Tag: Brownhills

August 8th – I still can’t get my head around the state of the trees currently blocking the new development’s view of Catshill Junction. This is a Walsall Housing Group project consisting of apartments, sold as ‘canalside’ dwellings – but as far as I can ascertain, most of the properties have no view of the canal itself due to the overgrown thicket in-between.

Such dense vegetation must also make those flats terribly dark. Unusually for Walsall Housing Group, they don’t seem to have any plan to deal with this and integrate their development into the immediate environment. I find this surprising and sad.

And still languishing unloved on the bank, the Catshill Junction Sculpture. 

What a mess.

August 6th – Today’s ride was, oddly, mostly observed by cats. Dozing cats. Strolling cats. Stalking cats. Cats taking the air, the afternoon off or the initiative. From Brownhills to Croxall and back, it was all about the felines.

I saw all these fine examples on the same rife, and more I didn’t manage to photograph. No idea what drew them all out this afternoon, but I hope it happens again.

July 31st – A ride on an uninspiring, overcast day actually threw up some wonderful sights, which just goes to show how you can never tell. At Newtown, I spotted the black cat ambitiously stalking mallards from the long grass… And on the rugby pitch at Chasetown, a mature female red deer appeared to be loafing with two generations of her offspring. Unconcerned at my presence, they just carried on snoozing and browsing the grass.

I headed to Barton Marina via Yoxall for disappointing tea and cake, but was pleased to note the Walsall boat and found face; it’s been 7 years since I last tried the place as a cycling stop, and to me, it hasn’t improved – soulless and out of place. 

The rabbit was spotted on the grass on the approach to the marina, and the coo south of nearby Walton.

A mixed bag of a ride, but a decent 45 miles and some great sights. 

July 28th – Inexorably sliding now from the flowering to the fruiting, I notice the first blackberries are making their appearance in the hedgerows, scrubs and thickets. 

It looks like another bumper crop this year, that’s certain to result in the baking of many a pie, crumble or tart.

A real treat for the foragers…

July 21st – It’s been a great week of commuting so far. Sunny and warm, without too much wind. I felt the sun on my face, and everything had that great summer air about it you only get in during really warm spells.

This evening, however, was different; it was ten degrees C cooler than on Monday, and the skies were grey. As I neared Brownhills, it began to spot with rain, and I raced home to avoid the thunderstorm we were surely due.

It never came, and neither did the rain.

It’s been a great few sunny days, and if the summer would like to return, I for one will make it very welcome indeed…

July 18th – A pootle up the canal to Walsall Wood on an errand in a glorious golden hour. The hottest day of the year so far, the water bubbled as unseen creatures walled in the cool water, and grasshoppers, bees and birdsong filled the air.

An absolutely wonderful evening that shows that while people seem to think this area is ugly, it’s actually beautiful.

July 17th – A very hot day with no little wind, and I set off on a ride cursed by mechanical problems, but I still got 57 miles in which was well worth it and very enjoyable. What was noticeable with the sudden arrival of summer was the active animal life. The deer were still showing well at Home Farm, and a rather hung-over looking heron was preening and looking a little mad near Wharf Lane. In between the two, a cat with remarkable whiskers was languidly patrolling his canalside patch.

July 16th – This curious flower was found in the reed bed at the edge of the canal at Newtown, near the Castings factory. I’ve never seen anything like it before, and it seemed to exist in isolation.

It turns out it’s a common reed: branched bur-reed, and the flowers – little spiky gloves about the diameter of your fingernail – are remarkable. It’s an apparently common canal plant, so I must have seen loads of it and never realised.

I really should open my eyes more!

July 16th – I know the deer have been on Home Farm at Sandhills for a while – I accidentally photographed a lone stag there last autumn – but I’ve never seen a large group. Until today.

A grouo of red deer females, with three fawns, were loafing in a field margin but the canal, at the conjunction between the oilseed rape crop and some wheat. They were not nervous and seemed comfortable.

I think they’re getting here from CLayhanger Common, as previously I’ve seen footprints on Catshill Junction Bridge, and there seems to be a lot of trampling in the hedge-gaps.

The local deer population really is ubiquitous now.

July 11th – Today I noticed an odd little curiosity I’d not spotted before. On the canal at Clayhanger Bridge, the rope guards that were installed on the original bridge were transferred to it’s replacement in 1994.

These rusting metal posts were originally at the vertices of the brickwork on the towpath side of the underbridge. Back when narrowboats were horse drawn, the guards were fitted so that the horse towropes would not groove the brickwork, but the metal instead. The years of boats passing wore deep grooves in the metal, which are a sort of historical witness to the traffic that once passed under here. 

There are very few horse-drawn boats now, and the posts are merely there as an artefact. I note they were fitted slightly incorrectly in that they no longer protect the corners, and their positions have been exchanged (the wear would be on the right hand side of the post in the picture) – but well done to those who rebuilt this bridge two decades ago for preserving a little bit of industrial canal history.

How have I not spotted this before?