October 21st – I see lots of sweet chestnut trees about – particularly around Shugborough and Longdon, yet little decent fruit, which has always puzzled me. This year in no exception. Inside these very sharp, defensive husks, the chestnuts are thin and small. I don’t know if they’re just an ornamental strain, or whether the crops need more attention than they get in the wild. Still, the windfalls are always impressively spiky.
October 21st – Up on the The Chase and over Shugborough for an afternoon ride. Autumn has really taken hold now. The pines in Abraham’s valley are a lovely yellow, and everything had an aura from the low sun. Soon, the clocks will go back and I’ll be doing this run at dusk. The year advances, slowly, inexorably… where did it go?
October 20th – That something good was one of the most remarkable sunsets I’ve seen for a while. It happened as I crossed Chasewater Dam on my way to Burntwood. Taking just twenty minutes in total, it was fleeting, ever changing and magical. I walked the length of the dam path, stopping to take photos every couple of minutes. I was very lucky to see this.
There are more images on my main blog. I feel the need to point out again that these images are not enhanced – it really was this beautiful.
October 20th – I knew it was going to be a good ride – and I had no idea why. The bike felt good beneath me after some long-awaited fettling. The wind was low, the air keen, but pleasant. I had energy in my bones. I felt good, the light was starting to get good. I came up from central Brownhills, over Catshill Junction and off towards Chasewater. The golden hour was lighting up the autumn colours. It was peaceful and beautiful. It may only have been a short spin, but this is what cycling is about, and no mistake. I felt that something good was just about to happen…
October 19th – The refilling of Chasewater has been very swift and remarkable. Saved by a very, very wet season, it occurred to me today looking at the new outfall arrangement that there’s only a shade over a metre to go until the reservoir is full and flowing into the Nine-Foot. Of course, there’s a huge increase in area to cover in that metre, so it won’t be quick. On the 30th of September the level was just off the 148.35m AOD start level of the scale, maked ‘9’. Today, it’s at 6.5. Since the scale is marked in decimetres, that’s a 250mm rise in 19 days to approximately 148.6m AOD. That’s incredible.
It’s nice to see healthy birdlife return, too. Long time since I’ve seen a heron loafing on the waterski jetty.
October 19th – Working from home today, I spun out late afternoon on errands and to get some shopping. It was misty and grey, but all the same, I headed to Chasewater to check out the levels. It was pretty deserted at 5pm, and the boating lake was a peaceful soup of wildfowl, who flocked around me hoping I had food. The sheer variety in the duck population – domestic, blended with mallard, crossed with tufted ad infinitum – was fascinating. Ducks will mate with just about anything they can, and the diversity here is illuminating.
I see the domestic white geese are still terrorising visitors, too, the aggressive devils. Goose bills are the stuff of nightmares, eh? Look at all those serrations…
October 18th – Road safety in a time of austerity? Too expensive. Here at Station Road in Harden, there used to be a pedestrian crossing where National Cycle Route 5 crosses the road. This is a busy trail is a recognised safe route to school that takes a heavy cyclist and pedestrian load. Station road is busy and quite fast. Up until six months ago, there was a pedestrian crossing here, which was damaged by vandalism and taken out of use.
Solution? Remove it. Well done Walsall Council. Victory for common sense and safety there – not.
October 18th – For the first time in ages, I was in Darlaston. I also had to pop into Brownhills on my way, so I pottered up to Pelsall and on to Walsall via NCN 5 – the National Cycle Route. It was a lovely ride to work, but the southerly headwind was a tad sharp for my liking. I guess readers must be getting fed up of the cliched autumn pictures by now, but today, my beloved Black Country looked gorgeous. Escaping early, I popped into the Arboretum at Walsall to check out the colour. At 4pm, it was all but deserted, which I found surprising. It really is lovely there. Get up there before it’s too late…
October 17th – The Boatman’s Rest pub, in Walsall Wood High Street is an old building, and has been a pub for many years. Originally called The Red Lion, it changed it’s name in the 90s for reasons unspecified. The last remaining old building on the north side of the High Street (other than the church), we’re lucky it survived. It’s not been without controversy, however, and several attempts by the pub to expand onto the nearby land have been stymied by the local authority and objections by nearby residents, who tried (and failed) to get the adjacent grass verge designated officially a ‘Village Green’. I think that’s rather sad, really. Successful pubs are few and far between these days…
17th October – A frantic day. Last minute trip to Leicester for a meeting, then had to zip back to Tyseley for another. In between the two, I found myself at Snow Hill Station, in Birmingham. I was fascinated to spot the abseiling window cleaners were doing their urban acrobatics at the new office blocks nearby. I take my hat off to these men – they have total faith in their equipment, it must be cold and draughty up there. Not much room for error. The casual way in which they pause to share a joke and chat, whilst dangling in front of an office block is astounding, captivating and impressive.
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