it’s one of the oldest such steel sheet structures I’ve ever seen, and wonder how old it actually is. The frame seems to be timber and girder, and I don’t think the roof is original. The bolts holding the sheeting on look very old, as do the window frames. A curiosity buried in the backlanes.
BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking 