canal – Page 37 – BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking

#365daysofbiking Telephone man:

October 3rd – I stupidly left my camera at work, but took some shots with the phone camera over Clayhanger Bridge going to the village to undertake an errand on my way home. The phone is an iPhone XS and althoughhe range in the images is a little harsher than I’d like, phone cameras have come a long way considering the obvious limitations of the physical design.

I quite like these images, showing the the Brownhills Canal is also showing beautifully the colours of the season.

I also loved the sky reflection on the canal…

#365daysofbiking The united colours of autumn:

October 3rd – After the rain of the night before, the morning commute was warm, dry and almost humid. I made the very best of it by riding the canal the long way, and wasn’t disappointed – the autumn colours are very beautiful this year, and the canals and wooded areas of Darlaston are absolutely gorgeous.

There are some upsides to the time of year after all.

#365daysofbiking Spot on:

October 1st – Not seeing may fly agaric this year yet, which makes me wonder if it’s a bad season for them.

The classic red and white spotted toadstool is a real patch of brightness in the autumn, and is much loved and the subject of a huge amount of folklore.

Heading out to Chasetown before work to drop something off, I saw these in the usual spot before Wharf Lane Bridge in Brownhills, just on the heather sandy embankment by the towpath.

I love to see these fascinating fungi.

#365daysofbiking Tree of life:

September 29th – Heading out at sunset after what was a pretty bad day, I swung up the canal through town, over Catshill Junction and over to Barracks Lane. The canal was beautiful and peaceful, and the only souls I saw were the waterfowl scudding around looking for food.

Looking over the fields to Home Farm my favourite tree – the horse chestnut on the skyline just by the farm buildings – is beautifully golden, and glowed in the evening.

All round me now, the greenery is packing up and going for autumn. There’s no ignoring it.

#365daysofbiking Pink light:

September 27th – Coming home in the almost dark again, the light over Clayhanger Bridge and the canal was very pink, and very beautiful.

It’s a constant source of amazement to me that the onset of the night can be so damned beautiful.

#365daysofbiking Going it alone:

September 27th – On the canal near Walsall town centre, I was accosted, as one often is, but loud, bullying, aggressive beggars, of the kind that inhabit most urban canals.

In this case, it was a pair of cygnets. On their own without mum and dad, they were enjoying the sun and harassing any passing human for food. When I declined for the seemingly perfectly valid reason that I had none to offer, they swam off, complaining noisily.

Nice to see them in rude health and taking after their parents.

#365daysofbiking Going down:

September 26th – Crossing Cathshill Junction and heading up to Anchor Bridge, I caught it on the cusp of day and night, and realised that soon, I would be doing this once more in darkness.

I don’t know where summer went this year; it seems barely days since I was riding the roaches, eating ice-cream at Blithfield or riding in short sleeves around North Warwickshire.

Time passes so fast these days. It was a good summer – I doubt I’ll ever see one with such consistently fine weather again.

#365daysofbiking Bugging me:

September 26th – The unexpectedly fine, warm weather has been bringing out some great examples of bugs looking for a last yahoo or somewhere to hibernate until spring.

On my way to work, this lovely shield bug decided to drop in and say hi.

What a great little creature it is!

#365daysofbiking Better than expected:

September 23rd: On the canal on the way to Chasewater, I stopped to admire the view. It was a lovely autumn day and the colours of the dying back vegetation in the golden hour were gorgeous.

This is a lovely stretch of canal, particularly at this time of year for obvious reasons, and it gives great views of the Anchor Pub and Bridge.

Considering the weather forecast today was awful, it didn’t turn out too bad in the end.

#365daysofbiking – Not dead yet:

September 23rd – I said the other day that there were not many flowers about at the moment, and I hold my hands up: I wasn’t looking hard enough.

Coming into a second flush of flowering now, the dead nettles on Clayhanger Common are having one last yahoo before winter.

Absolutely gorgeous as only they could be. Such a cheering sight.