Tag: Anchor Bridge

#365daysofbiking Restful

April 14th – After a very long day, I needed to slip out for a dusk ride. Just a quick shot up the canal to Catshill and back.

My favourite tree – the majestic horse chestnut at Home Farm, Sandhills – looked soothing in the dusk, still waiting for it’s leaves to sprout forth.

It’s been a hectic weekend but it finished on a very good note.

Sometimes you just need five minutes of solitude.

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365daysofbiking Lying low

December 28th – People have asked me where the long rides out are this Christmas. There’s an answer to that – the weather isn’t great, just warm and grey, and I’m doing something I’ve needed for a while – getting some rest.

So, limited to errands, local trips have been the order of the day. This evening was a simple spin around Brownhills, as somnambulant and lovely in the cloak of darkness as ever.

I’ve resisted taking time to rest for years. That has clearly been a mistake…

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#365daysofbiking Highly evolved:

December 2nd – For the second time in two days, I was out without a camera, and reliant on my phone. On my return I had to nip up to Walsall Wood, so conducted an experiment and took a favourite shot from Anchor Bridge.

This is a phone photo.

I find the quality of this astounding – I know well of course that the clever bit here is software overcoming the huge hardware limitations of a tiny camera. But the quality from my iPhone is astounding.

An image of this quality from a phone even 5 years ago would have been unthinkable.

The evolution of technology is remarkable.

#365daysofbiking Where the night is lighter:

November 3rd -Returning to Brownhills, where the night is lighter, a classic shot from Anchor Bridge of the canal and Lindon Road, a night-time vista I’ll always enjoy.

The camera acquainted itself well, and I don’t find the result to be at all bad.

I know I keep saying this, but it’s true: Brownhills can be a remarkably beautiful place. Even at night.

#365daysofbiking Better than expected:

September 23rd: On the canal on the way to Chasewater, I stopped to admire the view. It was a lovely autumn day and the colours of the dying back vegetation in the golden hour were gorgeous.

This is a lovely stretch of canal, particularly at this time of year for obvious reasons, and it gives great views of the Anchor Pub and Bridge.

Considering the weather forecast today was awful, it didn’t turn out too bad in the end.

July 14th – S sadly hastily snapped picture, but something I do love to see: a young grey heron, on the canal in Brownhills near Anchor Bridge, contentedly fishing, just caught with a fish in it’s bill.

The bird was about half adults size, and I was lucky to see it. So many about at the moment, but hard to get them actually actively hunting.

A great start to a long ride.

June 18th – Now we’re in high summer the flowering phase is fading a little and we’re moving on to hardier, darker flowers and blooms, greens are deepening and the fruiting phase is commencing.

Now is the time of bramble flowers, thistles, knapweed and cornflowers – and the time when the canal looks it’s very best.

April 8th – I’ve been trying to get a decent version of this photo for ages. For two winters, in fact. What usually spoils it is traffic on the bridge and ripples on the surface of the canal. At Anchor Bridge tonight though, there were little of either when I flowed along here liquid back into Brownhills High Street – the reflection of the canal wasn’t bad and the Anchor’s lights looked welcoming and warm in the dark.

Sometimes, with some photos, its just a matter of patience.

March 14th – Returning home after a long day as dusk fell, I’d hit the canal at Walsall Wood, but the towpath was very muddy so I decided to hop back on the High Street at Anchor Bridge and continue by road.

Stopping near Chandlers Keep, I noticed the swan couple feeding, and they seem in separable at the moment. I’m hoping they might get the urge to nest build soon. I think they’re youngsters, so if the do nest, it could well be a dry run, but I’m always keen to see swans nesting locally.

We never saw swans on the canal when I was a kid. They’re still a treat.

February 6th – There I was, welcoming spring, and it looks like we’re in the coldest week of the winter so far.

Riding back to Brownhills it was cold and snowing lightly. I stopped on Anchor Bridge to record it, but you could barely tell. I don’t think this snow will amount to much, and it looks like warming up for the weekend, but I need to watch out for black ice in the morning.

Oh joy.