July 25th – In Rushall, a couple of apple trees have fruit growing well on the boughs right now. Some looks better than others, depending I think on if frost caught the blossom or not.
It’s not the largest harvest I’ve ever seen, but it’s big. It’s going to be a decent year for apples and pears, I think.
July 25th – A horrid, horrid ride home. I had to take a trip into Birmingham on my return from work, and I caught the train out. On my return from the station, it rained the sort of fine, penetrating rain that searches out every not-quite closed zip and aperture on your jacket, and just soaks you. But far, far worse than being wet were the road conditions.
The first rains after a dry spell are always bad – but if they aren’t heavy, the surface water they precipitate mixes with road grime, tyre detritus, spilled fuel and oils and makes a soapy, foamy, slimy emulsion that steals wheels from under you. I slid a couple of times. I head cars skid at junctions. It was awful.
I was glad to get home, just as the rain stopped. There hasn’t been enough rain to wash this away yet, so watch out the next time we have wet weather.
Be careful out there folks.
July 24th – Finally getting out on a ride late afternoon, I found myself on the canal near Tamworth. Here, I met a family of swans, with four cygnets. These were clearly rural birds, much more aloof than their urban counterparts; mum was very protective, and rather than hector me for food, they all grazed happily on the waterside greens.
It was a happy, healthy family and like the mallards yesterday, a very good thing to see.
July 24th – I paid a flying visit to the Vintage Fair at Chasewater Railway on a very busy day of errands, and despite my general irritation over the glossing over of history’s inconveniences one normally senses at these things, I enjoyed it hugely. There were a large number of stalls, the place was buzzing and there were lots of people in various great outfits that really made the thing work.
It’s always the characters and those with style who make or break vintage fairs, and there were plenty here, and lots of interesting stuff to buy and see.
I do hope Chasewater Railway do this again – it was lovely.
July 23rd – Spotted on the canal near Tamhorn Park, between Hopwas and Hademore, this late brood of mallard ducklings. Mum wasn’t nervous and tolerated me quite close, and the little chicks were relaxed and content.
I love the fact that umma almost, Mona-Lisa like seems to be smiling. I must stop anthropomorphising animals, but she seems very pleased with herself.
There are few things cuter than ducklings, after all.
July 23rd – Pleased to see again that the walnut tree, appropriately situated in the village of Wall, has a great crop again this year. It’s the only such tree I know of locally, and the only one I’ve ever seen that reliably fruits.
A few more weeks and I might grab a couple of handfuls of the still green nuts to try pickled walnuts. Always fancied giving them a go.
July 22nd – Lots of this gorgeous purple flower about at the moment, chiefly in ditches and damp areas. At first I thought it was an orchid of some sort, but thanks to help from twitter, it turns out to be purple loosestrife.
It’s gorgeous, and there’s lots of it this year, complimenting the foxgloves, buddleia and willow herb beautifully.
Purple really is the colour of high summer…
July 22nd – A fast, enjoyable 50 mile ride on an afternoon bunked off work saw me calling at Barton and then Rosliston for excellent carrot cake on a hot, sunny day. On the way, I took in a little of the canal near Barton Marina, and spotted the benchmark in the bridge just by Barton Turn. I think that’s the first I’ve ever seen highlighted with paint and it also seems rather high.
It must be genuine, but I sense a story here. Any ideas?
July 21st – It’s been a great week of commuting so far. Sunny and warm, without too much wind. I felt the sun on my face, and everything had that great summer air about it you only get in during really warm spells.
This evening, however, was different; it was ten degrees C cooler than on Monday, and the skies were grey. As I neared Brownhills, it began to spot with rain, and I raced home to avoid the thunderstorm we were surely due.
It never came, and neither did the rain.
It’s been a great few sunny days, and if the summer would like to return, I for one will make it very welcome indeed…
July 21st – It’s true that I am one of those characters that amasses a huge amount of trivia and mental flotsam as I go about daily life, and this is one of those things, but in my defence, I was actually asked about this a month or so ago so here you go…
People who study the road surface (and there are a few of us, mainly on 2 wheels) may notice perfectly circular cutouts, punch-throughs or holes in the endless asphalt. Sometimes they’re filled with tar, or white lining paint. Often, they have the material that came out of them put back in like a tarmac divot. Sometimes, they open into potholes, particularly if badly sealed. But what are they?
These odd features are the signature of the road surveyor, and a road near the end of it’s life. When a road is resurfaced, the tarmac is literally planed off by a large cutting machine. The planings are then taken away, recycled back into asphalt, and relaid. How deep that planing operation goes is critical, as is knowing the depth of the road surface, and what it’s like beneath the blacktop ‘crust’.
When a road is considered for resurfacing, a surveyor will take cores with a drill and round cutter at about 100-125mm diameter, and extract them like a cheese taster sampling a cheddar. They are photographed, measured and replaced (or filled). From this a plan of work can be formulated.
Sometimes cores are taken in pairs, close together; others they are equally spaced along the length or a road, on either side. These, spotted around Walsal today, are in various states of becoming potholes themselves and adding to the problem they were created in the process of alleviating.
I’m convinced that every time I learn rubbish like this, it pushes something useful out of the back of my brain.
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