Tag: Burntwood

July 29th – Returning from a ride out on a grey evening threatening rain I came through Chasewater and was heartened to note a group of deer browsing the grass on the Rugby Club by the Chasetown bypass. The herd was disjointed, with six adults spread around the pitch and a fawn getting some rest on the far side.

The animals were calm, inquisitive and not particularly troubled by my attentions. I noticed what good condition they were in and how shiny their coats were.

I’m also amused by the idea of some visiting rugby player going face down in the Chasetown turf during a tackle and getting a face full of fresh deer raisins.

Can’t be many pitches where that’s a hazard…

December 3rd – Another great Christmas tree – always one of my favourites – it the one on Swan Island at Burntwood. Always with really nice lights, it’s a lovely sight and erected by the local Rotary Club – if I remember right, their membership sponsors it.

A lovely sight that cheered me up like Walsall’s tree did yesterday, 

September 18th – Ah, the season of the conker.

Every year, I point out the same truism: that few men can pass a conker lying on the ground and not pop it into their pocket. It’s a primal instinct from childhood, when they were seemingly so rare, and highly prized. 

Despite the leaf-miners and cankers, the horse chestnuts have had a fruitful year and the beautifully shiny, leathery nuts lie in their split spiky husks on the ground beneath many a rural tree. This one, spotted near Burntwood, ended up in my pocket too.

It’s be rude not to.

November 8th – Passing through Chasetown and Burntwood on a very wet, frizzy Remembrance Sunday afternoon, I was touched to note the memorial wreath and note on the SCAMP mining memorial to Jack Emery and the Terriers.

I also called in to the memorial in Chasetown Memorial Park, where the wind was doing its best to redistribute the wreaths around the grounds. I put them back and reflected on those who served.

Somehow, the grim weather seemed entirely appropriate.

September 7th – I passed them in Coulter Lane, realised what they were, and did an about turn. There were two Gloucester sows in the paddock, with lots of cute little piglets. They were a fair way away, and this is the best shot I could get.

Such clean looking animals in apparently excellent condition.

August 9th – Id been to a function near Burntwood returned at dusk. I thought it was a good chance to try the Nikon in low light.

It takes great pictures, but the image stabilisation is not as good as the Panasonic. You need a tripod. But I do like the images.

Not often I get chance to practice night photography in summer…

August 9th – I was riding along The Sportway in Burntwood, the access road to the Rugby Club, that runs alongside the Chasewater Railway. Just on the bend before Chasewater Heaths, a group of four red deer – three adults and a fawn – had heard an approaching train, and were making a sharp exit into the thicket.

They needn’t have worried. The trains here don’t go fast, being a preserved line…

November 23rd – It seems Staffordshire County Council – who’ve not been running Chasewater for long since taking it over from Lichfield District Council – are getting themselves into a bit of a pickle with the boating/duckpond at the country park.

When Lichfield were responsible for the park, the rangers hosed down the surrounding paths, and water changes were common for the pool, so that it didn’t get stagnant and contaminated by too much bird poo. When Staffordshire took over, this regimen seems to have been abandoned; they laid a new hardstanding here in the summer, and within weeks it was encrusted with excrement, as it wasn’t being washed anymore. When it was washed, the water was so polluted in the pond, it was almost luminous green.

The pond was soon drained for ‘a change of water’ – that was weeks ago, and how the pond, it’s new hardstanding and benches are fenced off, still empty.

I’ve asked around; it seems there’s an issue with de-silting a valve and whether pond water can be drained into the main lake now it’s an SSSI; but had the previous maintenance pattern been followed, none of this would have been an issue.

During the summer, there were brave statements about Chasewater being reborn; about it becoming Burntwood by the Sea. Fat chance – Staffs can’t even sort a duckpond.

I’m beginning to think that they couldn’t find their own arses with both hands, a map and a qualified arse-finder for guidance.

August 26th – The day was better, I guess, by virtue of being dry, but when I set out for a tentative ride mid-afternoon it was cold, and a harsh wind blew. It wasn’t a bad October day, I thought.

I’m taking it easy. My foot isn’t completely better, and I thought I’d see how far I could push it before embarking on longer rides again. I looped up to Chasewater, then down to Wall, through Chesterfield and Hilton, back to Lower Stonnall, then home. Apart from a bit of toe-burn, not too bad.

What did impress was the fruits I saw. A terrific year for large, plump conkers; the tree at Edial between Burntwood and Pipe Hill is laden, and although suffering leaf miner damage, has a huge crop this year. In a few weeks standing at that bus stop could be hazardous.

At Wall, the walnut tree has a crop too. After finding it last year, I didn’t expect it to fruit this year too, but it has, with the lime-like ripening walnuts hanging from the boughs. I picked up a few windfalls, which were firm and large. When ripe, the green husks will split to reveal the more familiar brown nut inside. That’s if any survive the squirrels.

The Walnut tree also seems to have some kind of leaf miner activity. There are ‘blisters’ on some of the otherwise healthy, waxy leaves. I wonder what the bug is?

July 17th – On my return, I was held up by some rather familiar beaked* villains. This is Coulter Lane, Burntwood, just outside the farm where they sell asparagus. It’s a good couple of miles from Chasewater – yet these honking, hissing impediments to cycling progress are clearly the Chasewater geese – domestic birds set free some years ago, that generally hang around the boating lake, grumping at anyone and anything. 

Are they regulars here? Is this actually their home? Do they commute?

So many questions, so little time…

*yes, I know they have bills, not beaks, but it doesn’t scan as well.