#365daysofbiking Up the junction:
September 10th – A quick hop up on to Catshill Junction Bridge which is always a good spot to note the passage of the seasons.
Forgetting the weather (which is decidedly grim right now) there’s a definite tinge of autumn in those trees, towpaths, banks and bushes. It’s still quite, quite green – but there is the kiss of gold at the extremities, and the green looks dark and weary.
And the season’s wheel grinds on.
#365daysofbiking All misty wet with rain:
September 4th – A very wet commuteto work along the Goscote Cylceway on NCN 5 was actually far better than I would have expected, as the rain on on the hedgerows and berries lit them up and made them precious.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a hawthorn harvest this heavy – from a distance the hedgerows and trees appear red.
Not a bad ride, despite the weather.
#365daysofbiking Back on track
September 1st – I took a bimble on the bridleway that runs from Claypit Lane by Aldershawe at Wall to to the old Watling Street by the Birmingham Road, which I haven’t done for years.
The fields on Harehurst Hill were being ploughed, and under the railway bridge, there seemed to be a fault in the rendering of reality…
A beautiful little green lane I’d forgotten all about.
#365daysofbiking Springing up for autumn
August 31st – A welcome return with the damper weather has been the fungi, which has been mostly absent all through the dry summer.
I love to see toadstools and fungus in all it’s variety and this example on the towpath – some sort of Suillus I suspect – was glistening in the morning rain and was alive with bugs feasting on it.
#365daysofbiking Spirit of the water
August 30th – Returning home at sunset after a long day I noticed that Autumn is now encroaching. The evenings feel chilly and damp, although not yet cold; the greenery has the beginnings of the season’s golden jacket and things just look duller.
Still it was beautiful, and nice to see the canal so full after the leak in the summer.
August 25th – I loped back from Alvecote through Seckington, Clifton, Darlaston and Whittington. It was a lovely evening ride marred only by my stomach troubles.
At Haunton, the beautiful little Catholic church there remains a hidden gem, the rows of graves of nuns from the local convent still sobering and very sad. Here I noted cyclamen, another sign of Autumn, and darkness fell what seemed to be cruelly early bit with a gorgeous orange moon.
Autumn is tapping me on the shoulder now…
August 23rd – I don’t know what it is in the season, but the acorns this year are prolific and absolutely huge. With the dry summer I’d have expected the opposite, but they are absolutely huge.
The fecundity of the crop is, however, being affected by the large amount of knopper galls, that from from acorns attacked by the knopper wasp. Also a peculiar seasonal phenomenon, they are very,. very red this year, whereas it’s usually just tinges of colour.
Wonder why?
August 22nd – Also doing well this year seems to be the alder trees who are fruiting heavily with the catkins profuse.
This hardy, wetland loving tree grows well near the local canals and although not a stunner, is pleasing all year round.
August 19th – Talking of the harvest, at Home Farm, Sandhills, the cornfield I’d captured the rainbow and remarkable sunset from a few weeks ago has now been harvested, and the stubble, still golden in the overcast day, is awaiting ploughing back in.
My favourite tree – my marker for the seasons, the horse Chestnut by the farmhouse – is clearly laden with conkers.
What a fantastic summer and season this has been. Just what I needed.
August 18th – In spite of my earlier feeling that we were in for a thin harvest, the hedgerows and woodlands are laden with berries, nuts and fruit this year. I noted on Brownhills Common that the elderberries were now showing well and in abundance, which is good news for local winemakers, who will produce a dark red, strong and face-numbing drink from these shiny, dark berries.
And long may it continue!
BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking 