June 6th – Cycling home, enjoying the sun I took to the canal through Pleck, south Walsall. Passing under the bridge, I slowed to a crawl as I couldn’t see the towpath ahead. True to form, a prat hurtles round the blind corner, nearly ends up in the canal, and as he steers around me I notice he has a toddler in a child seat at the rear of his bike. The kid is strapped in. If he’d gone in the water, there’s a real chance the child would drown.
Moron.
June 6th – There seem to be two types of lilies on the canals of Walsall; this type, which seem more traditional, are prolific through Pleck, south of Walsall. They have beautiful, open blooms and form a lovely green and white carpet on the surface of the water. The other type are similar, but have a closed, globular yellow or white flower. Due to pollution, both would have been unthinkable 20 years ago. A sign of an improving environment.
June 6th – Heading into Darlaston on the canal near Bentley Bridge, I saw these guys (there are actually two on the boat) doing sterling work fishing litter and junk from the waterway. People don’t realise there are regular rubbish sweeps like this going on, and the guys doing this work – hard, messy, often rather unpleasant – deserve much more credit than they get.
The whole waterway from Walsall to Darlaston is currently alive and dense with water lillies. This is clearly due to careful care from guys like these. Gentlemen, I salute you.
June 5th – After a spin round Elford and back to Alrewas, the rain started on the way back through Fradley. Crossing the canal at Gorse Lane, the day was grey and chilly, but at least the wind was behind me. What happened to the heatwave?
June 4th – Sadly, a day full of other commitments and not enough time for much cycling. I did manage an hour out to Lichfield for some shopping, though. I headed up the canal to Lichfield Road, and in the process noticed that the devil wind was back, this time blowing from the east. The day was warm and clear, however, and the view to Hammerwich from the canal near Sandfields was as gorgeous as ever.
If you look closely, you can see the Hammerwich Windmill, Hammerwich Church and Lichfield Cathedral.
May 29th – in the seemingly unnamed, orphaned strip of woodland that lies wedged between the River Tame and the canal just north of Hopwas Wood Bridge, the largely disused southern driveway to Tamhorn Park provides a nice green route for walkers and cyclists. Vehicles used to come through here, but not for a few years and the wrought iron gates remain locked, rusting and blocking the track to most motorised traffic. This fallen branch – surely snapped by the weight of the parasitic creepers bound around it – now provides an additional obstacle.
The cyclists and walkers, however, just wore a path around it…
May 28th – It’s good to see a narrowboat using the moorings at Brownhills – you don’t see that too often. This one has been here for a few days now, and it’s bringing a splash of real colour to the canalside.
I noted today that all the market stalls have been removed from the marketplace, and the market seemed to be closed. Another failure?
May 27th – Riding home along the canal, I noticed that in the field behind Sandfields, in the land between the Canal and the old Watling Street, there were some ewes with quite late lambs. They looked happy and well cared for, not noticed them before. It’s unusual to see livestock in the fields around Brownhills, so this is quite a novel sight. I’ve no idea who they belong to.
May 26th – On a windblown canal near Catshill Junction, I noticed the swans had two very young cygnets. These cute balls of grey fluff were relaxed and happy to be fed by their parents, who didn’t show any of the usual signs of swan aggression towards me. Not sure if this is the pair from by the Watermead Estate or the former mill at Catshill, but it’s nice to see. I do find myself wondering why we’re no longer seeing the broods of 8 and above as we did a few years ago, though.
May 23rd – An awful day to cycle – blustery, then rainstorms in the afternoon. I left work early for a meeting in Rushall, and dropped on to the canal at Pleck, south Walsall. I prefer the canal in this weather as traffic tends to be a bit mad in heavy rain. Cycling in the rain can be a lovely, sensual experience, and this was no exception, climbing the locks and bridges through Birchills and acing the traffic queue at Rushall was a joy…
The soundtrack is ‘Nice Weather for Ducks’ by the wonderful Lemon Jelly.
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