May 26th – The family that preens together, stays together. Cute as buttons, fighting fit – 8 cygnets on the canal at Catshill, Brownhills.
The music is ‘Peppermint Patty’ as played by the remarkable George Winston, but originally by Vince Guaraldi.
This one’s for Woz, because he’s off his feet at the mo, and can’t go look for himself.
May 26th – Riding on a dull bank holiday, the weather turn to warm, soft rain. It wasn’t unpleasant, though, and I didn’t even put on a jacket. Hopping on the Trent & Mersey at Hopwas, a ride down the canal to Bodymoor Heath was excellent; swallows swooped low over the water picking of bugs one by one, as common terns did the same with fish. The hedgerows were alive with birds and flowers, and Middleton Lakes looks superb. Coming back through Middleton the wet roads were slick and fast, and very, very quiet.
A great ride on an otherwise grey day. There’s beauty in the greyest summer if one cares to look.
May 26th – After not seeing them for two weeks, my swan magnet was finally on again as I headed up the canal at Brownhills. On this warm but generally overcast afternoon, it was clearly time for the family ablutions and the whole family of 2 adults and 8 cygnets were preening and bathing. They’ve approximately doubled in size since I last saw them, and look healthy and contented.
So pleased the couple finally got a brood after all these years.
Please though – if you see them, and want to feed them – give them seed, not bread. Bread has no nutritional value to wildfowl like swans and ducks, and can kill the little ones.
May 25th -Darnford Bridge Farm is still decaying, slowly, although there does seem to be some activity in the yard now. This old farm sits in the middle of a short, unnamed, potholed, unadopted cut through between the A51 Tamworth Road and Darnford Lane, just on the eastern side of Lichfield.
There’s been planning permission granted here since 2013 to build a large house and swimming pool, and I think maybe someone is planning to start work here soon.
I’m not against the plan; the farm is derelict and needs sorting – but the overgrown gateway and white lilac in the hedge will be missed, as will my prurient stops here to nose around when I pass…
Everything must change, I guess.
May 25th – A ride out on a grey day. I’d intended to get a good, long ride in but the weather had been pretty horrid and my heart wasn’t in it. I contented myself with a ride over Chasewater, down through Burnwood, out around Whittington and back through Weeford and Shenstone.
I forgot my camera, too, and so I had to make do with the phone – which rarely makes for a good picture.
At Chasewater, I noticed that the yellow ribbons for the Stephen’s Story appeal in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust were spreading up here, too, and were on cars, fences and gates around the railway. It was a nice thing to see.
This is a remarkable phenomena.
May 24th – There’s probably some fancy photographic name for it, but some days seem naturally high-contrast. Something about the light. I spun around very wet towpaths out of Brownhills to Chasewater, and noted that part of Sandhills was dark, and another part was remaining in light. It really was quite beautiful.
Newtown’s bunny population were out enjoying the lush wet vegetation, and could be barely bothered to run away as I approached, and the view to Hammerwich was as wonderful as ever now it’s wearing it’s summer jacket. At Chasewater, the view from the dam was remarkable, with a rather threatening sky.
As I headed home, the heavens opened again.
But it’s summer, and warm rain is better than cold…
May 24th – Still feeling a bit ropey, and with dreadful weather, I didn’t get out until late afternoon when the sun decided to make an appearance. Sadly, the heavy rains have again blathered the towpath at Anchor Bridge. Where the water streams down the embankment, the shale footpath has washed from the side of the concrete drain cover again,leaving an 8-10 inch deep channel, 6 inches wide across nearly the full width of the towpath.
This is deep and large enough to wedge a bike wheel in, or lose a foot down – especially with inexperienced cyclists or kids. Take care. The rest of the path northwards to the bridge is also eroded badly and is quite hazardous.
Horridly enough, that’s a used syringe in cavity. I suspect it washed down with the storm water, possibly out of a drain.
I shall contact the CRT on Tuesday.
May 23rd – I noticed something today I’d not spotted before. Cycling back up the Chester Road from Mill Green, as the land rises and undulates (from about 130m AOD to about 175m AOD) the plant life on the grass verges and in the hedgerows changes. At the low end, there’s birds foot trefoil, ragwort, ox-eye daises and clover in abundance in lush green grass. Higher up, these plants peter out to campion, dandelions and spiky grasses. Wonder if it’s changing soil or height?
The trefoil – called egg and bacon by us as kids – is lovely this year, and always looks nice after rain.
May 23rd – A horrid day. Rainy, wet, and the warm summer air seems to have left us for a while. I slipped out in the evening to Mill Green to run an errand, and coming over Shire Oak, stopped at the quarry gates to capture my familiar muse in the murk.
A horrid, headache grey day. I didn’t feel great, either. Summer, come back soon, please…
May22nd – I left Leicester early in the afternoon, when it was still a pleasant day; I’d set off in light morning rain, which had cleared. I did what I had to, then nipped over to Spinney Hills to pick up Indian snacks, and headed home. As the train pulled from Leicester, the rains came.
I had an inkling from passenger information that there was disruption to northbound local services out of Brum, and changed trains at Nuneaton for a service to Lichfield Trent Valley, which was also heavily delayed. It was the right decision though, which was a relief.
I alighted at Lichfield in a thunderstorm and torrential rain. Waiting it out, I gave up, and cut a run for it.
I got soaked. The roads home were like rivers, and progress was slow. I hadn’t been that glad to get in, and have a hot shower for a very long time.
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