September 14th – Home from work and off to Lichfield to do some shopping on a gorgeous, but windy afternoon. Heading up the canal to Chasetown, the tops of the hedges have been cut and my favourite tree is once again visible at Home Farm. I judge the passing of the seasons by that tree, it’s like a marker to me. Still with leaves, soon, they’ll be gone for another year. Looking over the farm, a buzzard wheeled high on the thermals and the harvested fields caught a patch of light. Not a bad view from Brownhills, is it?

September 13th – Elderberries seem a bit thin on the ground this year. Along the canal from Walsall Wood to Brownhills, there are usually clumps of the dark fruit hanging heavy on the bushes during autumn. I guess this is another symptom of a poor summer with few insects to pollinate the flowers. Local home-brew specialists may well have to find other wild fruit for their wines this year.

September 13th – On my way home tonight, I popped to Asda in Walsall for a change. On my way out, I noticed that the old Highgate Brewery Stores, on the corner of George Street was still derelict. I find this very sad; it must have been vacant for at least 4 years now. In my youth, I used to attend gigs here and had some great nights; back then, it was called the ‘Punch and Judy’. It’s a crying shame, because with the right ownership, I think it could be special again.

September 12th – By the time I was coming back towards Brownhills, the sun was coming out again and blue skies were peeping through. I noticed today the almost total absence of wildflowers on the canal – the flowering season is well and truly over. The leaves are still verdant and lush, but the joy of the wildflowers has ceased, at least for another year. I feel autumn tugging at my coat. This is not good; I’m in that depressing period when I know what’s coming but haven’t adjusted to appreciating it yet. Autumn colour always lifts my spirits, so bring it on…

September 12th – A poor day; I left home in the morning during a rain shower, and as I left work that afternoon in Tyseley, the heavens opened. There are few places greyer than Tyseley when it rains.  The showers were very localised, however, and on my return, the sun came out at Duddeston, but it was raining hard at Perry Barr.

Welcome to Britain, and the most fickle weather in the world. Come on you gits, where’s that Indian Summer you owe us?

September 11th – On cue, a couple of weeks later than the fatter, looser dewberries, the blackberries around Stonnall are ripening and being picked by foragers and birds alike. Blackberries are smaller, sweeter and stronger tasting; a more dense fruit, the individual ‘buds’ that make up the fruit (called ‘drupelets’) are smaller. Blackberies are also more whiskery than dewberries.

All are good to eat, and are adding to the tapestry of fruits and seeds smattering the hedgerows and thickets right now, along with hips, haws and seeds.

September 11th – For the hell of it, today I got off the train at Four Oaks and rode back from there. On my way back through a sunny Little Aston, I noted the TV transmitters at Hill Hook. Having recently converted to digital, there are currently two masts – the taller one was first, then the one on the right was erected to substitute for it when the original was upgraded for digital. Now the switchover has taken place, I’m looking for signs of the temporary mast coming down, but nothing yet. 

I love these structures. So elegant, so beautifully engineered. Visible for miles around.

September 10th – This is really exciting and unexpected. The water level at Chasewater is now no more than a few centimetres from the bottom of the depth gauge on the pier. The scale starts at a height of 148.35m AOD (above sea level), and on the 14th September last year, the water lever stood at 143.7m AOD. Than’s an incredible gain of 4.65m in 12 months. I don’t think any of those observing the situation could ever have dreamed of such a recovery. 
Shame the downside has been an atrocious summer… 

September 10th – The oaks on Brownhills Common are having a hard time this year. These colourful growths on their acorns are Knopper Galls: the abode of the gall wasp larvae. The adult wasp – a tiny little thing – drills into the acorn as it grows, and injects a chemical into the hole. This chemical causes a reaction in the acorn, and these colourful growths result. The larvae live inside the gall until spring, when they emerge. 

Isn’t nature incredible?