July 2nd – despite the abysmal weather, the business of summer continues, somewhat surprisingly. The farmland around Stonnall is host to a variety of crops this year. Oilseed rape, potatoes, beans, barley, wheat are all growing – and ripening – well, despite the lack of sun. This fine crop of barley, maybe destined to make the malt for local breweries – is well on it’s way to harvest. Such uniformity.

July 1st – One bonus of the huge amount of rain has been the refilling of Chasewater. Steadily, almost imperceptibly, the water has gradually crept up. Now, it’s inches from the foot of the dam in one spot. The little pools – so long a characteristic of the stricken reservoir – have now mostly joined the main lake again. A wonderful sight. Nice to see the toe of the old pier in the water at last, too.

According to Graham Evans of Chasewater Wildlife Group, the water is currently at the levels it was in 1976. After a winter of almost constant rain, it was full by summer, 1977… yet, I can’t see that being the case here, somehow. I was hoping for a little summer…

July 1st – I took a spin up from Brownhills to Chasewater – new month, same old bad weather, sadly. It was windy, and those short, sharp showers of the day before still skulked, ready to pounce. At Anchor Bridge, on the towpath on the Catshill Junction side of the bridge, there’s a hazard caused by the rain. In the recent storms, surface water coruscated down the bank, and washed the grit blast path out from this culvert housing. It’s big enough to swallow a foot or bike wheel. Most of the removed media has just been washed down the footpath. This is the responsibility of the Canals and Rivers Trust, formerly British Waterways, rather than the council. I’ve shot them an email. In the meantime, watch out…

June 30th – The sky was grey and rain showers stalked me as I headed out for a spin around Chasewater before tea. There was rain in the distance, over towards Lichfield, but it hadn’t got here yet. Instead, in mingled with shafts of distant sunlight and formed fragments of a rainbow. Never a whole one, the weather just teased me with pieces. The bad weather is so mean this year – it won’t even be beautiful while it’s being grim.

June 29th – It must be high summer , as the water lilies are in bloom on the local canals.These were near the Black Cock Bridge, in Walsall Wood. I don’t know if this is an invasive species or just a resurgent resident one, but they’re very lovely. We never used to see them when I was a kid, as the canals were too filthy to support much apart from sticklebacks and algae. The yellow variety – there’s a white lily too, which is also extraordinary – is fascinating to study. The flower heads are very complex. I’m quite fascinated by them.

June 29th – I went somewhere I’d not explored before today. I was in Tyseley again, and needed to go to the bank, so just after lunch I headed to Acocks Green. I’ve passed through before, but never studied the place. I rather like it. Busy, varied, with lots of greenery and nice architecture, I found the church, that of St. Mary the Virgin, fascinating. A J.G. Bland design of 1864, it lacks a tower or spire, although it was designed to have both. Opposite is a school, one entrance to which has an ornate lintel with the legend ‘Cookery’ carved upon it. I found busy shops, and a place with identity and heart. I’ll certainly be back.

June 28th – Travelling home after a day of incredible weather. We had torrential rain, some of the worst I’ve ever seen, thunder and lightning… but within an hour, it was sunny again and the Midlands was left to clean up after flash floods. I had to go to Tyseley that afternoon, and returned to Blake Street, near Sutton. The trains weren’t running any further, due to the line being flooded, and here, at Wood Lane, between Shenstone and Footherley, the lanes were flooded too. Note the lady driver taking no prisoners. I just hope the air intake on her engine isn’t low down…

The music is ‘Born in a Storm’ by Deacon Blue.

June 28th – Time for a bit of cycling knowledge. After heavy rains – like we had today – the roads are way more hazardous than usual. If it’s the first rain after a dry spell, the surface water becomes greasy and slippery, due to tyre rubber detritus and diesel being washed into the sludge. This makes white lines, ironworks and junctions really nasty. After heavy rain, silt washes of fields and gardens, bring with it loose gravel. This gathers in bands, hollows and dips, often just where cyclists cross junctions. The silt when wet is slippery, but when dry, will steal your wheels from beneath you. The gravel – known as ‘marbles’ to motorcyclists – gets progressively polished by vehicle wheels, and is like cycling on ball bearings. Take care – the hazard continues in the dry, too, and can last for weeks after a storm.

Councils don’t really understand the menace of this stuff to folk on two wheels. I wish they did.

June 28th – An odd day with freak weather. I left for work in Darlaston early, and it was warm and quite sunny. At work for a couple of hours, the sky blackened and a real storm developed. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it rain so hard in the UK. Rivers flowed through the streets, causing flooding and chaos. Then, it ended almost as quickly as it started, and we returned to a nice, sunny day. In the afternoon, I had to go to Tyseley, and due to flooding, the trains were seriously disrupted. Arriving on time due to a freak of happenstance, I left late in the afternoon to find serious delays. I rode back to Birmingham through Small Heath, and got a train back to Blake Street. Traversing the back lanes of Stonnall and Little Aston was an interesting and somewhat wet experience.