December 4th – The Chase was beautiful and deserted, and from Chase Road, over Stepping Stones and Seven Springs back to Abraham’s Valley and the old RAF Hednesford, I barely saw a soul. It was cold – so very cold, but with parts of the forest at wildly differing temperatures: In Abrahams Valley it was at least two degrees higher than in Sherbrook Valley. In any case, barely above freezing anywhere.
As night fell, owls and deer were busy and the Chase was a sensory delight. Just what I needed!
October 9th – Up on Cannock Chase, I noted that tree felling had been underway at Berry Hill, leaving the landscape more open and naked than I’d ever seen it here.
People who know the Chase appreciate that like farmland, this is a factory floor, and that the wood grown here is commercially valuable and the reason the forest exists. So the felling doesn’t concern me.
The cut trunks in neat stacks were fascinating and smelled beautiful, and counting the rings, I was surprised to note some of these trees were over fifty years old.
All part of the cycle of a commercial forest.
August 13th – I went up to Freda’s Grave via Chase Road, and noticed that near the shale parking area, someone had been feeding the birds on an old tree stump. Sat with the camera, me and a companion took loads of pictures as a variety of songbirds swooped in and out.
Photographing these busy little birds is actually hard – they’re so fast, it’s hard to focus and get a decent picture and better reactions than mine are clearly required.
A more willing subject was found at the the deserted picnic area near Birches Valley, where Mrs. Squirrel was hoovering up the day’s dropped morsels and helpfully giving some good camera face.
Not a bad entry for the seven days of wildlife challenge…
August 13th – A good summer afternoon on the Chase was just the thing my weary bones needed. Tired from the day before, I didn’t go far and stopped lots. From Pye Green to Milford, back to Seven Springs, then Abrahams and Birches Valley. Lots of wildlife to watch, except, oddly, the two things I went to spot – rabbits and deer, which were strangely elusive.
My return through Chasewater was met with a pleasant sunset, too.
I love the Chase and the best time to go is of an evening when it’s not busy.
April 7th – A surprisingly hard ride up to Pye Green, over the Chase and back over Shugborough. The wind was wolfish, and changed direction mid-ride, attacking on the way, and the return. Hugely enjoyable, though.
It was a ride of oddities and unusual scenes. The ghost doll and Bassett hound weathervane were spotted within meters of each other in Norton, while the rabbits dined happily on the grass of the Shugborough Estate. A young lad fed swans corn from a narrowboat, and the the Chase itself was as cinematic as ever.
I feel autumn at my shoulder already, and the lords and ladies berries are showing well – their vivid colour warning of their strong toxicity.
On the way back, in the evening cool not far from Longdon, I was surprised to come upon a badger, crossing the road; before I could get the camera, it scooted out of sight, and a mate tentatively stuck it’s head of of the hedge. I wanted 15 minutes or more, camera poised and perfectly still for them to re-emerge, then I gave up. Just as I zipped up the camera bag, both animals sauntered back over the road, as cool as you like.
They knew, they obviously knew. Buggers.
July 2nd – A ride out to Brockton, Milford and Tixall marred by mechanical problems, a headwind and tiredness, but a good trip all the same. Tixall is as beautifully incongruous as I remember, and the Chase was as gorgeous.
The waterfowl of Chasewater were also on good form as I passed through. I’m wondering just how much the swan numbers can increase to – gorgeous birds, but so many of them now. Interesting to watch.
June 12th – Washed out.
I didn’t think rain was in store for today; I awoke to the sound of it, and it continued until early afternoon. I needed to collect something from Cannock Chase, so sensing a break in the weather, I went for it.
I got soaked.
I took shelter in Birches Valley, and watched the torrential rain until it stopped. I was there an hour. Very little of the standing water was there when I arrived.
As soon as the skies lightened I was off. No unpleasant particularly, but wet and uncomfortable, these are the only photos I took.
Some days are just a challenge.
May 21st – Up on Cannock Chase, I went looking for a fire tower I’d heard had been rebuilt. These watchtowers are scattered throughout the forest, and I thought they’d slipped out of use; when I last visited this one up near Sow Street high on Wolseley Park in 2011, it had collapsed in the bad weather and was nothing more than a pile of rotten wood. Tipped off by fellow local historian Dave Fellows, I discovered in the week that it had been rebuilt – so I went to check it out.
Sadly, it’s gated at the top so you can’t get in, but it’s a curious thing with an otherworldly feel. As the rain began to fall, the clearing the tower sits in – on the junction of five or six firebreaks for best visibility – came alive. Solitary, quiet apart from the rain on leaves, I realised how much wildlife was around on a dull day; I could hear deer in the wood, and the fungus and flowers were wonderful.
Then the heavens opened – but dry in waterproofs, even that was a sensory wonder.
April 17th – A ride over a very muddy Cannock Chase and Shugborough on a fine, sunny but quite cold afternoon. I saw a small group of red deer on Norton Bog, several of which had been mud-bathing to aid their moult. The Chase itself was as beautiful, wide open, cinematic and deserted as usual, and Shugborough’s farm animals and new arrivals were charming and cute.
With an insistent west wind and low energy it was a battle at times, but a lovely ride. This spring has been truly wonderful, even if the weather hasn’t really played along.
March 20th – It’s been 5 years since I last visited Freda’s Grave on Cannock Chase. It’s up near Brockton Field, and is a little historical curiosity. The resting place of a beloved Canadian military mascot, Freda the harlequin Great Dane (not a dalmatian as often claimed) who was stationed with her regiment here on the military camp that existed during the Great War.
It’s not in an immediately obvious place, and finding it on the heath high above the Sherbrooke Valley is a rite of passage for many a young Cannock Chase rookie.
Then you turn around, and that wide open landscape stretched to the distance, just waiting to be explored. Fantastic stuff.
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