Month: July 2012

July 5th – I found myself in Birmingham City Centre at 9am. I had to be elsewhere, but my trusty old bike lock had finally failed and it was time to get a new one, so I went to the nearest bike shop to New Street Station: Evans Cycles in Temple Row. I was sad to discover that oddly, the shop didn’t open until 10. This cost Evans a 60 quid sale, as I went to On Your Bike in Digbeth, instead. On the way between the two, I noted that once again, Birmingham is undergoing change. The revamp of New Street Station – which will do little for travellers, but provide a great retail opportunity for big business – is gathering steam. I have no idea what’s going on here in Stephenson place, but the end result will be a new branch of John Lewis. Something tells me that this is going for the Selfridges effect. I’m not sure that will work twice…

July 4th – People will tell you Brownhills is ugly, dirty, post industrial, a hellhole. It is variously none, all, and some of these things. But like the rest of north and central Walsall, it has one surprising trait that is often unseen until pointed out: it’s very, very green. Looking over a field of young wheat at Sandhills, over the canal and Millfield Estate at Catshill, there’s the spire of St. James’s Church, right there, nestling in the trees. Between the rooftops are more shades of green than you’d find in a pantone swatch book. It’s the same if you get up on Church Hill in Walsall. The most urban bits are host to the most remarkable trees, yet the seem to go largely unnoticed.

In case you’re wondering, last year this field held spuds. Crop rotation in action, there…

July 4th – In High Summer, every year, a sad but necessary thing happens. The verges on the major country lanes are trimmed. This is for visibility, and ditch maintenance purposes, and while the loss of a crop of wildflowers is sad, I recognise the necessity. I was amused, however, to note that on Lynn Lane, Lynn, near Stonall, the man (or woman) who went to mow, couldn’t bring themselves to execute this clump of poppies, and had neatly mown around them. Love it. Do something beautiful, every day…

July 3rd – Not half a mile from taking the rain sodden, misery-laden pictures in the last entry, a couple of things cheered me up. Cycling is a very effective antidepressant and I almost always finish a ride feeling happier than when I started it. I was cycling down Gravelley Lane towards Lower Stonnall on my way home, and movement on my left caught my eye. Turning to look, there was a young calf frolicking in a field of fresh grass, having an absolute ball, presumably with the rest of her herd, just having been turned out there. I headed for a gap in the hedge to take a picture, but sadly, the view was blocked. I adore cows, they’re so nosey…

Further along the lane I spotted the snapdragons in a field gateway. Antirrhinum are not, I believe, native to the UK, but garden imports from warmer climes (although I could be wrong and feel free to correct me). One often sees them in the countryside at spots where flytippers have dumped garden rubbish, and I suspect these delightful blooms to be of that category. However they got here, they’re gorgeous, and very welcome on such a dull afternoon.

In case you’re wondering, they’re called snapdragons because the flower allegedly looks like a dragon’s head, and if squeezed gently between thumb and forefinger, they open like a mouth.

July 2nd – Not far way, at Springhill, between Brownhills And Stonnall, there’s a fine crop of wheat, also doing well. I can’t get used to these modern, dwarf varieties. When I was a lad, the wheat was much taller, but now, the crop has been bred such that maximum growth is put into the grain and less into a tall stem. Although we don’t really accept it, crops like this have been genetically modified for centuries, usually by interbreeding and cross pollination. There’s nothing new under the sun. Or the lack thereof…

July 2nd – despite the abysmal weather, the business of summer continues, somewhat surprisingly. The farmland around Stonnall is host to a variety of crops this year. Oilseed rape, potatoes, beans, barley, wheat are all growing – and ripening – well, despite the lack of sun. This fine crop of barley, maybe destined to make the malt for local breweries – is well on it’s way to harvest. Such uniformity.

July 1st – One bonus of the huge amount of rain has been the refilling of Chasewater. Steadily, almost imperceptibly, the water has gradually crept up. Now, it’s inches from the foot of the dam in one spot. The little pools – so long a characteristic of the stricken reservoir – have now mostly joined the main lake again. A wonderful sight. Nice to see the toe of the old pier in the water at last, too.

According to Graham Evans of Chasewater Wildlife Group, the water is currently at the levels it was in 1976. After a winter of almost constant rain, it was full by summer, 1977… yet, I can’t see that being the case here, somehow. I was hoping for a little summer…

July 1st – I took a spin up from Brownhills to Chasewater – new month, same old bad weather, sadly. It was windy, and those short, sharp showers of the day before still skulked, ready to pounce. At Anchor Bridge, on the towpath on the Catshill Junction side of the bridge, there’s a hazard caused by the rain. In the recent storms, surface water coruscated down the bank, and washed the grit blast path out from this culvert housing. It’s big enough to swallow a foot or bike wheel. Most of the removed media has just been washed down the footpath. This is the responsibility of the Canals and Rivers Trust, formerly British Waterways, rather than the council. I’ve shot them an email. In the meantime, watch out…