October 5th – And then, in the scrub at the top of Chasewater dam, between Pool Road, the bypass and rugby club, this fine solo lady was browsing the scrub and posing for photos.
With the rut starting now and the old herds regrouping, odd to see a lady on her own, but she was in good condition and her coat was sleek and beautiful.
Always a fine sight and one I’ll never quite get used to.
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February 23rd – With such fine weather there was nothing for it but to head out on a long ride.
Starting with a call to see the splendid, sun-worshipping crocuses at St Anne’s Cemetery in Chasetown and the deer in Church Street Park next door, the ride took me up through Chorley, Stoneywell, Longdon, the Ridwares, Blithbury, Abbots Bromley for cake and a rest, the up to Newborough, Hoar Cross, Hadley End and back via Lichfield.
The discovery of the old Trent footbridge and tunnel from the canal to Mavesyn Ridware was a wonderful think. It’s a lovely spot.
An absolutely gorgeous 52 mile rode, then ended in an ethereal mist that really gave an interesting tone to the evening.
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February 17th – It was a decent enough afternoon – periodically grey and sunny with the odd shower, but mostly bright, so I decided to head out for a ride, hitting a glorious golden hour.
I called in at St Annes Cemetery in Chasetown to check on the remarkable crocus display that always happens here and wasn’t disappointed. It was truly gorgeous.
One thing that does interest me here: All the wild crocuses like this seem to be shades of purple and white, but not yellow.
Wonder why?
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February 3rd – After a very cold night, a lovely, sunny and almost warm spring day was welcome. Around midday, with the sun on my cheeks it could almost have been March, not February.
In the cemetery opposite St Annes Church in Chasetown, the serious business of advancing the season is pushing forward undaunted by a bit of ice and snow. The annual riot of crocuses is just kicking off, and was beautiful, but the primroses in the churchyard itself were weather lovely too.
Just what I needed after this thankfully brief cold snap.
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Christmas Day – Just lately my deer magnet has been very poor – I hadn’t seen deer close enough to get a decent photograph for weeks if not months.
Luckily, I spotted these fine reds in the scrub at Chasewater North Heath just by the bypass. I gently ushered them over the trail and back into the park – for all the good it will do.
We don’t have reindeer wild here, but the reds made a special Christmas treat. Good to see them.
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December 16th – Delivering Christmas cards in Chasetown, the light rain turned to a downpour, and although the Headquarters of Chasetown Civil Engineering and the nearby pub The Uxbridge looked beautiful with their lights reflected on wet tarmac, the rain had me low.
I tried long exposure photography on the Chasetown Bypass footbridge, but the weather was determined to wreck my plans.
I returned home wet, cold and despondent. This time last year, I think we had snow. Which at least is fun.
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#365daysofbiking Decent exposure:
December 9th – As darkness fell, I pulled myself up and decided to find a decent photo opportunity or two. The pedestrian bridges over the Chasetown Bypass are always good, and the Canon G1X really comes into it’s own on the long exposure work.
The crescent moon over Catshill doesn’t bode well for the weather, though – mum always said when the crescent was on it’s back, it was holding rain in it’s belly. I hope she’s wrong.
My unusually distorted shadow caught under Middleton Bridge arch from my bike light was an oddly serendipitous thing, too.
Grim days are what we make of them, I guess. Never was that more true than today,
#365daysofbiking Fade to grey:
November 24th – A grey , dark day with few redeeming features. A little maintenance on the bikes failed in the face of a more serious issue, and I headed out before nightfall for a breather. A full circuit of Chasewater and Chasetown offered little in the way of photo opportunities, and the images, apart from one, reflected the colour of the day.
The night, some what perversely however, was a bit more dramatic, as I captured at Anchor Bridge.
#365daysofbiking Mist opportunity:
November 17th – A spin up to Chasewater after some mechanical jobs on the bike didn’t quite reward me the way I’d hoped: There was a mist settling and I was hoping for either an inversion or a gorgeous sunset – but neither occurred, just a hazy, soft dying of the light.
Even a ride up the former pit mound to take in the view was uninspiring, sadly.
I made my return through CHasetown, and as always, the high street is brilliant at night. Even when there are few people around, it looks busy. I’ll never work that out.
Nice to see also that at Chasewater, the water levels are slowly recovering.
January 28th – Remarkably, there is a trace of spring in the air. I noted the odd nascent crocus in the week, so decided to check out CHasetown cemetery and St. Annes now I was feeling better.
On a grey, overcast but very warm afternoon, I found a single snowdrop, hundreds of crocuses, aconites and primroses, and as an added bonus, deer on the verge of the Chasetown bypass, which although lovely to see, was quite worrying with their proximity to fast traffic.
Be careful out there folks.
There was quite a decent sunset too, and a punishing wind. It’s quite clear that bad weather is coming in, but I don’t think anything can stop the spring now. The flowers are here – it’s starting.
Welcome, my green and beautiful friend.
BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking 