October 4th – Alongside several horse chestnut trees in Festival Gardens, Lichfield, there are also some variety of sweet chestnuts. These prickly customers are a bit of a mystery to me, as they’re clearly the same fruit as the ones you’d buy at the greengrocer, but the ones I see whist out and about are rarely of an edible size. The trees are gorgeous, with leathery, glossy dark green leaves, and the chestnuts are held in a very prickly husk. When they open star-shaped and fall, inside the husk is downy and soft. These fruits are almost alien, and the perfection of the package is a wonder to behold.

Are these actually edible, or is it a different strain? 

October 4th – I was in Lichfield for a work meeting, then in the afternoon, stopped awhile to do some shopping. What started out dry but dull ended up rather wet – but the sun soon came out again. It was a day of contrasts, really – from shoppers scurrying from the downpour, to the earlier peace of Festival Gardens and the pretty little oriental bridge. Also in the gardens, conkers lay thick on the ground, the sign of this year’s excellent harvest. In the City centre, a hilarious animatronic puppet performed for shoppers, controlled by radio remote.

But best of all, I loved the way the raindrops on those oranges made them look fresh and appetising.

October 3rd – I’m not a big fan of domestic roses – I much prefer their wild, more fragrant cousins. However, even cultivated blooms look great with a fresh rainfall upon them. I spotted these glorious flowers outside Shenstone Church.

A real splash of colour on a very murky day. There’s beauty everywhere if we’re open to it, I guess.

October 3rd – I set out for work a little early on a murky, misty, wet autumn morning, and realised as I sped down the Chester Road that it was oddly photogenic. I decided to take a diversion and spun up to Shenstone, and grabbed some pictures as the season began to turn the leaves.

It worked rather well, I thought. It’s unseasonably warm right now, but I’ve got the feeling we’re on the verge of some really dramatic colours. I think this one could be worth keeping an eye on…

October 2nd – I know I keep banging on about this, but it’s on my mind and I’m seething about it.

This is the original Oak Park in Walsall Wood, on the south east side of the 1970s leisure centre bearing the same name. This park was for decades – and in my living memory – a neat little park with flowerbeds, tennis courts, public bowling green and paved paths. I think there was even a putting green. It stands on land held in charitable trust to be used for the enjoyment of the local residents, created to give miners and their families a lovely open space to take the air and enjoy the greenery.

On this basis, the popular and well-used leisure centre overlooking it was built, and the faithful flock to nearby Walsall Wood FC on match days. Sadly, Walsall Council who are charged with the upkeep of the park have let it slide into decay and ruin.

The flowerbeds are overgrown, the public bowling green floods every winter. Tennis courts locked out of use, the surfaces being reclaimed by weeds. The one manicured trees are overgrown. Walsall Council doesn’t care for this once lovely amenity and would rather we all forget it exists.

To me, this is sticking two fingers up to the memory of those for whom it was created. 

Shame on these who would neglect our civic heritage.

October 1st – Talking of hedgerows, there’s a feature of them – and similar thickets – that not many notice. This hole is a sign of regular use as a thoroughfare, yet it’s too small for anything human or most things canine. It’s a fox path.

Foxes have a territory which they walk most nights – it encompasses their food sources, possible mates, sources of territorial conflict and so on. They are surprisingly regular in the routes they walk, and paths through undergrowth and scrub are well worn and used. Like desire paths created by humans, they often join two places by the shortest means, but also provide a quick route of escape, or shelter for hunting forays. Fox paths appear to be passed down from parent to cub, so that many are decades – if not centuries – old. As they’re established, other animals use them, like badgers.

This one leads off the canal towpath at Clayhanger above the Big House, down an almost vertical bank for 20 feet or so, and to into their garden. It’s been here for 20 years, to my knowledge.

Wonder if Reynard will be on the beat tonight?

October 1st – One of the relatively unsung heroes of the hedgerow is Hawthorn, or May. It’s dark red fruit – haws – are maturing well now. Full of goodness, they stay in good condition on the branches and provide sustenance for the birds in the darkest depths of winter, when softer, more palatable fruits like blackberries have long gone Just like they will with garden Cotoneasters, blackbirds will defend a laden bush at all costs against other birds, and haws are bitter enough to only be eaten out of desperation.

Hawthorn is the mainstay of most rural hedging, and populates a lot of woodland. It really is the stalwart of the great British hedgerow.

September 30th – This is incredible – bike geeks will love this. A Fahrrad Manufaktur small wheel bike, spotted on a Solihull bound train. The owner – a beardy, leathery old cycle tourer – said it was one of only 3 in the country. I certainly can’t find any details of this model online. It seems to combine all the disadvantages of a folding bike with the disadvantages of a larger one, but look at the way this is loaded. That’s a remarkable loading technique – note the tea-flask and pannier.

I guess this appeals to the Moulton crowd, and it is a unique, fascinating bike – dynamo lights come on automatically in low light, and it’s rocking a 14 speed Rohlhoff hub, with a Brooks saddle. This is no cheap machine.

Sadly, the owner alighted at Small Heath, and I didn’t get long enough to chat to him about it. But it’s a remarkable steed. I hope I meet him again.