Tag: Catshill

#365daysofbiking Still

March 17th – Returning that evening, I was again cheered by the stillness and spring beauty of the canal, this time at Millfield between Home Farm and Anchor Bridge.

The sky was subtly beautiful and there was little wind to spoil it.

For a good ten minutes I gathered my thoughts here, admiring the blossom, blackthorn and forsythia I think.

There’s real serene beauty in Brownhills, if you know where to look.

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#365daysofbiking Stuck in the mud

February 15th – Another weekend, another storm, this time the more mundanely named Dennis.

Dennis was a sod though, bringing heavy rain and high wind.

Slipping out on a foul afternoon to get shopping I hit the saturated towpath to Burntwood. An attempt to plough has been made at Home Farm, Sandhills and seemingly abandoned due to muddiness.

The wind howled and rain sang on the surface of the water.

The only bright spot was the Millfield Commemorative Stones – over 130 of them – that had been driven over by a Canal and River Trust contractor – have been lovingly recovered, washed and placed back in position by local man Micheal Newton Turner, who saw my blog post on the matter.

I sent him an Amazon voucher to thank him for his hard, selfless work.

Brightness in unexpected places is always a joy.

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#365daysofbiking – A new cat of Cathsill

February 7th – Passing through the appropriately named Catshill Junction on the canal near Anchor Bridge, a handsome, dapper puss on the far side of the canal.

I think he’s a new resident. I saw him a few days ago having a standoff with a tabby in the same spot. I’m also thinking I’ve seen him on the towpath side too, which may mean he’s jumping the canal at the toll narrows, or crossing at Anchor Bridge.

Whatever his status, he wasn’t too keen on me taking his picture!

A lovely cat, clearly. I look forward to seeing him more as the days lengthen and warm up.

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#365daysofbiking Night lines

February 3rd – My short local bimbles continue as I build strength back up – and a run up to Catshill Junction, then to Ogley Junction and back up the Lichfield Road was about my limit on a chilly Monday evening.

I enjoy the canal at night. The sounds of waterfowl, the quick glance from foxes and rabbits suddenly illuminated by my bike light. The peace, quiet and the sky.

Hopefully soon my range will start expanding a bit more.

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#365daysofbiking Milling it over

November 7th – A better day than the previous, but only really for being shorter, sadly. I had business in Chasetown so left work while it was still light and headed up there on the canal passing through Brownhills on the way.

It rained lightly most of the time. This weather is getting beyond a joke now.

Approaching the old steam mill at Ogley Hay, Brownhills, the view is lovely at the moment, even for the very poor weather and light. With the bracken and leaves turning, the hedgerows and woods are a beautiful mixture of burnt yellows and reds, with a smattering of green to boot.

The mill, of course, is now private flats and rather splendid; and it of course gave it’s name to the nearby Millfield school, which also backs onto the canal. One mystery, though: The former narrowboat the school had as an outdoor classroom – Tucana – seems to have been missing two or three weeks now.

It has no engine, so it must have been towed somewhere, to do something…

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#365daysofbiking Heliophile

September 28th – Out in the afternoon for an errand in Lichfield, and I noticed that the deer had trampled a gap in the hedge near Home Farm from the canal towpath at Catshill, again returning a good view of my favourite tree – the magnificent horse chestnut near the farmhouse.

Surprisingly, it has yet to become very autumnal.

However, a lone oddity in the foreground caught my attention: A solitary, large sunflower going at the field margin.

A truly wild specimen, it can only have got there via the mechanism of bird digestion.

What a fine serendipitous thing!

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#365daysofbiking Hot pink

September 1st – Autumn is on my heels now, and slipping out after a day’s bike maintenance for a test ride, I found myself in the most beautiful pink-suffused twilight.

Heading up the canal that snakes its way between Catshill and Sandhills, I admired my favourite tree at Home Farm – now showing hints of getting on it’s autumn jacket – and the plains of stubble to Stonnall, the harvest now in.

It was peaceful, warm and pleasant, with just a hint of cold air. We are in the odd interregnum between seasons, that saddest crossover between a summer passed and an Autumn to come.

But with a crescent moon and tranquility like this to enjoy, it’s not so melancholy.

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#365daysofbiking Going for gold

July 20th – A day of maintenance, work interruptions and grim weather. I spun out mid afternoon into the wind for a run over to Burntwood on an errand.

As summer advances, the greens of the hedgerows and woodlands are darker and more weary, and the fields are now turning gold for harvest.

How quickly this year is passing. But the summer is still beautiful.

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#365daysofbiking Growing fast

July 3rd – Ah, hello you guys.

The Watermead swan family – minus dad, as is so often the case these days – were grazing the algae with mum at Catshill Junction as I came home.

I can’t get over how fast these cygnets are growing!

Must be all the greens.

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#365daysofbiking Into the blue

June 30th –  A rest day, a day for bike maintenance and feeling a little bit down after the exertions of the previous days. The weather was less warm and it felt a bit like that had been summer.

I slipped out in the afternoon for a gentle spin and cruised a loop of Brownhills on a test ride. I felt OK, fluid, and not stiff, but I was already yearning to be out again – but the wind was quite strong and I really wasn’t into it. I ran some errands and caught up with things.

The landscape at Home farm was beautiful in its high summer jacket, and on the positive side, it does look now like summer has started.

As my ride reminded me, perhaps this was the start, not the end.

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