June 25th – Riding home from Shenstone it seemed like the hottest afternoon ever. Of course it wasn’t, but I was tired, the hay fever was giving me hell and energy was low.
I notice now that the haymaking is ongoing, in great weather for it, a the Footherley Brook looked as gorgeous and changeless as it must have done for decades.
I was quite impressed with the image quality of the cathedral view from Shire Oak: for a camera with limited zoom that’s not a bad image at all.
August 12th – Escape in the afternoon for a 72 mile ride around the top of Burton and back via Melbourne – a fine ride, but the southwesterly on my return was punishing.
Up through Lichfield and Barton, a great stop for tea and cake, then up through Shobnall to Willington, where I note the disused cooling towers are finally due for demolition. Over the Swarkestone Bridge to Melbourne, then back through Woodvellie and Lullington.
At least I found out what bored farmers do for entertainment…
I really enjoyed the ride, but I do hope the wind clears off soon.
17th August – At Home Farm, Sandhills, the harvest seems complete, and the wheat in the top field has been harvested. The day before, the straw lay in neat rows; today, it had been baled into neat, cylindrical rolls.
I love to see this, it appeals to my urge to grab order from chaos, and always looks dramatic.
And with this, the season’s mechanism advances another notch – it can’t be a coincidence that the weather is now colder and more changeable.
August 10th – The harvest was underway everywhere I looked – out at Hammerwich, Stonnall, The slopes of Longon and the plains of Staffordshire. Everywhere I looked, there were plumes of grain dust rising in the distant fields like palls of smoke. At Home Farm, Sandhills, baling of the straw was ongoing. The parsnips in the field behind still look lush, and the oilseed rape is still not ripe, but the wheat, plump and healthy, is now stubble. And so the cycle continues.
Setember 3rd – I noticed on my return that the grain harvest was now nearly over. Apart from a few fields by the railway, the wheat was finally all cut. Bales – square and cylindrical – dot the Stonnall and Shenstone landscape. This has been a very difficult, poor harvest, and is weeks late. I don’t think I’ve ever known it so bad. Please let there be an Indian summer…
August 22nd – The cereal harvest is now over, although the maize is still growing tall, and the potatoes are still maturing gently in the fields. On my way to work I headed down Green Lane, Walsall Wood and spotted this great view of the field of barley I’d photographed before. The harvest had been ongoing here for a few days, the trailers and tractors creating frequent traffic holdups. I love harvest time.
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