August 4th – Barely time for a ride today, but I snatched one in the dying light of the evening. It was a grim evening, and we’d had heavy rainstorms throughout the afternoon. The sky was alternately light and dark, threatening another deluge with bands of bright blue coming through. At Coppice Lane, the small, automated pumping station in Birch Coppice was clearly swamped and unable to cope; the access hatch in front had water gushing up through it. It was flowing back down the lane and forming a large flood.The weather this summer really has been lousy.

August 3rd – Chasewater was as stunning as ever, and I thought I’d do another level update for @xswardy, who’s desperate to get back to waterskiing here. I can’t get over how much things are improving. There are no longer separate pools, and the level is only about half a metre from the bottom of the gauge on the pier. Trouble is now, with every added centimetre, the volume to fill is increasing hugely. Whilst the north of the lakebed is filling up, the shallows here are massive and will take a lot of rain to fill. Still, it’s going much better than expected.

August 4th – Up at Chasewater, a cracking example of why the authorities need to sort out the anti-traffic barrier halfway across the dam at Pool Lane. Formerly consisting of plastic barrels filled with concrete, they have now been destroyed. Result? Yesterday, this car was actually parked off the road, on the site of special scientific interest that surrounds the 9-foot pool. Why? Because the owners were too bone idle to park the vehicle in the proper car park and walk a little. This needs sorting. 

August 4th – I pottered up the canal to Chasewater, the end destination being Morrisons to get some shopping in. On the way the weather was temperate, and pleasant, but generally dull. Passing through Anglesey Wharf, we stopped to admire the flowers, which all seem to be showing in late summer purples now. Willowherbs, buddleia, heathers, even some kind of sweat pea (I think) as Alice Walker said ’…just trying to get noticed..’. I reflected on what the old familiars of this place, the coal-loaders, miners and boatmen would make of this scene now; the peace and quiet, rabbits lazing on the heath and grasses and shrubs dotting the former wharf. Once this was a humming, filthy coal depot. Some things are decidedly changes for the better.

August 3rd – Rounding the bend at Footherley Lane, a gap in the fence around the derelict and decaying Keeper’s Cottage snagged my attention. I didn’t want to be late home, but it was nice to stand inside the grounds and get a different angle on the place.

The fact that this once proud and cosy home is now being carried to dust is a scandal. The house has been derelict for well over 30 years – certainly as long as I can remember, and childhood memories of this sad, collapsing cottage can be found in Susan Marie Ward’s recollections.

August 3rd – The wheat is ripening near Shenstone, soon, it will be harvested and on its way to the mill. As my seasonal markers go, this footpath through the fields from Hollyhill Lane is one of the best. Last year, it was through a field of oilseed rape. Wonder what’ll be next year?

The grain itself looks healthy and fat – a consequence of the rain we’ve had. Biting the grains give a lovely, milky, glutinous taste. On this glorious evening, it was warm, and despite my end of week weariness, I couldn’t want to be anywhere finer than here, in south Staffordshire, in summertime.

August 3rd – I was heading out to Telford. The trains, what with the industrial fortnight and everything, have been quite quiet this week. Hauling the bike aboard on a pleasant morning at Shenstone, I was intrigued to be sharing space with a lady cyclist clearly off on a tour. No backpacks or panniers for her, but this smart, well thought out trailer. It seems to collapse down, and is available from these people. Cleverly, it attaches via a modified quick release axle or wheelnuts. I do like this, and wish I’d had chance to ask the lady about it. She left the train at Aston – I don’t know where she was going, but I hope she had a great ride.

August 2nd – Walsall Wood’s branch of Fitness First, a national gym chain, used to be a nightclub. It has always had insufficient parking in the daytime, most of it being shared with the small group of shops on Streets Corner. The problem peaks around 6-7pm, when punters, desperate to park as close to the entrance as possible – after all, you wouldn’t want to get inadvertent exercise – leave cars on the pavement, blocking pedestrian access. Oddly, the local councillors and traffic enforcement folk appear to condone this, but get very uptight about parking in the High Street. 

All that effort to drive to the gym, getting caught in traffic and then the hassle of parking as close as you can. All in order to ride a stationary bicycle. 

August 2nd – Telford Station is pretty grim, and currently stuck in some kind of refurbishment hell. I dislike the place, but it has no steps, so by any degree has to be better than Lichfield Trent Valley station, the rectum of British railways. However, one aspect of the station that just keeps on giving is the flower bed on the westbound platform. I don’t know who plants it and tends it, but it’s a delight all year round, and very much appreciated. Gorgeous.