April 16th – I rode into Lichfield to do some shopping and errands, and noticed how all the spring flowers were out. In Festival Gardens, the mascara or grape hyacinths were the deepest electric blue; by Minster Pool the tulips were a beautiful regiment of cream and St. Michael’s churchyard has a huge glade of wild garlic, bluebells and primroses.

Just that morning we’d had quite heavy snow showers.

This unusual but beautiful spring continues.

April 16th – Heading up the canal toward Newtown, on the bend just past the old mill, a relaxing couple on a sunny afternoon. I’ve not seen the swans do this on the canal bank here before, and this one has me a little puzzled, but they were utterly relaxed and convinced the spot was just right for them.

A lovely sight, but I know the one that was ostensibly asleep was totally aware of my presence. 

April 15th – I love the Soho Road and that part of Birmingham in general, on the Smethwick/West Brom border. I took a ride up there after developing the craving for some decent dhokla – a savoury, fragrant yellow sponge made from gram flour, rice and chickpea, with chilli and coriander. This Gujarati snack is hard to get in Walsall, which is a shame as it’s gorgeous.

My fascination with the Soho Road is enduring – I’ve been coming here for three decades, and watched it change. Back then, the predominant accents here were Pakistani and Irish, now they’re more likely to be Eastern European, African or Afro Caribbean. Similarly, there are changes in the shops; a large Polish supermarket, various delis and lots of Caribbean fast food and baked goods.

Some things never change, though; the frenetic activity, the chatter, the mad traffic, the rush to be somewhere. The colourful fruit and veg and material emporia, the lurid platters of burfi in the windows.I watched a chap frying fresh jelabi on an outdoor stand, sweet centres were in full production for the weekend wedding feasts and looming over it all, the fading, resplendent (and in the case of the Red Lion, frankly hideous) architecture.

I love this place. I adore Birmingham. Even on this grey day.

April 15th – I had a late meeting in Birmingham, and the weather was grey and wet. Unusually, though, this didn’t dampen my enthusiasm for the city, which never looks good on a grey day. Finishing my task, I went for a mooch around the city centre and spotted this brutalist gem hiding in plain sight in New Street. 

Architecturally, it seems a mix of brutalism and a kind of stilted, controlled art deco. I have a feeling it’s more modern than it’s appearance belies.

Does anyone know anything about it or who the architect was? It’s quietly stunning.

April 14th – Another sign of spring is the roadsalt-loving Danish scurvy grass in bloom. This odd little plant has moved onto highway fringes normally burned and hostile due to winter gritting – but this wee plant loves the salt, and thrives.

This gives a lovely white fringe to roads, motorways and dual carriageways throughout the country at this time of year.

No matter how hostile an environment, nature always finds a way to exploit it.

April 14th – Cat season is again upon us. As the weather warms and the days lengthen, the formerly hitherto invisible cat population emerge into the light, loafing, strolling and watching the world go by.

This beautiful animal was watching me in Scarborough Road, Walsall, in the morning, in a street surveyed by six or seven feline overseers.

I love to see them. A real sign of summer on the way.

April 13th – I spotted her on the way home, something I don’t think I’ve seen before, a Canada goose nest. From my vantage point on the opposite side of the canal, I couldn’t decide at the time if she was sitting a nest, or just resting. It’s clearly the former, looking at the material underneath her.

This nest is right on the canalside behind the factories on Maybrook Road, between Walsall Wood and Brownhills. My goodness, she’s vulnerable to foxes there.

Lovely to see, though. Hope she’ll be OK.

April 12th – I met this rough-eared flaneur with something of the night about him in The Butts, Walsall. He seemed elderly and deaf, but he wasn’t scared of me and only retreated upon sight of a dog some yards away.

He seemed a lovely old lad and I think someone must love him very much.

I’m glad the warmer days and lighter evenings are here – the season of cat loafing is upon us.

April 12th – On the Walsall Canal where the Anson Brach used to spur off between Bentley Bridge and Bentley Mill Way Aqueduct, the swans who I think nested in the abandoned basin last year are nesting anew. 

Sadly, the nest isn’t well protected this year and I think an enterprising fox or heron – who fish here regularly – may end up with cygnet tea.

That’s if the phantom bread-flinger does’t chock the wee ones – sadly, the message that bread isn’t good for waterfowl doesn’t seem to be reaching all quarters. I know these folk mean well, but it’s not good for them. 

Please, if you feed them, seed or greens instead.