Boxing day – one of the things I like about canal cycling is that many canal side dwellers have a bizarre sense of humour, and construct often elaborate joke displays. This seems a particular tradition along the Trent and Mersey canal, where one can often see odd displays at the water margins of gardens on the opposite bank. I loved this fishing Santa at Rugeley. That must have taken some time to create… my congratulations to the householder.
Boxing day – Cannock Chase was an absolute blast. Great to enjoy the company of fellow bikers, I span around Birches Valley for a bit, then headed for Abrahams Valley to really open it out. There was nobody to speak of down there, and that’s quite a top speed for a downhill run on a fire-road. Exhilarating and refreshing.
Boxing day – I always head for the Chase at this time. Birches Valley cafe is usually open, and it’s great to blast off the excesses of the previous day. I travelled out via Chasewater, and cycled up the mound on Norton Bog, something I haven’t done before. The view up there is really quite good, and although it’s unseasonably springlike at the moment, it really shows we’re in the midst of winter.
Christmas day – Whilst at Chasewater, I also discovered the northern shore boardwalk – don’t know how I missed it before. I obviously wouldn’t ride it on a day when there were people about, but I took advantage of the quiet to give it a blast. A fun, precarious ride.
Christmas day – Chasewater was unusually quiet, even for Christmas day, which is normally quite busy with walkers and families taking the air. I couldn’t resist seeing if the geese were still feeling obstreperous, and they didn’t let me down. I’d love to know where they came from…
Christmas Eve – I dropped down into the city, not as a shopper, but as an observer. It was quite deserted at 5pm, nothing much was going on except the clearance of the market stalls. The sound of cathedral bells rang out and I was aware of a casual drift towards the close by those around me. I always feel odd at this time on Christmas Eve; it’s all over bar the shouting, and commercially at least, Christmas is over. Peace and best wishes to all those reading this, may Christmas bring you all you desire. See you on the other side…
December 23rd – Here’s a warning: beware of muggers at Chasewater. These five geese – who seem like domestic escapees to me – have been living on the boating lake near the Innovation Centre since mid-summer. Ratty, noisy and aggressive, they make the Canada Geese around them look somewhat timid. Today, as I cycled past on my return, their bellies were clearly empty due to a lack of visitors. They hustled toward me, flapping and honking, and realising I had no food, set about pecking my feed and bike. Geese are mad and stupid – I always thought that if you could somehow cross one with a chicken the result would be truly psychotic.
December 23rd – Quite simply horrible. One of the nastiest days of bad weather for a good while, and on a day when I had stuff to do. Taking a shortcut over Chasewater, the driving rain, wind and air of desertion made for a very black mood, which worsened somewhat later in the day when I dropped, and fatally wounded my trusty Panasonic camera. A duff day all round, but at least on the positive side, Jeffrey’s Swag and Chasewater seem to be filling a little. Heres to better times, and a more careful grip on the camera.
December 22nd – Doing a Christmas shop by bicycle is much easier than you’d think. You need good, spacious panniers and be skilled at packing, but with Waitrose’s great bike facilities, it takes some of the pain away from the process. Certainly, there’s no faffing about parking. The supermarket itself was mad, though; Christmas does bring out the very worst in some folks. Hopefully the exercise of pulling 30 kilos of shopping up Pipe, Summer, Spring and Shire Oak Hills counteracts some of the pork I’ll put on over-indulging…
December 22nd – It’s been a long time – not since last summer, in fact – that Ive featured a view of Lichfield from Aldershawe. On this slightly dull day, the Old Lady of the Vale still looked stunning, as did the fellow spires of companion churches all over the small city. This is a fantastic view which I love dearly, but it’s hard to conceive just how much it has changed since I was a kid. The superstore and houses in the foreground were all fields then. I feel old.
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