Tag: canal

August 4th – I ought to know what this is; I can’t remember and the book is in elsewhere. The nettle-ish leaves have me confused. It’s a lovely shade of purple and one single instance (that I’ve found) is in bloom by the canal at Birchills.

Susan, help!

August 3rd – Still laying off the long rides for the sake of my sore foot, I had to run some errands and get some shopping in – so I headed on a sunny, but windy afternoon to Morrisons at Burntwood.

A lovely day, for sure – and the harvest at Home Farm, Sandhills, had started, but the wheat still wasn’t ripe enough. Hopefully, it will be before the next lot of rains midweek…

August 2nd – Still treating my injured foot with care, I took in a lazy loop of Brownhills and bimbled over to Chasewater, then back down the canal. It was a gorgeously sunny late afternoon, and after the heavy rains of the morning, all the greenery looked splendidly fresh.

In the space of 20 minutes, I admired the mature trees on The Parade, enjoyed the shimmer of Chasewater and watched spellbound as a wakeboarder practised his jumps. I also spotted the best garden chair-hammock thing ever, in a limpid, green arcadia beside the quiet, clear waters of the canal.

Don’t ever tell me there isn’t beauty in this place.

August 2nd – I suspect you readers might be getting fed up with my obsession with swans, but with several local broods this year it’s made me more aware of these fascinating birds and their habits.

This afternoon, the Catshill brood – still at an impressive seven plus mum and dad – were on the canal between Catshill Junction and the Pier Street bridge, just to the rear of Lindon Drive.

They were doing something I never knew that swans would do – they were eating blackberries from brambles growing at the canal side. The youngsters were positively devouring the fruit.

I never knew they ate such things. 

When they realised I was watching, they regrouped, and headed off.

July 31t – I had something to go to in the evening, and returned late. I returned after dark, and it was beautiful, as late summer nights tend to be; it had rained briefly in the afternoon and the damp had drawn out the frogs, toads and gastropods in huge numbers.

This delightful pair were within six inches of each other on the grass by the canal at Silver Street. 

Some people find these creatures of the night slimy and unpleasant; I think they’re beautiful, in their own way.

July 30th – Interesting to note the cat population seems to have woken up since the temperature dropped a little. I see a lot of tails and bums sticking out of hedgerows on my travels, or furry balls asleep on house-steps, cars and shady corners. Often I’m glared at from under parked cars or over the canal from the opposite bank.

I adore cats. 

This midnight lady (I think it;s a lady) was photographed loafing in Chandler’s Keep, as I passed on my way up to Chase Road.  Wonderfully black, and those whiskers! I feel sure she could well be a witches familiar…

That’s one classy cat.

July 29th – Sorry, more cygnets. I didn’t know about these, but taking a desperate dive onto the canal to avoid traffic madness on my way to work, I passed this family of three and parents in Pleck, Walsall. 

They interested me particularly, as the young are clearly starting to develop white plumage, yet look younger than the Catshill brood (they’re smaller, too).

The adults don’t look any different, though…

July 27th – After a day of unexpected but nice things – a meal out, some good family time, a bit of productive bike spannering – I slid out on a finely-tuned steed to enjoy the cooler air that had come in during the day. At the canal in Walsall Wood, near the Black Cock Bridge, the embankment strengthening I recorded last week has come on apace. The sectional piling now seems to be working it’s way up to the bridge itself, and is fascinating to see. 

I heard last week from a comment on Facebook that residents here had been waiting for this work for years. It looks like a decent job, and I hope it solves their problems.