Tag: 365daysofbiking

August 1st – I was in Telford today. I noticed that to alleviate the congestion and overcrowding in the cycle shed, we have a new cheapo rack to use. Sadly, it’s of the worst type available – a wheelbender. So called because bikes fall over in them and end up with buckled rims, they’re also weak and the tubular supports will normally break off with a sharp kick. Trying to lock to them is lousy, too. 

Still, they’ve just had the car park sorted and there wasn’t much left for the cyclists, clearly…

July 31st – Maize was a very popular crop hereabouts for a few years, now you don’t see too much of it. Usually grown for animal fodder, and harvested by machines that cut the whole plant into tiny chunks, planting seemed to suddenly cease about 3 years ago. I’m glad to see it back, although this crop on the Chester Road, near Stonnall seems a little lacking in something. Hopefully, with a bit more warm, dry weather, this harvest should recover.

July 31st – In Mill Green, near Little Aston, a remarkable change has occurred. This is the transition of a tumbledown old barn into a nice home, complete with 3 car garage. I love the dovecote in the gable end. I wonder if that will come to be regretted when out feather friends discover their new luxury pad? Either way, it’s a smart looking place.

July 30th – The weather was bright and fine on the way home, but a petulant headwind made life a little unpleasant. I knew the weather was due to break in less than twelve hours, and I wasn’t wrong. But there’s something about the Springhill barley field, blue sky, white clouds and old hamlet that are just too lovely to feel sad for long. A gorgeous view.

July 29th – Speeding back towards home down the canal towpath in darkness, I spotted a familar shape in the headlight. Screeching to a halt, I gently picked up this little fellow – a common toad – and placed him in the safety of the canalside grass. He was a small chap, probably about half to two thirds fully grown, and he had a delightfully speckled belly. I lifted him gently between thumb and fingers, it’s unwise to clasp these amphibians in the flat hand, as they spray acrid urine as a defence mechanism. They also squeal if you touch them on their lower back – it’s a sound that’s remarkably piercing, and is generated as a signal to other male toads that they’re attempting to mate with the wrong sex in mating frenzies.

Toads. Surprising things. Not a whole bunch of road sense, either…

July 29th – I followed my nose up the old railway, under the A5 and onto Chasewater as darkness fell. Despite feeling pretty rotten, I was fluid, and felt fast. I hadn’t photographed a sunset for ages – maybe because the recent ones had all been rubbish. This one, though, was good. I’d bee asked to take photos of Chasewater by follower Alex Wardle (@xswardy), so this seemed a fine opportunity. A lovely, soothing evening.

July 29th – I had loads of work to do all day, and wasn’t feeling too bright. I took a spin out late evening, as the light died; it cheered me up no end. Hopping on the canal at Pier Street, around the bend opposite the Watermead, a young fox was learning to hunt. Sadly, his intended target – a mallard – was far sharper than him and flapped away in a bad-tempered fug of splashing, honking and feathers. Meanwhile, the woodpigeons, realising that Reynard Jr. was no threat, looked on in interest. Sorry about the poor quality pics, but I had to share.

July 28th – After going to see some mates in Walsall, I returned down a somewhat breezy Goscote Valley on a sunny afternoon. Joining the cycle route at the Butts, though Mill Lane Nature Reserve, I was immediately struct by the range and beauty of the plants and flowers, which were alive with awakening insects. The elegant, almost Francophile church spire of Rushall was visible above the trees across the valley, and this old railway line just screamed for attention. A wonderful place. Get your arses down there before summer passes. 

July 27th – Scenes from a Black Country life. This is a sunny, summery and somewhat industrial Station Street in Darlaston. I passed this way on my way to work, and noted a tradition here that’s been going on for decades. Those men stood at the window are buying breakfast sandwiches from the Caparo Atlas canteen, which supplants its income by selling to anybody bold enough to stand on the upturned crate and stick their head in through the open window, and shout their requirements. The food is good, if the reputation is to be believed, and Darlaston working folk have been doing this for years, as far back as Wartime when this whole estate was part of GKN.

Bacon, egg, black pudding and shrooms, and a tea, thanks me love.

July 27th – This is the old Walkways youth centre in Littleton Street, Walsall. Standing near the access to the new Tesco superstore in Walsall, it’s now so out of place that one might think it had been beamed down from a spaceship. I have no idea what this building was originally, but it’s clearly old, and if studied closely, is actually rather handsome. Now on the market after abandonment by its last owners, Walsall Council, it’s being pitched as a ‘Development Opportunity’. In the local arson sweepstakes (this week seeing the loss of the BOAK building in Station Street). I reckon this sad, apparently doomed old building is probably on even odds with the former Workhouse Guardian’s Office in a similarly marooned position over at the Manor Hospital.

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