November 25th – Returning home, I took the canal from Walsall Wood, but the towpath was horribly waterlogged and muddy, so I headed back towards the Anchor Bridge to get to High Street.
I was struck by the almost ethereal appearance of the pub, it’s reflection in the canal and the effect of the mist gathering on the water.
It was very, very dark, but so very beautiful too.
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November 24th – At some point between last week and this, Chasewater’s level increased and it overtopped the spillway weir, but now is sits a couple of inches below this, yet the canal valve remains closed off. How could it be so?
I remembered there is a small valve-controlled weir bypass sluice in the back of the 9-Foot embankment, and for the first time ever, it was open. I’m not altogether clear why.
Releasing water into the full canal would mean loading the Ford Brook/Tame waterway through Walsall and Birmingham via the overflow system, so releasing to the spillway would mean the water goes via the crane brook to meet the Tame near Tamworth, which would be better. I suppose using the sluice allows the dropping of the level of the main reservoir in a much more controlled fashion and creates buffer space if necessary.
It’s very unusual and I don’t think I’ve seen this approach in the seven years since Chasewater was refilled.
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November 23rd – Another headache-grey wet day, with a better ride out than expected. I drifted over to Chasewater in the constant drizzle to visit the model shop there, and then went up the causeway to the North Heath.
With barely a soul around, and it actually being quite warm, it gave me chance to take in the misty, grey atmosphere that Chaewater can and does wear so very well.
I studied the power lines with their anti-harmonic and anti-gallop dampers, and wondered at the stress – both mechanical and electrical – they must be under in conditions like these.
And in the scrub and marsh there was muted colour – but colour all the same – in the foliage of the heather and marshgrass, and the marcescent oaks that pepper the ridge.
The fresh air felt good in my lungs and I’m starting to not mind the rain either – the sort of meteorological Stockholm syndrome one only gets at the end of winter or during very wet summers.
Some cold weather might be nice, though.
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November 22nd – Another horribly wet day. I returned to Brownhills at dusk and the whole town was sodden and grey, but for one thing: The Christmas lights had gone up, and this year they’re rather lovely, I have to say.
In fact, I did notice a light and reflection theme in my photos for the journey home which was unintentional but clearly on my mind.
Oh, for a few dry days though…
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November 17th – Another rain sodden day. I know this is getting repetitive if you read these posts in series, but this is seriously what life here is like at the moment. It’s been so wet for weeks now that I’ve stopped grumbling at having to go out in it; it’s just a sort of a new normal.
The state of this is weird.
Down in Brownhills on a shopping trip, a wander over to the canalised for a loop over to Walsall Wood. The birds here – gulls, mallards, swans, geese and more – didn’t seem as tired of the rain as me, but they did seem a bit fractious. Maybe they were missing human feeding, which on a normal Sunday would be almost constant here.
I notice the goose with the white feathers on it’s head is still around. It’ll be interesting to track it over the winter, and see if it mates or if the colour discrepancy renders it an outsider…
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November 16th – Another wet and grey day, another errand: I had to pop over to Shenstone and then to Lichfield at teatime. The wind was hell coming home and the rain sporadic. It wasn’t;t a great ride if I’m honest.
Coming back up the A461 to Shire Oak over the Summerhill motorway bridge, since there was a break in the rain, I tried a long exposure with the G5X. Interesting result, but I needed more traffic – unlikely at this time on a Saturday, to be honest.
With the wind against me, rain starting and no fuel in my tank (I’d forgotten to eat during the day) the ride uphill was not nice.
Still, it was nice to get home.
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November 14th – Labouring up Shire Oak Hill from Shenstone in constant rain, I began to wonder if by the end of the winter I’d develop webbed feet.
It seems to have done nothing but rain for weeks. I’m itching for a long ride on dry lanes. The Chase and Chasewater are nothing but mud baths.
And we’re hurtling toward Christmas.
Hope things improve soon.
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November 10th – The morning had been sunny and the afternoon grey but clear – a better day for sure than the washout of the previous one. But everything was sodden, and cycling was still…. Challenging.
Wet leaves, mud, huge puddles made the going tough but it was nice to be out.
The rain had washed most of the leaves off the trees at The Parade, meaning the really beautiful period had been transitory, like so many times of beauty this year. Such is life.
My companion went for a low angle and tilted the camera noting that the trees all had a windswept tilt, too -, and although not mine, this shot encapsulates the feeling so well, it would be a crime not to use it.
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November 9th – It rained all day, and into the night. A wet, horrible day stuck indoors working on DIY around home and trying to keep busy.
I slipped out after dark to do some essential shopping. Everywhere was saturated – we really are in a wet spell now. It seems like it’s been raining for weeks, although probably not; yet I don’t think I’ve every known such a miserable, wet autumn.
Brownhills and Silver Street were deserted. Anyone with any sense was inside, not out with me in this kingdom of rain. For once, I couldn’t blame them.
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November 6th – A late night and very long day at work, followed by an awful commute in steady drizzle. I felt low, tired and mentally exhausted.
Stopping on Silver Street canal bridge to take photos of the damp, snoozing town, I reflected on how much better it was here now with the new homes rather than unused, empty space.
Sadly the photos I took are awfully noisy and the camera mode wasn’t best for the subject. But they’ll have to do: The day was largely about unwanted noise, and this grainy images seem quite fitting.
Tomorrow will be a better day.
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