Tag: Chasewater

February 14th – Also caught in the sunset was the M6 Toll, Britain’s toll motorway, recently put up for sale by it’s banker owners, presumably because this botched, badly conceived project isn’t making enough money.

Frequently next to empty, people never flocked to use it as the tolls were considered too high, and the whole misadventure – which was at one time to be the future of such roads in the UK – does little except illustrate the folly of a country where we can no longer invest in anything for the common good. 

When everything – even the most basic infrastructure schemes – have to turn a profit – then this is what we end up with. We need to stop thinking about price and get back to value.

February 14th – A sunset spin around Brownhills on a bitingly cold, but thankfully dry afternoon. This is again the season of good fine sunsets, and cold days like these are usually rewarding. Chasewater was as beautiful as ever, but the beauty caught Newtown and the canal, too, and it was a pleasure to cycle in. Hopefully with the lengthening days and drier weather I can get up on the Chase soon. I’m so missing it, but since Christmas it’s been so muddy it’s been very difficult going from what I’ve heard.

Evenings like this make me optimistic that the current spell of bad weather will be settling down soon.

February 7th – A better day, but still grey and showery, with a building wind. I nipped out for a short run to Chasewater, where I noted the water level still rising and the valves still closed. It’ll be interesting to see if the powers that be let the water overflow again this year.

Over at the Chasewater Railway, I noted a new arrival – a rather unusual looking shunting engine with a very continental appearance. It’s carrying the Corus logo – once of course British Steel and now Tata – and from a little Googling I can see it’s come from the former Lackenby Steelworks, which closed a while back.

It’s an interesting thing and I’d love to know more about it. It certainly looks very powerful.

January 31st – Returning via Chasewater, the wind was building up and conditions were choppy. In many ways, the country park is at it’s best on days like this as you realise just how harsh such a wide open space can be.

I noted that the reservoir is about 150-180mm off full now (6-7 inches). This is interesting, as the reservoir hasn’t overtopped for a couple of years now, and it’ll be interesting to see if it’s allowed to again. One thing is for certain, though: the capacity used up by local brooks and natural drains filling up the reservoir has certainly relieved pressure on the Rivers Tame and Trent, which would have taken the burden had Chasewater overflowed – perhaps this demonstrates the sense of going into winter with a relatively low level.

The valves are currently still close and I watch with interest.

January 10th – Passing through Chasewater on the kind of bright, chilly winter day I’d been hoping for. Sadly no frost, and horrendously muddy, but I saw some deer, and on my return, a great sunset over the dam.

I noted that the water level had been boosted by the recent rain – and the sense of keeping the reservoir at a middling level became clear: the water held her now isn’t being fed into the canal system and is being stored. Were it to overflow, the surplus would go directly into the River Tame via the Crane Brook and canal overflows. This way the pressure on the river is relieved a little.

Not a bad day at all.

December 26th – The signal box on the preserved railway ay Chasewater Heaths is wonderfully authentic – because up until a few years ago, this signal box stood monitoring the level crossing that existed at Hademore, near Whittington in Staffordshire. 

When that line was expanded to four tracks and the signals upgraded, the level crossing was replaced with a bridge, and the box transferred to Chasewater Railway. I’ve actually spoken to the signalman at Hademore whilst waiting for the barrier out on a ride many times. It’s odd to see it here.

Never went a bundle on the colour they painted it, either; it was always white, not orange.

December 13th – I briefly caught the lantern parade at Chasewater, which was OK but didn’t seem to have the atmosphere or hubbub of the year before – perhaps it was the weather. Perhaps it was me.

On the way back though, the riding was fast and muddy, and Anglesey Wharf in the darkness was oddly ethereal.

Here’s to a better week, eh?

December 13th – Chasewater was grey, foggy and very, very wet when I rode through near dusk. In a curious nether-world at the moment, there isn’t the optimism here of the new year, and with the wakeboard guys all packed up, there’s an out-of-season, end of the pier feel to the place, which I rather like.

Of course, not much was visible today, it was all just shades of grey fading into the lake.

December 6th – A late spin around Chasewater, and the railway caught my eye. Finished for the day, the carriages were left on the platform for cleaning and the engine in the sidings further over towards the shed. I loved the light, the open doors and the gathering dusk. There was a real atmosphere of abandonment, as if everyone had just disappeared in some 1950s rush hour sic-fi movie.

I was lucky to catch this.