February 28th – in the swamp at the end of Victoria Park in Darlaston, just past the old railway bridge on the way to Kings Hill, a surprise today in the rain: The blackthorn is flowering.
Always the earliest tree blossom, it’s a lovely sight and on this wet, miserable day I was so pleased to see it.
Interesting too to see the blackthorn bush with an alder growing intertwined around it.
June 14th Every year, a couple of weeks after the yellow water lilies flower, out come the white ones, and this year there’s a fine display at Bentley Bridge.
Caught just after a rain shower, these looked splendid scattered with raindrops.
they always look so perfect, they could almost be made of wax.
May 30th – I wasn’t well today. The long ride of the day before had maybe taken a toll, but I didn’t sleep well, and suffered a migraine in the morning. The day was a bit wolfish, too, with a strengthening wind, so I confined myself to a trip to Chasewater and back over the common and canals mid-afternoon.
I haven’t been this way for ages, and I’m sad, as it was absolutely beautiful; Brownhills wears it’s spring jacket beautifully, and the buttercup meadows on the farmland to the rear of the old Rising Sun pub have to be seen to be believed; but also at The Slough, the hawthorn blossom is beautiful.
I still felt damned ropey, but at least I felt better about myself.
May 29th – A day of remarkable colour and beauty. I set off in the early afternoon for a ride not really sure where I was going, but headed to Middleton Hall for fuel in the form of tea and cake before heading southeast into the wind, over to Ridge Lane via Kingsbury and on to Mancetter, a place I haven’t been for years. From there, out to Sheepy Magna, then Orton on the Hill, up to Twycross and then down Salt Street to No Mans Heath. Returning in a glorious golden hour via Clifton, Harlaston and Whittington, the sunset over the railway at Hademore was remarkable.
It was a long ride but I felt power in my legs and really, really enjoyed it.
May 25th – Another thing that’s abundant right now is the May or Hawthorn blossom. Creamy white, with a distinctive (and not always pleasant) scent, there’s a huge amount this year, which on occasions is meeting the cow parsley in the hedgerow and just forming a white cascade, like here at Clayhanger.
This time of year is so wonderful – it’s just a shame it doesn’t last longer.
May 18th – Riding home along a damp canal on a grey evening commute, I noticed the apple blossom is really, really profuse this year. This crab apple tree near the Black Cock Bridge in Walsall Wood is absolutely beautiful – and the scent is wonderful.
With decent weather in the last few days, hopefully pollination will be good. Certainly plenty of bees about, even on their grey, chilly evening.
May 17th – I see the canals are looking pretty messy again – not to worry though, as this pollution is entirely natural and harmless.
Lots of reed detritus and airborne blossom debris is combining, as it does at various times of the year, to form a heavy scum in wind traps on the surface of the water.
It’s harmless and will decay within a week or so, it’s perfectly natural.
May 16th – I had to visit Telford briefly, but I noticed how much greener the cycleways were than the last time I visited. Sadly, I’d just caught the end of the blossom on that wonderful line of trees, but the tunnel effect and verdant hedgerows were a joy all the same.
People knock Telford (me included) but it’s surprisingly beautiful in places.
May 11th – On the Walsall Canal, despite the grim weather, life was continuing as normal. There are coot chicks in abundance, and I’ve been savouring the excellent description of them by Phil Griffin as ‘looking like badly knitted moorhens’ – they certainly are odd little things.
There was blossom aplenty from lilac and ornamental cherry, and the heron paused in it’s preening to look crossly at me, as if I’d broken it’s train of thought.
All of this in a 50 metre stretch of canal in the centre of urban Walsall.
May 10th – I squelched through Walsall Wood on the way home, like a drowned rat. The deluge had been particularly heavy around the ring road, and it had made the traffic aggressive and worrying.
I had something to do in Walsall Wood, and mindful of my promise to bring my friend the best of what was around, I spotted the gorgeous cherry blossom at St. Johns.
The day may have been a washout, but this more than made up for it.
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