Tag: Chasewater

July 29th – There have been mercifully few grass fires around our area in this tinder-dry hot spell, which has surprised me. Kids and discarded cigarettes, not to mention the awful disposable barbecue fad, seem to be causing a rash of fires elsewhere as they sadly usually do; but near Brownhills we have so far been impacted only lightly it seems.

One such fire was here on the heath between the dam and bypass at Chasewater; an apparently large fire when reported, it seems that quite a small area has been affected.

Whilst this is a pain, unnecessary and a scourge, it’s not the end of the world: The heath will quickly recover and for a time, smaller species should enjoy a boom, and it’ll soon there will be little sign the fire happened.

Better it hadn’t happened at all, but still…

July 29th – Following all the brouhaha over the leak at Little Bloxwich and the dispute between the owners of Chasewater, Staffordshire County Council and the people who rely on it for water, the Canal and River Trust, it’s interesting to see the valves are open at Chasewater, resulting in waternflowing into a full canal and draining away via it’s overflows.

I guess they have their reasons, but it seems odd to be wasting the water at the moment, with conditions having been so dry. Perhaps they’re trying to keep up flow into the Ford Brook. The level of Chasewater itself is, of course, steadily falling now.

Nice to watch and listen to the water though – very relaxing on a dull, cool wet afternoon.

July 8th – Always pleased to see the wild sweet peas growing around the old coal loading chutes at Anglesey Wharf near Chasewater. They are a symbol of change for the better.

As recent as 50 years ago, this was a busy, filthy and polluting coal loading interchange between road, rail and water. Coal was loaded into a continual stream of narrowboats and the sea was treeless and devoid of life.

The coal here stopped in the 1960s, and nature reclaimed – but the coal chutes stayed, a monument to an industrial past.

Now, surrounded by greenery and wildlife, they are an anachronism, but the sweet peas bloom and speak of peaceful, cleaner, better times. A lovely sight.

June 23rd – Slipping out to catch the sunset after a much needed rest day, and the weather gods didn’t let me down.

I’m experimenting (again) with a new camera to me – a Canon G1X. Liking it so far but I think it may be a bit advanced for this poor snapper.

A gorgeous evening, but the sheer amount of bugs that rose all of a sudden on the dam as night fell were a bit of a trial.

June 2nd – Heading out on a dull but warm afternoon, the eventual aim was Draycott in the Clay steam fair at Klondyke Mill, but fate had other ideas. On the way, I called in at Chasewater to see if it was filling the canal. It was, the valves were open.

There has been a leak in the canal near Little Bloxwich that has lost a huge amount of water into a culvert beneath the canal, and the Canal and River Trust had said initially the drop in level was due to Chasewater’s supply being cut off by Staffordshire County Council, which was clearly arrant nonsense.

The Trust finally released an emergency stoppage notice and began damming off the leak that very afternoon.

You can read more here.

Chasewater is still very full, and when called upon will need to fill the five inches or more lost from the canal. An interesting situation to watch.

May 31st – My attention had been drawn to comments online that the canal water level had dropped significantly in the last couple of days, so I investigated – measuring from the weir bar to the current level was 123mm. Nearly five inches of water lost since Sunday when the canal was in heavy overflow.

Considering the length of this canal, this is a huge amount of water gone.

Subsequent enquiries with the Canal and River Trust suggest that they were unaware the valves had been turned off at Chasewater by Staffordshire County Council (see here) but I’m unconvinced the water would drop so fast considering the conditions.

I’m wondering if a downstream lock sluice was accidentally left open, perhaps.

It is said the situation is being rectified by pumping water in from Bradley, so it’ll be one to keep an eye on I think. A mystery.

April 29th – Another grey, bitterly cold day and  it’s nearly May, it really is about time the weather picked up a bit. Hopefully the coming bank holiday weekend will be better.

I nipped out mid afternoon for a circuit of Chasewater, and found little to inspire, but I did spot the amazing carpet of cowslips on the dam at Chasewater which are actually remarkable. The steep slope here seems to be liked by a couple of flowers – these yellow beauties and also ox-eye daisies who often proliferate here.

Returning via the south shore I did smile at the coot contentedly nesting near the boardwalk. It’s nice to see that spring goes on, despite the greyness of the weather.

April 28th – A grey, cold afternoon at Chasewater with little to commend it: On a quick spin out shivering and cold, they light was hauntingly grey over the lake. I notice the water level is falling gradually now with it now being about 75mm below the outfall spillway weir.

The gorse is beautiful, the hedgerows verges and thickets were alive with flowers, birds and wildlife, but there was little colour because of the awful weather.

Come on spring, we won’t mind if you wake the sun up!

April 14th – Just in the nick of time the weather improved. It was a bright, warm sunny and dry day, of the type we’re usually having a fair bit at this time of year, but have remained curiously elusive in the never ending winter of the last couple of months.

I rode out to Chasewater, then up onto the Chase itself at Hednesord; then along Marquis Drive and over to Rifle Range Corner. A total blast down Abrahams Valley, followed by a journey over Stepping Stones to Milford for ice cream.

I returned via Shugborough, then the canal to Rugeley and home over Longdon and Chorley.

The weather was lovely with bright sun, blue skies and a lovely golden hour. The Chase was gorgeous, Shugborough seems to be getting better under the stewardship of the National Trust now, and the canal was a peaceful restorative as ever.

Most long, offload rides wear you out, but today was the reverse. With every pedal stroke I felt my charge and life returning. I was being replenished by the sun and awakening spring.

Just in the nick of time…

April 14th – Spring came today properly, and brought with her warm sun and the general population out enjoying itself in what seems like the first temperate weather since last year…

Interested to note as I rode out through Chasewater on a bike ride to Cannock Chase and Shugborough that the canal feeder valve from the full reservoir is now open quite some way, and there’s a strong flow of water into the canal.

Either the Canal and River Trust have sorted out their argument with Staffordshire County Council, or the latter have decided unilaterally to reduce the water level in the reservoir themselves.

I noticed that at the time of observation, the main lake was still overtopping the weir at the Nine-Foot so the valves can only have been very recently opened.

Always an interesting, relaxing thing to watch.