March 6th – Passing through Walsall as dusk fell, I passed by Town Wharf. Whilst the paving and general infrastructure is looking a little tired here these days it’s looking a lot more active in recent months. Now the Wharfinger’s Cottage is occupied, and there’s more on the waterfront, it’s becoming quite a nice place to be.
There are still derelict buildings here though: to the left the old factories still cast a long physical and economic shadow.
November 16th – Something I’ve not seen yet this year, on a roadside verge in central Walsall: a small fairy ring.
Speculation is rife as to how this odd little toadstools make the traditional rind or arc on lawns and short grass – some say it’s rotting tree roots that cause the to sprout, or perhaps a particular sporing pattern.
Like so much of the world of fungi, there’s far more we don’t know that that which we do.
October 4th – This is a great Autumn for fungi – everywhere I look there seem to be great examples of different species, and stuff I haven’t seen before.
This interesting clump of button toadstools is growing on the exposed, fractured roots of the spot where a tree fell near the Tannery flats in Walsall. I think it may be some kind of honey fungus, but I’m really not sure. It’s really colourful and the photo doesn’t do it justice.
I suppose this is the tradeoff for the damp, grey autumn – great toadstools!
September 21st – Returning home after a long day through north Walsall I caught a gorgeous, soft golden hour.
We are in the season of great sunsets and tonight, this was just a warm up for better to come.
There are positive aspects to autumn, you just have to be open to them.
August 16th – Another delight of the season, that frustratingly I couldn’t harvest: Giant puffballs on the patch of fenced off grass used as an occasional football pitch right in central Walsall between Smiths Flour Mill and the turn off the ring road for Birchills.
These are about the size of a football, and are pure white and lovely to eat. There were about 14 in total over the field, but due to the gates being locked, they were beyond the range of my frying pan.
Nice to see these huge fungi though, looking for all the world like alien eggs.
July 21st – At Birchills on the Walsall Canal, an odd one. Someone has cleanly cut off the balance beam on one of the lock gates. I have no idea why they might have done this, and the indications that this isn’t the normal vandalism are clear.
This was severed by a machine in one cut with no messing around. Whatever power tool was used, it was wielded with even pressure and the cut is square. clean and smooth.
I’d love to know what’s going on here.
July 4th – It was a day of cats. Cats everywhere. Strolling, taking the air. Sleeping, lounging, supervising, watching. These are just a selection of the lovely pusses I met out and about on my commute.
Stripes was lounging under a car in Birchills, and was annoyed because I caught him washing his bum, legs asplay. Ginger was snoozing, half asleep in the shrubs near Catshill Junction, and is a cat I’ve seen many times. The pair of flat out sleepers? The same pair of sleepyheads I saw last week in Scarborough Road, Pleck, presumably waiting for their staff to return home.
Presumably the lack of sun but general still warmth encouraged these lazybones out today. It was wonderful to meet them.
June 28th – One of the plants that’s commonly considered a nuisance and confined to edge lands and waste ground is rose bay willowherb, or old man’s beard.I’ve always felt the scorn for this violet midsummer trooper was unfair, as it’s another beautiful weed.
Fast growing with well-recognised wind-borne seeds, this tall plant is seen in hedgerows and other land that goes untended. It has a beautiful smell and adds a lovely purple tinge to otherwise dull spaces.
I’ll get you all looking at your weeds in a new light if it kills me…
May 2nd – Many of us know the pain of an irritating sibling.
I spotted the charming grey cat near the Tannery flats in Birchills, Walsall. He was inspecting the flower border and very alert to me. Then what I assume to be his brother appeared.
They greeted each other with a nose boop, then grey fellow continued to stare me out, stalk me and generally let me know I was under intense scrutiny – while the brother rubbed his head on him, attempted to wash his tail, and generally didn’t take stuff seriously at all.
Eventually, Mr. Grey walked off in disgust.
A fine pair of cats. Someone loves these two very much.
March 2nd – As I said yesterday, the season of transition is upon me; and that includes the period of travelling – on good days, at least – in the golden hour.
I often talk about this magical time, when just approaching sunset the light becomes soft, suffused with pink and gold and changes everything it touches to a precious, rare jewel.
There are few better places to catch such a time than Kings Hill Park and the view of the Twin Sisters. Bathed in the evening sun, they looked even more majestic than usual, but so did the park, and the sunset on the way home along the canal wasn’t too shabby, either.
This’ll do.
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