Tag: Brownhills

July 1st – I took a spin up from Brownhills to Chasewater – new month, same old bad weather, sadly. It was windy, and those short, sharp showers of the day before still skulked, ready to pounce. At Anchor Bridge, on the towpath on the Catshill Junction side of the bridge, there’s a hazard caused by the rain. In the recent storms, surface water coruscated down the bank, and washed the grit blast path out from this culvert housing. It’s big enough to swallow a foot or bike wheel. Most of the removed media has just been washed down the footpath. This is the responsibility of the Canals and Rivers Trust, formerly British Waterways, rather than the council. I’ve shot them an email. In the meantime, watch out…

June 30th – The sky was grey and rain showers stalked me as I headed out for a spin around Chasewater before tea. There was rain in the distance, over towards Lichfield, but it hadn’t got here yet. Instead, in mingled with shafts of distant sunlight and formed fragments of a rainbow. Never a whole one, the weather just teased me with pieces. The bad weather is so mean this year – it won’t even be beautiful while it’s being grim.

June 29th – It must be high summer , as the water lilies are in bloom on the local canals.These were near the Black Cock Bridge, in Walsall Wood. I don’t know if this is an invasive species or just a resurgent resident one, but they’re very lovely. We never used to see them when I was a kid, as the canals were too filthy to support much apart from sticklebacks and algae. The yellow variety – there’s a white lily too, which is also extraordinary – is fascinating to study. The flower heads are very complex. I’m quite fascinated by them.

June 26th – Catshill junction has a complex history. A three-arm junction with roving bridge where the Daw End Canal meets the Wyrley and Essington, it was a major toll point for the canal system. The ‘narrows’ here (there are a pair, a third isn’t needed) were where toll masters in the long gone Tonnage House would record the weights of the boats and their cargoes, and charge accordingly. Now, there are nice footpaths, limpid, soft waters and greenery. It’s a lovely, peaceful spot. As teenagers, we challenged each other to jump the narrows here – not seen anyone do that for a while. 

Overlooking it all is a sculpture, placed here when the towpaths were upgraded in 2007.  Sadly, it’s completely inaccessible to all but the most fearless bushmen, and the fine detail in it is lost from afar. Another bit of ill-judged, pointless public art.

June 26th – Returning home from work, I hopped on the canal. Everything is so green right now – the weather may be generally awful but the plants are having a ball. Overlooking the new pond at Clayhanger, its character has changed again for high summer, should it deign to arrive. The sandy pool is now surrounded by a lush meadow, verdant reed beds and gorgeous, shady trees. A joy. To think a spoil heap once stood here…

June 24th – Pottering up to Chasewater for the vintage festival, it turned out a pleasant, warm afternoon, so I had a gentle trundle round the park. It was good to see that after weeks of complaining by concerned wildlife enthusiasts, notices have finally been put up about the Little Ringed Plovers nesting on the shoreline. The delicate, fragile little fellows are often disturbed from their ground nests by dogs and walkers who don’t know they’re there. It seems very difficult to get the park management team – still from Lichfield District Council until 2014 – to do anything much these days. A complete change from previous regimes.

Coming back along the canal, another avian issue: the swan couple, who abandoned their nest of eggs earlier in the year are back. I have no idea what’s going on here, but it’ll sure be interesting to watch…

June 23rd – I’m not sure what this is. There’s a shock of it growing on the common at Brownhills, just near the ditch to the south of the A5 Watling Street. I’m seeing lots of similar flowers in hedgerows, but they tend to be at the white/blue end of the spectrum. These are really bold and impressive. Anyone got any ideas, please?

June 23rd – I braved a very windswept Brownhills Common today, and tore around it. It’s ages since I’ve been up there, and it was fun to throw the bike around the muddy tracks. The plant life is gorgeous there at the moment. So many species, just begging for your attention. This remarkably complex flower is a common bramble. I’m not sure if this is blackberry, or dewberry, and won’t be until it fruits. Brambles like this are incredibly important, as many types of butterfly and moth feed from them. So beautiful, so often overlooked.

June 22nd – Moon daises are doing well this year. A relative of the more common lawn variety, and also of the ragwort from earlier in the week. The buds, if picked when young, are peppery and hot. This patch are on the canal towpath at Catshill Junction, Brownhills. I tried to get a picture from the banks of the M54 in Telfoed this week, but couldn’t get a good angle; they are carpeted with these delightful flowers.