June 25th – Had to smile at this graffiti on a canal side wall in central Walsall today. Just by Bridgman Street bridge, it did seem oddly amusing. The hand looks familiar. Wonder who the wag is?
Month: June 2012
June 24th – I have’t a bloody clue what’s going on here. In one of the four culverts that make up the new dam spillway bridge at Chasewater, someone has piled up the limestone rock ballast into a neat wall. It’s clearly the work of kids – but would have been serious effort, particular bare-handed. It’s oddly admirable, but will have to be removed. Makes you wonder what they could do by applying themselves to something useful…
June 24th – Pottering up to Chasewater for the vintage festival, it turned out a pleasant, warm afternoon, so I had a gentle trundle round the park. It was good to see that after weeks of complaining by concerned wildlife enthusiasts, notices have finally been put up about the Little Ringed Plovers nesting on the shoreline. The delicate, fragile little fellows are often disturbed from their ground nests by dogs and walkers who don’t know they’re there. It seems very difficult to get the park management team – still from Lichfield District Council until 2014 – to do anything much these days. A complete change from previous regimes.
Coming back along the canal, another avian issue: the swan couple, who abandoned their nest of eggs earlier in the year are back. I have no idea what’s going on here, but it’ll sure be interesting to watch…
Thought it was about time I made the effort to document my rides. There have been long periods when I haven’t been out. This has been for various reasons. I don’t like riding in the rain, I didn’t have the target of the charity rides to train for and well, it’s been hard cycling on my own without the prospect of sharing with Aiden. I hadn’t realised just how much the prospect of sharing with Aiden had entered my psyche, become part of my thought process until it was all taken away.
I’m coming to terms with all of that now and feel more able to go out, cycle and just enjoy the ride and have been making more regular forays.
Today I popped down the Walsall Rd to Longwood Bridge, joined the towpath to Park Lime Pits and then rode via Rushall to NCN5, up to Pelsall, around Ryders Mere (very, very wet, muddy and worse) and then up along the old railway track to the canal, through Brownhills and then return to Aldridge. A nice and easy 11.5 miles.
The pedestrian crossing lights at the place where the junction box in Station Rd Rushall used to be have been out of action for quite some months now. Every time I cycle down that way the lights have suffered a little more damage. I’m not holding my breath that they will be repaired soon. Just 20 yards away from the vandalised lights along NCN 5 are the most beautiful sweet peas in full bloom.
The bottom two pictures are taken from the old railway line and are of the same view towards Walsall.
June 23rd – I’m not sure what this is. There’s a shock of it growing on the common at Brownhills, just near the ditch to the south of the A5 Watling Street. I’m seeing lots of similar flowers in hedgerows, but they tend to be at the white/blue end of the spectrum. These are really bold and impressive. Anyone got any ideas, please?
June 23rd – I braved a very windswept Brownhills Common today, and tore around it. It’s ages since I’ve been up there, and it was fun to throw the bike around the muddy tracks. The plant life is gorgeous there at the moment. So many species, just begging for your attention. This remarkably complex flower is a common bramble. I’m not sure if this is blackberry, or dewberry, and won’t be until it fruits. Brambles like this are incredibly important, as many types of butterfly and moth feed from them. So beautiful, so often overlooked.
June 22nd – Moon daises are doing well this year. A relative of the more common lawn variety, and also of the ragwort from earlier in the week. The buds, if picked when young, are peppery and hot. This patch are on the canal towpath at Catshill Junction, Brownhills. I tried to get a picture from the banks of the M54 in Telfoed this week, but couldn’t get a good angle; they are carpeted with these delightful flowers.
June 22nd – The flowers continue. With the wet weather, I’m concerned about the lack of pollinating insects. On a grey Friday afternoon, I cycled the towpath from Walsall Wood to Brownhills. Near Clayhanger Bridge, overlooking the marsh at the rear of the big house is the most amazing thicket of honeysuckle, lupins, elder and brambles. Mixed in are cornflowers, like this lovely example. Happily, the bees seem to be gradually getting out and about. Lets have some summer soon, eh?
June 21st – Another very common but sadly overlooked wildflower is cow parsley. Tall, with flat, creamy-white flower heads, it’s a staple of the British hedgerow – which is where I found this specimen near Stonnall. Considered edible, it has a very bitter taste, and is related to the carrot and hogweed families. Cow parsley is often confused for Hogweed, which is very toxic and can cause severe burns, so don’t pick either if you’re unsure. Cow parsley is also colloquially known as Queen Anne’s lace, and you can see why when the delicacy of the flowers are studied closely. An unsung beauty.
June 21st – It was another miserable day, but I had managed to avoid the worst of the rain. I thought I’d continue with my wildflower feature, and after yesterday’s thistles, it made me think which other flower buds were interesting. In Thorneyhurst Lane, near Lynn, I spotted this poppy bud. Poppies seem such fragile flowers, yet the buds seem almost prehistoric in nature. The hedgerow and verges here are peppered with these downy buds, and with other poppies in various stages of the flowering cycle. A beautiful flower.
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