December 8th – In Telford briefly, I tried a different route to Hortonwood and the cycleway led me from a lower path up to an elevated road.
Telford is crisscrossed by cycleways and paths, many totally undocumented and unknown to casual visitors, but once discovered, they’re lovely. Note these steps have a ‘wheeling channel’ up the right hand side so you can walk up them whilst wheeling your steed.
December 7th – And when I reached Tipton – busy with rush hour traffic – I found a delight of street, shop, Christmas and traffic lights all blending into one magical, beautiful electric night.
Just when you think you’ve seen it all, the Back Country steals your heart anew.
December 7th – I had to go to Tipton late in the afternoon, and as I travelled through Moxley I spotted a familiar sight in the gathering dusk that was looking particularly splendid.
I know the urban landscape isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I do think it’s rather beautiful.
December 6th – And there you go; if you don’t like the weather in Britain wait ten minutes. in 24 hours, the air temperature had risen 9 degrees and it now felt positively tropical.
Still grey and murky, though, but at least it was warm.
Let’s hope the air clears in the next few days.
December 6th – Still cold, and again, a foggy, treacherous ride: I was at Telford early, and the cycleways were wet and dripping with water. The temperature was clearly rising and everything, every surface was saturated, including me.
I really hope this grim spell ends soon.
December 5th – A horrid day to ride, and even worse for taking photos. There was thick, patchy fog and the air was wet, and well below freezing. Every time I took the camera out, the lens fogged up.
The driving was mad, and as I rode down Shire Oak into Brownhills, I felt glad to be near home, soon to be out of the cold and horrible traffic.
Winter has arrived with a vengeance.
December 5th – I had to go to Telford, and on the way I bought a ticket from the Arriva Trains Wales conductor, as I usually do.
It appears the staff have been issued new ticket machines. Instead of printing a return on two standard, credit-card sized stuff card tickets, I was awarded this scroll: a twenty inch by three inch piece of thermal paper bog roll. This is the new standard for tickets issued on trains.
So, just as Network Rail adopt automatic barriers at stations, train operators start issuing huge, impractical tickets that won’t operate them.
Well done to everyone concerned. I’m really impressed.
Not.
December 4th – The Chase was beautiful and deserted, and from Chase Road, over Stepping Stones and Seven Springs back to Abraham’s Valley and the old RAF Hednesford, I barely saw a soul. It was cold – so very cold, but with parts of the forest at wildly differing temperatures: In Abrahams Valley it was at least two degrees higher than in Sherbrook Valley. In any case, barely above freezing anywhere.
As night fell, owls and deer were busy and the Chase was a sensory delight. Just what I needed!
December 4th – A bitterly cold day, but it was sunny and bright and I felt Cannock Chase calling me – so I wrapped up warm and went for it.
On the way, checking out the condition of the rosy earthstar fungus at Clayhanger Common, I passed this juvenile swan on the canal between the Pier Street and Catshill Junction bridges. This is very probably one of the large brood hatched here in the summer, which have mostly now migrated into the large flocks at Chasewater and Stubbers Green where they regularly get fed.
Still in juvenile plumage, this was a large, healthy bird, clearly used to admirers as it approached me eagerly chattering for food, yet drifted away when the realisation that I was empty handed dawned.
I’ve not seen many swans on the local canal recently, so this was a pleasant change…
December 3rd – Another great Christmas tree – always one of my favourites – it the one on Swan Island at Burntwood. Always with really nice lights, it’s a lovely sight and erected by the local Rotary Club – if I remember right, their membership sponsors it.
A lovely sight that cheered me up like Walsall’s tree did yesterday,
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