June 4th – On the way home, eating at the Lichfield Street/New Ring Road lights at Walsall. The rain had stopped but road conditions were… challenging.
I wish I new why this awful junction and road held so much surface water: It’s not as simple as drainage – it’s something about the surface holding it.
Ah well, at least the downpour had passed. To be in England, in the summertime…
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June 4th – The orchid season is upon us, and two spotted miles apart: The tall purple one (about 12 inches high) is the one spotted in the patch by the canal in Walsall Wood last week: It’s developed beautifully.
The second is a random lone soldier spotted beside the cycleway at Telford station: In the lovely pink-purple colour you can really see the gorgeous patterns on the petals.
Both seem to be northern marsh orchids but I’m certainly no expert.
Beautiful flowers and some of my favourites – only here for a few short weeks so if you want to find some, get out now.
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June 3rd – Also dotting the verges of Darlaston today, white clover – well, more cream-brown really.
Usually later than it’s pink-red sousin, white clover is another gorgeous, overlooked classic I love to see.
Always worth studying the grass under your feet to see what gems lurk there in summertime.
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June 3rd – Another day, another wildflower appearance, and one that although very common, is lovely if you look closely – the humble bramble, or blackberry blossom.
Very white, delicate almost as if mate from paper, and always creased. Fascinating little flowers hardly anyone pays attention to.
It might be me but they seem early this year…
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June 2nd – It was a bad day. I couldn’t post on my main blog due to hosting issues and stuff needed doing I couldn’t do. I was rough from an IBS episode and nothing was working.
I finally quit trying and headed out mid afternoon into a grim, grey world that although warm, was windy and intemperate and frequently rainy.
Chasewater was pleasant as ever but couldn’t lift me. I eaded to see pals in Chasetown, which did help at least.
Some days are just hopelessly lost, and all you can do is go with the flow, knowing that tomorrow has to be a better day.
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May 31st – Spotted purely by chance negotiating the new gate off the canal at Chase Road, Brownhills, a pair of bees apparently mating.
I did wonder at their size and apparerntly different species but no, they are most likely tree bumblebees making more tree bumblebees, bless them.
I left them in peace, the bees need all the chance to multipoly they can get.
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May 30th – For the first time in quite a while, despite the rampant hay fever I decided to ride home along the canal through Birchills in Walsall to Goscote.
Climbing the lock flight here is always a pain – not so much the climb but negotiating the many sets of anti-vehicle barriers, so it’s not one I do often; but today, I had a pleasant surprise.
The towpaths on the stretch I rode are all being resurfaced. This is good news: The runs through Leamore and Harden particularly have been deteriorating in recent years and this will make them much more viable in winter on dark evenings, which is when they’d be most useful to avoid the traffic in central Walsall.
At the moment, the route as far as about Leamore is surfaced properly with asphalt down, the rest is in various stages of excavation or restoration, and on anything less than a mountain bike will be very hard going, so if planning to ride this stretch, I’d wait a week or two.
Now, if only the authorities could be persuaded to re-lay Ryders Hayes to Blakenall and Aldridge to Rushall Junction we’d have a totally ridable local network, possibly for the first time ever…
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May 30th – Also blossoming now is the delightful and humble elder, a shrub beloved of winemakers for hundreds of years. It grows in woods, hedgerows, on wasteland and anywhere it can. Here in Harlaston it’s thriving at the back of Victoria Park.
The tiny, beautiful white flowers have a gorgeous scent and can be used to make wine or champagne: the berries they make way for – deep red, almost black – make a heavy, heady wine that’s almost legendary.
This gives the winemaker a tasty dilemma: White and floral or red and strong?
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May 30th – One of my favourite times of summer is when the orchids come into bloom.
There are many species of orchid in the UKL and none are particularly common – those we see around the canals and marshes of the local area now are a recent thing and a delight to see.
Varying in shade from a sort of lavender blue to very deep purple, the marsh orchids by the canal and over CLayhanger Common are just beautiful.
Let’s hope the mowers of the Canal and River Trust are held off until they’ve finished their lovely display for another year.
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May 29th – Encountered just by Clayhanger Bridge, the Watermead swan family are growing fast, and the youngsters are growing in confidence and pottered over to see if I had treats, under the stern, watchful eye of dad.
Mum was grazing the bottom of the canal, pulling up choice strings of algae and offering them to her chicks – who obliged by attempting to copy her. This is obviously ja learning exercise only, as the tiny birds can’t yet reach the bottom.
Lovely to see the family growing and developing so well.
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