At a certain edgelands pool near my place of work and on to the Salt Line.
This lunchtime and (2) March, (5,10) April and (8) January.
Usual disclaimer that Himalayan balsam (6) is very pretty but as you can see, it has a tendency to take over and is thus considered a weed.
July 20th – I’m fascinated at the moment by continuing work going on at the sewage pumping station at Green Lane in Walsall Wood. Ever since last Easter, there has been work being carried out here sporadically; from tankers pumping manholes out to new pumps going in and old ones being removed.
I know there’s quite a bit of plant below ground here, presumably to pump the sewage up the hill to the sewage works, not 400 yards away towards Clayhanger.
I noted this evening yet another pump awaiting installation in the little roadside compound. I have no idea what the problem is, but it’s fascinating watching the comings and goings to fix it.
So many ‘invisible’ services support modern life, it can be a surprise to see how intensively they’re maintained.
July 20th – People seem to think I’m negative about buddleia, but I’m not really. It’s a beautiful purple shrub that lights up late summer wonderfully, and it’s not known as the butterfly bush for nothing – the Lepidoptera love the huge flowerhead composed of tiny, individual blooms.
My problem with this plant – if it’s a problem at all – is that for me, it’s a harbinger of urban decay. It’s so successful in urban environments that it’ll grow well in a patch of soot in vertical brickwork. At this time of year, throughout the urban expanses of the UK you can see buddleia sprouting and flowering from derelict buildings, bridges and rail lines. Seemingly one of the first signs that nobody cares for a place anymore is that it starts flowering in purple at high summer.
You can’t blame the plant for that…
July 19th – Oh, hi pals. Where have you been? Not seen you for a while.
Near Bentley Bridge, just near the nest where they hatched their single cygnet, the swan family were moving purposefully towards Darlastoin.
Their single offspring – very attentively looked after – is growing large, and doing well by the looks of things.
They stopped briefly to see if I had food, then scooted on, little one in the classic ‘resting foot’ position, leathery limb tucked high on the back for rest.
A lovely sight.
July 19th – I’ve been largely ambivalent about the odd project to resurface the canal towpath between Walsall Town Wharf and the Bentley Mill Way aqueduct. It’s a decent enough job, I guess, but I don’t feel the surface is that much of an improvement, and the loose gravel and untreated under bridges are problematic. But there is something that’s beautiful.
When the contractors remade the retaining walls to the steps at the Scarborough Road Bridge in Pleck, they planted wildflower seeds down the embankment, and at other spaces on the towpath.
This has resulted in stunning little urban patches of sunshine like this, so wonderful on what was the hottest commute of the year so far.
Thank you to whoever, for the act of beauty and foresight.
July 18th – I like this a lot. On Catshill Junction Bridge, just on the Walsall Wood side, there is a very healthy teasle plant growing from the brickwork.
It’s now tall, and in bloom. It looks fantastic, and slightly alien, as these plants always do.
A migrant from the wild sowing of nearby Clayhanger Common, we never would have seen these kind of plants here in my childhood. A wonderful, life-affirming thing.
July 18th – A pootle up the canal to Walsall Wood on an errand in a glorious golden hour. The hottest day of the year so far, the water bubbled as unseen creatures walled in the cool water, and grasshoppers, bees and birdsong filled the air.
An absolutely wonderful evening that shows that while people seem to think this area is ugly, it’s actually beautiful.
July 17th – In spite of some grim mechanical problems and slow initial progress, I made it to Rosliston for tea and cake, and then pootled back through Coton in the Elms, Lullington, Clifton Campville, Haunton and Syerscote, calling at Hints and Weeford in the golden hour.
The villages glowed in the summer evening warmth, and even though I was battling a keen westerly, my England was right here – in a view familiar to Peter Cutler, in the flower-adorned villages, and in the sad but tranquil churchyard at Haunton, with it’s ranks of gravestones to nuns from the nearby convent.
It doesn’t get much better than this.
July 17th – A very hot day with no little wind, and I set off on a ride cursed by mechanical problems, but I still got 57 miles in which was well worth it and very enjoyable. What was noticeable with the sudden arrival of summer was the active animal life. The deer were still showing well at Home Farm, and a rather hung-over looking heron was preening and looking a little mad near Wharf Lane. In between the two, a cat with remarkable whiskers was languidly patrolling his canalside patch.
July 16th – This curious flower was found in the reed bed at the edge of the canal at Newtown, near the Castings factory. I’ve never seen anything like it before, and it seemed to exist in isolation.
It turns out it’s a common reed: branched bur-reed, and the flowers – little spiky gloves about the diameter of your fingernail – are remarkable. It’s an apparently common canal plant, so I must have seen loads of it and never realised.
I really should open my eyes more!
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