May 9th – Also introducing their offspring to the big, wide world were Birmingham’s Canada geese. I saw a couple of families on the canal in central Birmingham, each with 3 goslings. These charming yellow chicks are gorgeous, but fiercely guarded by mum and dad who hiss and head-bob at me while I take pictures.
Late spring – multiplication, it’s the name of the game. Delightful to witness.
May 8th – I spun home after heavy rain, and had to nip to Chasetown. On the way, I was fascinated by the profusion of slugs and snails, the wet undergrowth and a really, really dramatic sky. I’m always fascinated by gastropods, as they get such a bad press, but we couldn’t really exist without them, and close up, they’re fascinating things.
Over towards Hammerwich, the oilseed rape is going over now, but today, Lichfield Cathedral spires were clearly visible if you know where to look. I often wonder how many people realise you can see that from here, in just the right spot?
It wasn’t a great day weather wise, but still plenty of interest in Summer’s brewing cauldron.
May 5th – Only a short spin around Brownhills as I’d had a bunch of unexpected work crop up. It was pleasant enough though, and decent weather for a bank holiday, to boot.
It’s time for the annual warning – this scum on the canal isn’t pollution. Yes, it looks horrendous, but it’s natural – it’s wind-born debris from some shrub or other (never worked out which). It drifts over the surface of the canal and forms in scummy, oil-like ripples.
Nothing to be concerned about, it’s perfectly natural and soon disappears.
May 4th – This is, as they say, boiling my piss.
Pardon my language, but these signs have been put up recently by Sustrans rangers (who are volunteers) maintaing the cycle route through Brownhills. The aim is innocent enough, I guess.
The cycleway runs along Wharf Lane, onto the canal at the old bridge, then as far as Anglesey Wharf (fifty yards or so), then alongside the new bypass on the embankment, and on to Pool Road at the top of the dam. As a route, it’s crap, frankly.
Far better is to ride straight up the canal, past the basin and up the slope to the dam. It’s a fifth of the distance, on wide, well made tracks, and makes perfect sense.
Likewise one can head to Brownhills along the very good towpaths and find a much better route than the Sustrans National Cycle Network one.
These signs only indicate that the route beyond this point is not part of the National Cycle Network, but they look like – and people are reading them as – cycling prohibition notices.
Why bother with them at all? The routes have functioned for 15 years without them. These are just a waste of time, money and effort.
Sustrans are supposed to be supporting and promoting cycling. This is a whole bag of fail.
Rant over.
April 28th – Also on the canal bank at Walsall Wood, anyone know what these are? Are they a bloom, or a bud? They look almost pre-historic. The leaves look a bit willow-ish. Never noticed this before.
Anyone, please?
April 28th – There are a couple of unsung hedgerow stars at the moment. For everyone else, right now it seems to be about oilseed rape, bluebells, and cherry blossom. But look around. Pretty much everything is having a great year so far. The dandelions – the yellow, beautifully delicate yet ubiquitous wildflower – are really, really prolific. The apple blossom too is astonishing in its density and clarity.
It might be about the spring classics right now, but look beyond them and there’s a whole host of other stuff just trying to get your attention.
These were all on a very short section of canal bank in Walsall Wood.
April 27th – I was working throughout the day, and only got out late evening. It was threatening rain, and dusk was bearing down. I then realised I’d forgotten the camera, so had to use my phone. It didn’t really like the light, I think.
Nice to see that in the last week my favourite tree – the lone horse chestnut near Home Farm, Sandhills, has burst into leaf; I read the seasons by that tree, and now I know safe passage to summer is guaranteed. The canal all the way round to Newtown (and probably well beyond) is lush, and green, and beautiful. How I love this season.
Cruising up Short Street, I spotted the sky, and shot home before I got soaked. Interesting to note, though, that the street lights here have been changed for new LED ones; they’re very good, and are creeping onto many streets in Brownhills. Wonder what the rollout plan is?
So much nicer than the old orange ones.
April 26th – I spotted her on the opposite bank of the canal from Clayhanger Common. Sat on the canalside verge at the bottom of Silver Street, Brownhills, a proud mallard mum with a brood of very young ducklings, mostly well tucked in underneath and shielded by her wings.
I’ve never seen a mallard do this before. The motherly pride in her offspring is quite clear – I found it delightful.
April 19th – I was fiddling with a mechanical fault all day. I love my bikes, but the gears can be perplexing when not quite right. I spun out late to Chasewater, and unexpectedly bumped into a good friend while I was there, which brightened me up no end. On the way, I noticed the oilseed rape at Hammerwich was looking gorgeous. Still not quite peaked, it’s a lovely colour nonetheless, and I love how the tractor trails in the crop highlight the landscape contours.
As long as I live I’ll always love this changing, fascinating landscape.
April 9th – This… this, it’s remarkable.
I was shooting along the towpath, in the part of Spaghetti Junction where there’s a covered, cavernous tunnel over the canal. It’s dark under there; and eerie. It can be a little scary – there is no electric light there, and the only daylight is from the portals and small, irregular metre-square apertures in the roof, that let in shafts of sunlight. It’s a very odd, otherworldly spot.
I cycle through here generally without stopping. But today, a patch of yellow caught my eye in the admitted beam of light.
I stopped. I backed up. I stood, open mouthed.
Hundreds, possibly more than a thousand daffodils in small jars. Each with water in, in the circle of light. Decaying, gone over. Placed with what must have been care, it would have taken a large effort to get them and the jars to that spot. It’s not accessible. It would have perhaps taken a boat… or some climbing. But why? Was it art? Obsessiveness?
I was captivated. The pictures don’t do it justice. It’s stunning.
When I got home, I looked at the pictures. I puzzled over them. I asked twitter: twitter knew. Thanks to @nebolland, @kenofski, @brumcyclist and @cybrum who enlightened me.
It turns out it’s art. It was carried out by artist, art world enfant terrible and extraordinary publicist Bill Drummond, once of the KLF.
Read about Bill and his Birmingham project here.
You can say what you like, that had a massive impact on me. That was bloody genius. I have total respect for it.
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