October 8th – As dusk fell, the sky cleared, and heading into Brownhills on this quiet, damp evening it was actually quite beautiful. It’s been a month or two since I last saw the canal look like this… I also noted that these were probably the last days of my commuting home in the light.
Everything must pass.
October 5th – I returned to Brownhills from Pelsall over Ryders Mere and the old rail line. Dropping onto the canal just by the Pelsall Road, I notices two fresh pieces of street art by Voms on the inside parapets of the old rail bridge.
They’re competent, and well-excuted; I like them a lot. An interesting thing.
October 4th – Another enchanting golden hour, and I needed something important. Having had no luck at the big Sainsbury at Cannock the day before, I struck gold at Reedswood.
Progress was slow, but I wended up the canal and down the cycleway to north Walsall in the most gorgeous light, and back in a equally gorgeous but cold sunset.
The weather really is great at the moment.
September 26th – Another great sky as I nipped down into Stonnall in the dying light. Coming back into Brownhills form Shire Oak, the view, as ever, surprised with it’s beauty.
The view down Shire Oak Hill to Brownhills is one of the best around here, but few ever seem to notice it. Yes, it’s urban, and not beautiful, really. But it has an interesting, busy urban charm I rather love – particularly at sundown, when the buildings catch the light and are rendered precious.
September 21st – A horrid, horrid day. Laden with a cold, the sun was out but I was in. Feeling cranky, miserable and ill, I battled technology and social media at home, and finally left for a restorative ride at 5pm.
The air was still poor, but it caught the sun beautifully. Looking from Hammerwich over the fields to Brownhills, I was fascinated by the glow of the Lichfield Road as it rose to cross the Anglesey Branch. Riding over to Wall and back through the lanes around Chesterfield, the villages and old building looked beautiful, as did the odd flower of the evergreen, growing in the hedgerows at Wall.
It may have been a terrible, terrible day, but the golden hour was just what I needed.
September 20th – Things were still grey and the air quality still dreadful, but a very, very fine rain had settled on the town as I cycled to Chasewater.
It’s good to see the old place busy now, and I love the way the Wakeline people have taken over and repurposed the old pier. Boats were speeding around, despite the murk, but I also noted the low water level – lower now than it has been for a couple of years. The valves are still open, so one assumes there’s a good reason.
Cycling back along the canal, it felt more like November than September, apart from the unseasonal warmth. Or maybe it was just a cold kicking in – at least that would explain the congestion.
September 17th – Recently on Facebook there was some concern over a swan that was found dead in Pelsall. The bird had been decapitated, and many were accusing vandals. The truth is less controversial, but sadly a little more gory.
The swan was, in all probability, killed by a fox. Anyone who’s seen the aftermath of a fox in a henhouse will know that Reynard goes for the neck.
At this time of year, this year’s cubs are driven out of the den by their parents to seek their own territories – that’s why we often see foxes sleeping on roofs and in quiet but open spots in late summer. Quite frankly, these canines are homeless.
The young, inexperienced adolescents are forced to fend for themselves – that includes finding food – and many will attempt kills that are well above them. So it probably was with the Pelsall swan.
Swans are not bright birds. As I came home along the canal, I spotted this usually aggressive lone bird fast asleep, drifting on the water. It had floated into the bank around the overflow, at Clayhanger Bridge, and the thicket nearby is usually host to a den of Brer Fox.
It would be fairly trivial for the fox to sneak up to the bird unseen, and go straight for the neck, which is about the only bit the fox can attack without the risk of being ferociously pecked. The kill, to an experienced fox, would be fast and efficient and lead to food for a week or more.
The fox that attacked the Pelsall bird was probably scared off, or attacked by other swans roused by the commotion, leaving their kill behind.
I couldn’t knowingly leave this swan to a similar fate, so after taking a few pictures, I gently woke it by speaking. I was greeted by wing-flapping, honking and hissing, and the white bird swam away from me.
Job done.
September 14th – Back up on Cannock Chase for the first time in ages, and I really loved it. From the Heron near Ogley Junction, to Abrahams Valley and Parrs Warren, I had a great afternoon, racing around and generally throwing the bike around. It made a change, it’s been a long while.
That foot injury has been really holding me back. So glad it’s healed now.
September 6th – Well, it’s coming on to autumn, and one of the positives about that is fungi. It looks set to be a bumper year, too – caps, toadstools, polypores, puffballs will all put in appearances in the coming weeks.
These gorgeous shaggy ink caps – edible when young – were growing on Brownhills Common, in a spot where I’ve not seen them before. Pretty much perfect specimens.
September 4th – I forgot my camera today, so instead I grabbed it and my little tripod when I had to run a late evening errand. It was quite still in Brownhills this evening, and there were few people around.
I am fascinated by the new white LED streetlights the council are installing in some places. Unlike the ones in Birmingham, these seem much brighter and clearer than the sodium ones they replace, and the cold white light the spread is somewhat otherworldly, particularly on street corners where old and new technologies overlap.
At the Pier Street bridge, I was fascinated by the lights shining off the surface of the canal, something I’d forgotten in the light days of a summer now passed.
Now autumn is upon us, I must sharpen up my night photography techniques.
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