February 1st – An odd morning. I had to go to Tipton, then Telford and as it was raining when I left, I headed to catch the train. Sadly, assuming the service I caught stopped at Tipton when it didn’t, I ended up at Wolverhampton. With a 30 minute wait in store and the weather clearing, rather than hang around, I hopped onto the canal at Horseley Fields and rode to Tipton on the canal.

Ninety minutes and a breakfast later, I took a train to Wolverhampton, and then one from there to Telford, so I did a sort of loop around the north Black Country.

It actually felt springlike at Wolverhampton, but the picture doesn’t convey it at all. But the weather was warm, and dry save for a strengthening wind, and there was a definite joy in the spring flower shoots on the towpaths and verges I passed.

February already – where did January go?