Tag: canal

November 29th – A dreamy, icy, freezing morning that turned my breath to clouds of steam and air that hurt the back of my throat, all in glorious, glorious hazy sunshine. Utterly beautiful and it’s made me fall in love with winter again. 

About time, too.

Jockey Meadows, between Walsall Wood and Sheffield were gorgeous, from the low mist to the horses grazing peacefully; I noted signs had been put up by local police requesting folk keep an eye out for wildlife crime, which is excellent. We all need to be vigilant.

The beauty continued into Walsall where the canals were the same as they ever were; a quiet, glorious commuting byway.

I’m so lucky to live here and be able to enjoy it.

November 27th – It was a very dramatic-looking afternoon as I headed up the canal towards Lichfield on this cold afternoon suffused with golden, low sunlight.

I note from my favourite tree – the lovely horse chestnut at Home Farm, Sandhills – that it is now winter, as it’s bare. 

As I noted yesterday, surprising how much colour is still in the landscape.

November 23rd -Noticed in light drizzle just by the far side of the canal, on the edgelands of a scrapyard near Bentley Bridge in Walsall: apples, so far out of human reach, they’re rotting off the tree – food only for birds, squirrels and foxes.

Dripping with winter rain, I guess they’ll stay until the next really heavy wind.

Sad to see. I wonder if they’re tasty at all?

November 20th – A dreadfully great and damp afternoon saw me head out with a heavy heart – but hitting the fresh air, I took a spin over Brownhills Common for the first time in ages. it’s looking good, despite the autumnal decay; the heathland restoration here has clearly been beneficial, and it’s lovely to see so many self-seeded deciduous trees like oaks and sycamores growing well.

On to Chasewater, a circuit around the lake was wet but rewarding; the huge number of birds on the lake were mesmerising and the gull roost was massive. Fly Creek is flowing well with the recent rains and the area of the boardwalk crossing is as enchanting as ever.

As dusk fell, heading back to Brownhills, the blue light caught the canal at Catshill, and for a moment at least, was magical.

Sometimes, you set out for a ride in miserable weather and it turns out to be better than you’d ever imagine.

November 13th – I slid out in the afternoon with the Remembrance air of sadness on my shoulders, and headed for restorative coffee and cake up at Fradley Junction. In the courtyard f the cafe there, song birds tamed and emboldened by a life of cheekily sneaking titbits and crumbs from customer’s tables flit busily among the leaves, hunting for morsels. 

Also present for the the autumn bug cloud was this cheeky little pied wagtail. 

He made for lovely, cheering entertainment as I relaxed.

November 3rd – Oh well, I guess it’s time to rediscover night photography again.

I came back to Brownhills, and realised I’d forgotten to make a call in Clayhanger, so looped around. The classic view of Silver Street and the canal is always nice at night, but I’m not sure the TZ-80 is as good in low light as the TZ-70 was, or maybe I have to tweak a few settings. I like night urban shots to be hard and crisp mostly, but I can’t quite get what I’m after with this camera yet.

It’s a shame, really; when I played with the Nikon 9900 it was a great camera for most stuff, but the lack of manual focus made it difficult for night use.

My ideal camera would have Panasonic build quality, a Sony interface and Nikon optics. I guess it’ll never happen, though…

October 31st – The mornings have been damp over the weekend, and we’ve had a little rain in what has generally been a very dry autumn indeed. This has led to the fungus taking a surge, and I noted in the canal cutting through Pleck this morning there was lots of fly agaric growing, some of which were astoundingly large. Contrary to my earlier fears, it actually seems to have been their year after all.

Meanwhile, the toadstools I found on the log at the back of Queen Street Cemetery have turned a gorgeous orange brown colour as they mature and die off.

Lets hope with a little damper weather, more fungus will appear. I love to see it.

October 24th – Something out of the ordinary picked up by the ride cam as I hopped on the canal at Moxley on my way to Great Bridge on an errand at midday. 

Riding the canals, you get used to seeing rats occasionally, but this small one was absolutely frantic to get somewhere safe, and repeatedly tried to jump over the wall, but each time failed.

I understand people not liking them, but they really are fascinating creatures.

(Source: https://player.vimeo.com/)

October 24th – All of a sudden, Autumn has exploded into vibrant colour, and the Black Country, from Darlaston’s quiet majesty to the postwar estate roads of Tipton wear the season’s overcoat beautifully.

There was little wind, and in the stillness, leaves tumbled freely and carpeted footpaths, towpaths and roads. I hate the darkness autumn brings, but it is beautiful out there right now. 

Get out and enjoy it if you can.