Tag: 365daysofbiking

December 24th – It all went a bit astray. Time was tight, I had stuff to do. I wanted to get a good ride in, but the wind at lunchtime was punishing. I was visited by the p*nct*r* fairy. Then I caught the squall at Chasewater. 

The skies darkened, and the waves lapping ashore at the north end of the dam were something to behold. There was horizontal rain, snow and sleet. 

10 minutes later, blue skies and sunshine. I just gave up and pottered home, tired and wet. I just wish the weather would make it’s bloody mind up. 

That wasn’t a ride, it was an endurance test. Nice to see folk looking after the swans and geese, though.

December 23rd – Shooting down the A5 after a lousy, stormy day, it was oddly settled, clear and warm. I enjoyed the speed and warmth, and reflected on how the weather had changed so markedly in less than an hour.

Passing the Chase Inn in Newtown, I noted it’s up for sale again, which is a shame; it’s a good house and deserves stable, committed ownership. I’ve had a few good beers in there over the years – hope it finds a new owner soon.

December 22nd – It was a day of silly observations, really. I have no idea whatsoever why anyone would need to point out with some permanence where the roof to their stable was. But they did. Odd.

A couple of hours later, I spotted this stray, lost pumpkin, beside the London Road in Canwell. Unharmed but clearly aged, I have no idea how it got here; there are no shops or even houses nearby. What’s even more troubling is it isn’t the first such vagrant gourd I’ve featured on the blog, there was the one I found in Acocks Green…

Some days are just bloody weird.

December 22nd – Near the top gate of Hopwas Churchyard, this pissy, dictatorial, arrogant notice. People pay to have their loved ones interred here. They pay for the service. Why shouldn’t they have more than one vase, or a card? Why must poppies and wreaths be removed within a month?

Heaven forbid someone might be sentimental in their loss.

The jobsworth cheeseparers who made these rules and posted them up will probably be sat somewhere now, wondering why churchgoing is in decline.

December 22nd – Last Thursday, I recorded the former Shoulder of Mutton pub, lathery a restaurant, as being boarded up and derelict. Things seem to move fast in these parts, as today when I passed, the pub wasn’t open, but the boards had been removed and lights were on.

Anyone have a clue whats going on?

Reader Andy Colman said in response to the original post:

I was just thinking that my abiding memory of this pub is the smell riding past it on club runs and then you stated the same thing. Maybe if we’d popped in from time to time ?

Andy, you’re probably right. The trouble I have is that often, I pass establishments like this, and The Trooper et al, and wonder if they’re still really pubs, and would they welcome a cyclist? It’s a bit of a vicious circle, I guess.

December 21st – For now of course, the night is still perched upon my journeys. I came back from Chasewater along the canal in the dark, hoping to have another fiddle with long exposures – but the absence of moonlight and a wind that shook the camera made my attempts useless. Heading to Catshill Junction and Clayhanger Common, I passed under Anchor Bridge.

Barely noticeable to the non-locals who pass over it every day in their cars, it’s an interesting structure, the abutments and brickwork still bear witness to an older, narrower structure. I noted this as my light caught the brickwork. The wonderful local historian Gerald Reece had pointed this out to me in an email last year, and I’d meant to record it. Spinning on to Catshill junction, I noted also the road alignment rejoining the canal contour.

It’s rare to see a bridge so well accommodated into its surrounding landscape.

December 21st – From here, it’s going to be OK. Everything will work out, and the battle of the last few months has finally been won.

From 5:11pm this evening, the darkness has been overcome, and every day from now on the daylight will lengthen in a sinusoidal patten until midsummer.

Today was the solstice, and from this point forward, imperceptibly at first, the days will lengthen and open out. There will still be dark, cold days to come, but the madness of the closing-in days has passed. My depression that deepens with the clock change in October will now lift. 

From here, Christmas, then a new year. A couple of cold dark months, then spring. The budding, the flowering, the warmth. The season’s mechanism continues, slowly, inexorably, and I am in it’s thrall.

Every year, I feel this so much more keenly. I need to feel it, to feel the good days. But oh, the blessed absence of light…

Chasewater was choppy, and grey. The fine sunset I’d hoped to catch didn’t come. But it didn’t matter. Darkness must now retreat. Begone.

December 20th – As I looped back down the High Street, I thought how Christmassy it looked, but in the photo I took, it doesn’t seem like that at all, in fact it looks quite deserted. I find that a bit sad, really , as the atmosphere at the time was bustling. 

Sometimes I wonder if the camera sees the same things I do…

December 20th – I’d been out most of the day, Christmas shopping and mooching around Birmingham. I had places to be in the evening, and only managed to fit in a short ride in the early evening, which was just as well really, as the wind was horrid and it was threatening rain after what had been a fairly good, but chilly day. 

I took a ride up the canal from Coopers Bridge to Silver Street, and did a bit more experimentation with long exposure. The shot of the apartments by Coopers Bridge, even at 30 seconds, was too dark and grainy, there just wasn’t enough light for the camera to capture. However, near the overflow opposite Tesco the effect was quite good at 15 seconds. I love the shine it appears to give the water.

Think I’m fretting my head around it…