August 26th – An afternoon ride to get some fresh air, and a gentle loop around Chasewater took me past Fly Pool, near the north heath. One of the quieter bits of the park, one can often find interesting wildlife in these areas. I noticed this fine fellow gently spinning on the ‘No Swimming’ marker in the middle of the pool. It could only have been perfect if the sign had said ‘No Fishing’…
August 25th – Common toadflax is a late-flowering joy. Attractor of bees, it’s a relative of the foxglove, whose yellow flowers remind you a little of the snapdragon. They’re growing along the towpaths of much of the canal aroundabouts, and this clump was near the Pier Street bridge pool on Clayhanger common.
The tall, slender neck of the flower is loaded with nectar that bees love, but is often counterproductive as frequently bees bite through the neck of the bloom and drink the goodness without pollinating the plant.
August 25th – I headed out to the shops late in the afternoon. We’d had heavy rain, and everything was glistening and wet. Scooting around Clayhanger Common, I found these two unfortunate common toads enjoying the drizzle at opposite ends of the path from Clayhanger to the Pier Street footbridge. I can’t tell if they’re wounded from attack, infected or have a parasitic condition, but in one, half the face is eaten away, and the in the other, the nostrils have become wide open sores. Both animals behaved normally, and were as lively and active as toads get, yet I don’t think either will live long. I’ve not seen this before, and find it curious that I should see two half a mile apart. I’m thinking it’s a parasite, but can’t stop thinking about the past of this area as a refuse tip.
I’d welcome comment from anyone who knows about amphibians and their ecology.
EDIT: It seems these unfortunate creatures are suffering from attack by toad fly larvae – read about them here on Wikipedia, but not if you’re squeamish. Nature really is horrid sometimes.
August 24th – I’m not sure this cottage has a name. Standing on the junction of Footherley Lane, Gravelly Lane and Mill Lane in Lower Stonnall, it’s a handsome, four-square but fairly low Staffordshire cottage. I love everything about it; it’s standing at the junction, the ivy, the imposing doorway and oblique angle. I suspect it to be quite old, and the gardens are often full of beautiful flowers. This home is a lovely landmark on my way home, and even in the dark, it’s lights welcome me on my return from a long ride.
August 24th – I have no idea what this flower is, but there’s a small clump of them growing in the hedgerow, at Hollyhill Lane, just outside Shenstone. Beautifully bright in a rain shower on a grey afternoon, just the antidote to a miserable, wet commute home.
Anyone any ideas what it might be?
August 23rd – Those who think I’m being negative about the sculptures in The Wood should think about this. This miners trust, a true social relic of the coal era hereabouts created this, the original Oak Park for the village and community. When I was a kid, there were ground staff on site in a depot behind the then recently built recreation centre, and the old park was pleasant and well maintained. Paid for initially, and now held in trust by those who worked away from the fresh air and light, it had flowerbeds, paths, well-tended lawns, a bowling green and tennis courts. Slowly, it has been allowed to decay. The tennis courts lie locked out of use, and are slowly being reclaimed by nature, the paths and flowerbeds overgrown and lost. The neatly manicured lawns are now hastily mown scrub. The only thing to survive is a bowling green, operated by a club, a true social asset.
The miners left this for us, because they understood the value of light and air. We let it rot, and instead erect rusty metal – of the kind they were all too ready to escape from – in their memory, while our next generation grow more and more obese.
There’s something very wrong in all this.
August 23rd – Rust never sleeps. A couple of years after installation, Walsall Wood’s iron cutout people look dreadful, in my opinion. Had they been coated, or made from stainless steel, they would have worked a whole lot better, but the rusted, corroding versions just look like visually confusing scrap these days. The text milled into every figure is very hard to read now, as there’s no contrast due to the oxide.
A wasted opportunity. Walsall Council paid thousands of pounds in development funds for this. Surely a more enduring use of the cash could have been found.
August 22nd – Just around the corner from Lynn Hall stands this attractive cottage. I’m not sure it has a name, but it is a typical, four-square late victorian Staffordshire cottage, made with the characteristic blue and very, very red local brick. I pass this home an awful lot, yet until recently, have never really studied it. I noticed particularly the chimney, with its original, ornate pots and interesting design. I love chimneys, they add real character to buildings, and I mourn the passing of their ornamentation.
August 22nd – The harvest seems to be taking forever this year. A bad summer, a series of late, false starts. Several fields around Stonnall and Shenstone are half-harvested. This must be a nightmare for farmers. I don’t think I’ve ever seen wheat lying ripe in the fields this late before. The swaths of straw at Springhill, I noted last week, have now, in one day, been baled and gone, yet work inches forward at Lynn and Sandhills.
This is one dreadful year.
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