November 25th – Spotted on a damp Darlaston canal towpath just after daybreak, this tiny toadstool. It was alone, and looked almost pristine – I have no idea what it is and would appreciate suggestions. Key is the dimple on top of the cap; this is a delicate and tiny orange-brown fungi yet was outstanding enough to catch my eye as I passed at speed, so I felt it deserved recording for posterity.

November 24th – Working very late, I returned sapped of mental energy. I got as far as the Black Cock Bridge before realising I’d not taken any photos. So, as an excuse to have a breather probably more than anything, I quickly took this.

It was indeed, a bright moonlit night. But the source of the curious light was a car on the far side of this precarious bridge.

I was glad to be homeward bound.

November 23rd – It was a bitterly cold morning – or at least, it seemed like one after the unseasonal warmth of recent weeks. Cycling down to Darlaston on the canal, I was accosted by some familiar hoodlums.

This is the only family group of this year’s swans I think are sill together, most having joined larger local flocks. They looked in rude health though, and gave no answer when I asked if they were cold.

They soon lost interest when they realised I had no food…

November 22nd – A run around Brownhills and up to Chasewater on a wintry, cold afternoon. I was looking for deer, but I think they were sheltering from the chill somewhere. Chasewater itself had a great sky and dramatic, cold atmosphere. I note from the Nine-Foot that the level is middling these days, as it has been all summer. It seems to be being maintained here so perhaps that’s the ongoing plan.

The ghostly seed-heads – which I’m told are Clematis )thanks, folks!) just added to the feeling.

Another reminder of the season from the old Cement Works Bridge at The Slough: overlooking the council yard, the road salt barn is full and the council are gearing up for road gritting for another year.

Not been pebbledahed yet. I suppose that delight is yet to come…

November 22nd – Time for a warning to local cyclists again.

The hedges hat (at last!) been flailed again from Anchor Bridge to Chasewater along the canal. The towpath is littered with sharp hawthorns and will puncture thinner tyres.

Probably a route best avoided for a week or two until the weather washes them away.

November 21st – A late spin around Brownhills after a long day, and at night this place still fascinates me. The lines of Silver Court are still otherworldly and night, and the vies of the canal from the Pier Street Bridge are ones I keep returning to.

After a grinding day, it’s good to be home.

November 20th – Spotted in Victoria Park, Darlaston, toadstools which seem to have been thin on the ground this year – the edible fairy ring champignon. Other fungi forms fairy rings too, but this one is most common, but like shaggy ink caps, they don’t seem to have had a good season.

Nice to see these, though.

November 20th – I passed these pine cones on a roadside path on an industrial estate in Great Bridge. They are the largest I’ve ever seen – almost two inches in diameter and seven to eight inches long, they seem untouched by birds and squirrels. They feel quite heave and dense and wonder if they’re ripe or just premature windfalls from the recent storms.

Fascinating fruits that look almost prehistoric.

November 19th – At the other end of a crowded journey, the barren beauty of Walsall Station at night from Platform 1. Vaguely brutal 70s red brick architecture, vanishing points, extreme perspective, lights, hard surfaces and a little rain.

It’s that late night feelings thing again.

You can keep your Grand Central new New Street. I’d rather have this, any day of the week.