August 18th – In spite of my earlier feeling that we were in for a thin harvest, the hedgerows and woodlands are laden with berries, nuts and fruit this year. I noted on Brownhills Common that the elderberries were now showing well and in abundance, which is good news for local winemakers, who will produce a dark red, strong and face-numbing drink from these shiny, dark berries.
And long may it continue!
August 17th – Well, we’ve had a little rain (but not nearly enough) and something becomes clear: Grass fires are dramatic and worrying and do lots of damage, but as can be seen here on Chasewater Dam heath where there was a fire a month ago, it’s recovering well. The fire has cleared the scubas and fresh plants are shooting anew, and the area, although still scarred, is taking on a green appearance.
The grass fires are awful and so unnecessary, but nature clearly heals, and remarkably quickly too.
August 17th – I see there are patches of scum on the canal again in various spots. These seasonal bands of detritus are ugly, but are organic in origin – usually pollen, blossom debris or seed mast.
I couldn’t work out what was generating this one, and it’s sporadic, but suspect it’s connected with nearby trees.
It’s a sign of the much cleaner times that such events are now so noticeable.
August 16th – Thankfully New Street is a rare delight these days, but on this grey and wet Thursday morning I wallowed in the damp brutalism of the concrete and metal, and the sounds of the people and traffic.
I spend many years now passing through this place, waiting or anticipating. It’s by turns grim, ugly, wonderful, fascinating and homely.
A real love-hate relationship.
August 16th – A dreadful morning commute in heavy rain to the railway station was a shock to the system, on slippery roads with a worrying amount of spray. Getting to the station, when the train arrived I found I was sharing the bike space with a hardy cyclist in shorts.
Looking at his bike, a respectable singe speed, I saw what can only be regarded as the worst bit of rear light positioning I’ve ever seen.
Almost lower than the rear wheel, on the seat post behind the seat stays.
I hope this guy doesn’t do anything engineering-based for a living.
August 15th – Also ripening in the hedgerows and waysides are a large variety of different rose hips in a range of shades and shapes. From cherry red and almost spherical to more oval and orange.
Again, these fruits will help sustain birds and other small animals into the winter and will be bright and beautiful in the late summer when traditionally the colour from flowers subsides.
August 15th – With all the sun we’ve had, the haws – fruit of the hawthorn – are reddening up well and in copious supply. These hard, bitter berries will last right into the winter, and although not a first choice of most birds, they will sustain many when preferable food sources dwindle.
They also provide a lovely splash of noble colour to the late summer and autumn hedgerows.
August 14th – A tiring, very long day, but despite my weekend gloom (sometimes the IBS gets you like that) the weather is still very dry and warm – although not the sun-drenched heatwave of a couple of weeks ago, it’s still warm enough to ride with just a tee shirt and hopefully catch a little warmth on the skin.
The weekend’s small amount of rain clearly hasn’t been wasted: things suddenly look green anew – the canal at Clayhanger Bridge was as limpid and peaceful as ever, but the surrounding vegetation is greening up again. It looks… Fresher. Grass is sprouting again, and optimistic, opportunistic weeds and wildflowers are shooting up on the edgelands.
Looks like summer isn’t over after all…
August 13th – At Hortonwood in Telford, I found a small wayside oak sapling, which was growing round, large acorns. they were generally healthy and surprisingly large, with only a handful affected by knapper galls – and where they were, the actual effect of the acorn remained small.
The ants were clearly interested in the acorns, but I have no idea why, and I’m wondering if the low gall-count and manner of development is maybe signifying and evolved defence to these parasites.
Certainly is fascinating. Going to be a good crop of acorns this year I think, and a bumper hedgerow harvest generally from what I can see so far.
August 13th – A brighter day when the morning got going and I found myself visiting Telford feeling better, even if my stomach was still uncomfortable.
The footbridge project is progressing well but there still seems to be an awful lot to do: No discernible structural assembly of the lifts yet, and the access point on the west side seems miles off completion yet, although in the way these things generally do, it’ll probably come together very quickly in the end.
Interesting to note the main span mainly constructed now, and it’ll be lifted in one piece onto the piers. I’d be interested to see if that ripples the roof skin.
At the station end – which this construction is already dwarfing – there are to large, green service cabinets in position by the steps. Perhaps it’s me, but they look really, really incongruous.
This gets more and more fascinating every time I visit.
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