Tag: 365daysofiking

May 21st – Up on Cannock Chase, I went looking for a fire tower I’d heard had been rebuilt. These watchtowers are scattered throughout the forest, and I thought they’d slipped out of use; when I last visited this one up near Sow Street high on Wolseley Park in 2011, it had collapsed in the bad weather and was nothing more than a pile of rotten wood. Tipped off by fellow local historian Dave Fellows, I discovered in the week that it had been rebuilt – so I went to check it out.

Sadly, it’s gated at the top so you can’t get in, but it’s a curious thing with an otherworldly feel. As the rain began to fall, the clearing the tower sits in – on the junction of five or six firebreaks for best visibility – came alive. Solitary, quiet apart from the rain on leaves, I realised how much wildlife was around on a dull day; I could hear deer in the wood, and the fungus and flowers were wonderful.

Then the heavens opened – but dry in waterproofs, even that was a sensory wonder.

January 8th – Unexpectedly, Dazzle Ships on the Chasetown bypass. For those unfamiliar with either the concept of dazzle camouflage or the concept album by electronica band OMD, Dazzle Ships were regular ships painted in bright, geometrically random and almost cubist designs in the First and Second World Wars. Through a periscope, surrounded by light glinting off waves, it was a very effective scheme for obfuscating a vessel’s speed, heading and location.

The idea was pioneered by artist Normal Wilkinson. You can read about it here. The Dazzle Ships album is a lost classic, too.

At Chasetown, the camouflage was just shadow and sunlight through a steel bridge, but a fascinating series of contrasts caught just by looking right at the perfect moment.