March 29th – I passed through Lichfield briefly, but didn’t stop as the crowds were crazy. Cruising down from Greenhill I happened to look to my right up the alleyway beside the former Regal Cinema, currently abandoned and derelict. High up the wall, growing from a soil pipe, a large, tenacious buddleia.
I love the audacity and determination with which nature reclaims the man-made if it can get a chance to.
August 7th – There is a destructive force in our midst, reducing brickwork to rubble and invading any scrap of greenspace. Alien? Hardly. It’s buddleia – an invasive shrub that infests the hinterlands, margins and rooftops of urban areas. Able to grow in the most precarious of situations, an accumulation of soot and grime in a brickwork fissure is all it takes to grow. Once taken hold, it’s very hard to eradicate, and the power of the roots to split apart man-made masonry cannot be overestimated.
This time of year, it’s in full, glorious purple flower. A joy to behold, unlike the damage it causes.
BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking 