BrownhillsBob

#365daysofbiking Verdant

April 29th – Kings Hill Park is looking lovely right now, with all the lovely trees in fresh green leaf; from the majestic avenue to the western hedge, everything looks just perfect for spring.

And looking on, also from a new throne of green, the twin sisters of Church Hill in Wednesbury, who always look their best in spring and high summer.

So glad that warmth and colour is returning at last.

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#365daysofbiking Held to ramson

April 28th – At Pipe Hill, between Wall and Burntwood it’s nice to see the wild garlic inn bloom again.

I really love this beautiful, edible plant – sometimes known as ramsons it tastes and can be used just like a little more subtle normal garlic, and it’s scent hangs heavy around woodland, hedgerows and damp ground far and wide.

One of the most popular posts on this journal featured the glade of wild garlic that grows by the River Arrow in Redditch with over 18,000 reactions since it was posted in 2011.

It seems I’m not the only one who likes wild garlic!

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#365daysofbiking Hello ladies

April 28th – A day marred by a bad stomach so I busied myself with other things and headed out late in the afternoon for a circuit of Chasewater, Burntwood, Wall and Stonnall.

At Chasewater, it seems the small group of deer who have been hanging around the spillway heath at Anglesey Basin are still there.

The fece doesn’t trouble them, they just hop over as required.

Odd too see people walking past without stopping – deer used to be a spectacle here but it seems now they’re as familiar as the cattle on the north shore.

I still can’t quite believe they’re here.

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#365daysofbiking Driving rain

April 27th – An absolutely awful day’s weather made riding a duty, not a pleasure. I held back and held back, hoping for the heavy winds and driving rain to abate – but they didn’t. I slipped out to the takeaway late.

Compounding the misery of rain in a fierce headwind, I realised I left the camera at home. But I discovered something I wasn’t really aware of: The phone does surprisingly good night shots.

A somnambulant and dripping wet Pier Street looks almost comforting and bright; but it it really was unpleasant.

Here\s hoping for better weather to come.

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#365daysofbiking Cowing beautiful

April 26th – The cowslips on Clayhanger Common are beautiful too, and being my favourite flowers of all, it’s great to see them so healthy and profuse.

That one particular flowerhead is a stunner.

This spot is where I spread cowslip seed from my pockets in 2014. Nice to see it took hold.

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#365daysofbiking Not dead, but flowering

April 26th – Following my note on finding some lovely yellow archangel flowers in Footherley a few days ago, I need that it was a member of the nettle family – and to prove the similarity, the dead nettles are looking gorgeous on Clayhanger Common at the moment.

The flowers and leaves are similar – the colour is the big difference though.

These nettles – which have no sting, hence the name ‘dead nettle’ – have very sweet, tasty nectar which can be sucked from a plucked flower, but probably best to find some above dog pee height before trying it out…

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#365daysofbiking I spire

April 25th – The weather is grim again – it’s cold with periodic heavy showers and I’m wondering what happened to spring – then, returning from Lichfield I realise that spring is still here and ongoing.

Looking over Sandhills from the Lichfield Road towards Ogley Hay over the green growth of a new crop and trees in fresh leaf, just peaking above the treetops, the spire of St James chChurch in Brownhills.

A lovely sight and a reminder that the weather will soon be better.

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#365daysofbiking Money down the drain

April 24th – I returned in heavy rain in the afternoon to Telford Station.

Ten million pounds spaffed by Network Rail and Telford and Wrekin Council on a structure so poor that has no solution to rainwater control other than holes drilled in its deck. Water spouting down onto the platform below, flooding it’s own lift shaft.

The designers and commissioners of this fiasco should be ashamed.

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#365daysofbiking Cherry Cherry

April 24th – I’m not working too much this week, but had to go to Telford for a meeting. On my way to Hortonwood but also having need to visit Stafford Park, I passed this stunning line of ornamental cherry trees in Blossom along the motorway.

Industrial estates like this never get much attention – but those trees are relatively undisturbed and the margins, edgelands and verges of places like this are relatively undisturbed havens for everything from pollinators to fungi.

Bravo to the people that planted these trees. A gorgeous sight in an unexpected place.

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#365daysofbiking Angel of the evening

April 23rd – Also yellow in Footherley, but less dramatically so, was the yellow archangel.

A gorgeous member of the nettle family, this fascinating plant is beloved by bees and looks stunning. I only became aware of what it actually was last year and it’s captivated me ever since.

A lovely wild tower.

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