Tag: Canwell

December 28th – A ride out in ice, after overnight light snow. I was still nursing a shoulder strain which made the ride slow and plodding, but it was very enjoyable in the clear light and snow-dusted countryside.

I went to Chasewater to practice ice skills in safety, and even had a go at the boardwalk on the north heath, which was enjoyable once I got over the fear.

Staffordshire looked wonderful and the run out via Shenstone, Wall, Canwell, Hints and Weeford was a joy.

Just hope this shoulder improves soon.

October 1st – With autumn really bearing down on me now, no choice but to embrace it. I went out on a really very grey afternoon with a strong wind and a heavy heart. I went to visit a new cafe I’d found, and despite arriving well within stated opening hours, they were no longer serving.

Some businesses confound me.

Heading out to Canwell and Hints though, the season was setting the hedgerows and trees ablaze, the scenery was fighting to show it’s beauty through the gloom and it was hard to be down.

So I just rode on and really, really enjoyed it.

March 26th – Another long ride, this time out to Middleton Hall, then onto the canal, up to Tamworth, then out to Alvecote, Shuttington, Seckington, Clifton and back via Hademore and Whittington. A colder, less sunny day, it was still lovely to be out.

Sometimes, the animals you see make a ride, and so it was here. The Alpacas at Canwell were a delight, as was the feeding station at Middleton. The woodpecker at Tamworth was a lovely spot, too. All around, nature was busy and animals were enjoying the air.

One thing puzzled me though. At the bridge in Footherley, someone had spread seed on the bridge wall, clearly to feed this beautiful pheasant, which doesn’t seem like a normal bird to me: it shimmered and was almost bronze on the back, and his blues were the loveliest colour. 

I wonder if he’s a domestic escapee someone’s trying to recapture?

May 4th – The day may have been on the dull side, but the countryside wasn’t. It delighted in shades of bright green, yellow and gold; and the undulating patchwork visible from Crow’s Castle was a joy to the heart. 

The path from Hints Ford up the Blackbrook Valley is gorgeous with the bluebells right now.

Get out there, people. These bright colours don’t last for long!

April 26th – Out late afternoon for a fast spin out to Hints via Canwell, Weeford and Shenstone. It was a gorgeous day with a grim north wind – but the sun and shade more than made up for it. I didn’t have much time to stop, but the oilseed rape was at full blast, and everything looked fresh and green. 

I note with sadness that the magnolia at Hints Church -which is normally stunning – seems to have had a bad year, poor thing.

December 25th – I stopped off for a breather at Canwell. A proud, foursquare, fearsomely geometric little church that was buggered, like so many were in the Lichfield Diocese with a horridly mismatched 1980s extension. The building and churchyard are still lovely though, and the porch was beautifully decorated. It’s a lonely spot, and I daresay few of the folk who pass it know it’s there, just off the London Road, nestling in the trees.

December 22nd – It was a day of silly observations, really. I have no idea whatsoever why anyone would need to point out with some permanence where the roof to their stable was. But they did. Odd.

A couple of hours later, I spotted this stray, lost pumpkin, beside the London Road in Canwell. Unharmed but clearly aged, I have no idea how it got here; there are no shops or even houses nearby. What’s even more troubling is it isn’t the first such vagrant gourd I’ve featured on the blog, there was the one I found in Acocks Green…

Some days are just bloody weird.

May 12th – I shot around Stonnall, Shenstone, Little Hay, Canwell, Hints and Hopwas. I had the sun on my back and speed in my wheels. The countryside was beautiful, with the most vibrant greens and yellows. Birdsong was all around, and I really had the sense of nature going about it’s seasonal business. The canal between Hopwas and Hademore was limpid and placid, and the return through Lichfield was equally lovely. Can there be anywhere finer than South Stafforshire on a sunny late spring day?