June 3rd – I rode out on an annual pilgrimage – to the Klondyke Mill steam fair at Draycott in the Clay near Sudbury, and had a great afternoon of very English entertainment. From there, the afternoon was pleasant enough so I headed for Scropton, Tutbury, Rolleston, Horninglow, SInai Park, Tatenhill, Barton and then home via Walton upon Trent, Croxall and Whittington. A nice 68 miler in decent warm and sunny weather, topped off by a beautiful sunset over Brownhills as I returned home. 

The day was great, the little villages sublime and the golden hour – haunted by the blackest, most threatening cloud was superb.

June 2nd – The orchids are really prolific and pretty this year, I’m very glad to say. In many shades of blue and purple these small, dense blooms are springing up all along the canals, heaths and wetlands.

These were at the canal by the new pond in Clayhanger. Look at the markings on the petals – absolutely gorgeous.

They’re not with us for long, so get and see them while you can.

June 2nd – I just beat the rain on my way home, and speeding along the canal near Clayhanger, I stopped briefly to chat to this lone bandit, for no other reason than he came to say hello.

The lone swans without partners and clutches are often overlooked at this time of year, in favour of the antics of the many families that have sprung up along the canals – but the lone swans are still as wonderfully curious and nosey as ever.

Such truculent, difficult birds – but I do love them so.

June 1st – I’d been into Birmingham on the way home, and came back on the train to Blake Street with a headache riding shotgun. Although it was a pleasant, temperate afternoon, it wasn’t terribly bright, but as I passed Grove Hill near Stonnall, the sky lightened.

That tree, that hill, are local icons and subject of much legend. But for all that, they’re beautiful, especially in the summer, and make me feel I’m nearly home when I see them.

May 31st – Also a lovely sight and a regular here, honeysuckle or woodbine, and my favourite display grows up the embankment on the northwestern flank of the Black Cock Bridge; tumbling and cascading over the railings a fences, a huge bush flowers here every year and always looks and smells divine.

For a flower so entrenched in British culture, it’s got that alien look of tropical blooms, like the Passion flower: our wildflowers aren’t normally this brassy!

It would be very hard not to love honeysuckle.

May 31st – Since were in the largely purple phase of flowering now, it would be wrong to overlook this tiny gem. Prolific on grass verges, towpath margins and anywhere with decent light and room to spread, vetch is a gorgeous, long lasting lilac-violet colour and brightens many otherwise dull corners.

It really is a highlight of summer and one I look forward to enjoying seeing.

May 30th – Coming back into Brownhills and passing the appropriately named Catshill Junction, the local neighbourhood watch was on duty, doing what it does best.

Watching the neighbourhood.

Mainly for birds, I think, but I couldn’t actually see the focus of peeping Tom’s attention. But I do think this captures the feline spirit well. Bless – it never paid me any attention at all.

May 30th – This is always a lovely first sighting of the summer – the first orchid. Small, light purple in colour and growing in a solitary position next to the cycleway at Ryecroft this small, pretty flower reminds me that summer is here.

I’m not proficient enough to tell one orchid from another – there are so many different but similar types it can be very hard to tell – but they are all gorgeous, and like cowslips, are one of my favourite flowers.

Look out for them in wetland meadows, towpaths, marshes and the edges of ponds and streams. The more you study them, the more beautiful you will see they are.

May 29th – A dreadful day, and an awful ride.

Being bank holiday, I wanted to get out, and checking the forecast, convinced myself that the heavy showers predicted wouldn’t come to much. I needed some bits for the bike, so decided to ride into Birmingham along the Stockland Green/Brookvale route and on to the canal, then ride back.

The rain started as I left home and didn’t stop. I spent 45 minutes waiting for a break in the rain in a subway under the m6 at Witton. I was soaked to the skin, my feet were wet and I was miserable.

Arriving in Birmingham the rain eased off a little, I got what I came for and had a coffee and something to eat. I decided to get the train back to Shenstone as the rain was coming on again.

It’s a long time since I’ve seen such a bank holiday washout. I really felt for anyone who’d organised an event. A wet, soaking and sodden afternoon.

May 28th – I got to the floating market at Fazeley about 3:30pm, when the sun was out and conditions were good. It was a much smaller event than the year before, but still quite lovely, but I was struck by the lack of visitors. I have no idea why folk weren’t here; maybe the local advertising was poor. Perhaps earlier showers had put them off. Perhaps previous years had been disappointing.

Whatever the cause, it was sad as it was a nice event that I think potentially could have been larger and better attended. As usual, the boater dogs were the stars of the show and were charming and funny.

The boaters too were welcoming and friendly and I’d love to see this event prosper, but serious work is going to have to be done somewhere to make it happen.