Tag: Chasewater

January 18th – For the first time in weeks, my deer magnet was on an working well. Crossing the north heath at Chasewater, I spotted a female red deer laying in the scrub by the fence, then as I approached, about seven others became evident, loafing in the scrub, including a young male. The were tolerant, co-operative and in no hurry to go anywhere. A lovely sight.

Turning to leave, I noted three darker reds up on the bank 100 metres away. They were more skittish, and I’m not convinced they were from the same herd… they certainly didn’t seem friendly with the ones on the lower pasture.

A brilliant sight on a great ride; how I love these graceful, peaceful animals and the fact that they roam wild in my hometown.

January 18th – A thoroughly gorgeous but cold morning, greying over to rain by the time I returned home – but in a convoluted series of errands that saw me go from Brownhills to Pelsall, Walsall Wood then the Ogley Hay and Burntwood, I noticed loads of great stuff. It was a fine day to be out, to be here, to be on a bike. it’s not often you can say that in January.

Small snatches of things – sun and mist over the canal at the Black Cock Bridge; the emerald green of winter crops growing well at Lanes farm; the view of Chasewater from the north heath. All perfect, really.

For the first time in a couple of winters, I note the canal towpaths are softening as they’ve been lifted by the frost. This is excellent, and how they’re designed to work. A good, hard solid freeze expands the water in the grit, leaving the track soft and muddy when it melts. This is then re-levelled and smoothed out by folks walking and riding over it, self-healing dips and potholes in the process. It works a treat.

A beautiful day.

January 10th – On the way out, I caught a golden sunset over a very choppy Chasewater. It was the sort of metallic, harsh light that’s beautiful and only happens on windy, cold deep winter days. 

On the way back, it was cold, and as I crossed the footbridge over the Chasetown Bypass, I was reminded of how beautiful nightfall was here. The distant, windy sweep of cars beneath my feet; countless lights stretching into the distance; the lights of Sutton Coldfield transmitter on the horizon, a constant, stable, reassuring reminder of the endless continuity of day-to-day life.

A beautiful but cold day to be out.

January 4th – After being worryingly low in late summer, the water level at Chasewater has recovered quickly. With the rain and meltwater over the Christmas period, the balancing culverts are now submerged, and I think we’re about 16 inches (400mm) off full. If water isn’t drawn down, I’d expect water to be overflowing into the spillway by mid February if we have moderate rains.

I still can’t get over how quickly Chasewater refills.

December 31st – A middling day with ice still on the ground, but a building wind; I nipped to the supermarket in Burntwood, and returned via Chasewater. On the way, I noticed this  peculiar method of mounting a poster.

The screws already existed, but heavens, have drawing pins suddenly shot up in price or something?

Astounding.

December 30th – I had loads of local stuff to do today, and very little time. Plus, I was having a bad day with everything failing, so I felt it probably wasn’t best to be out in difficult conditions. 

The feeling was compounded by a couple of intemperate drivers who hooted at my very existence.

The sunset was nice though, from Pelsall Road to Chasewater, it was gorgeous through all it’s phases; these are good winter sundowns right now. 

Sadly, the weather is to warm op over the next couple of days, so I think this is probably the last decent one until the weekend. But what a corker.

December 27th – The birdlife at Chasewater carries on with little regard to the weather. The robins, blackbirds and tits flitted around, hunting for food, and on the lake, the waterfowl – from coots and grebes to swans – loafed and preened as usual.

I must read more about swans and their social behaviour. I note adults and cygnets from last summer still hang around together, though in much looser, informal-seeming groups. A few days ago I saw all seven of the Catshill brood on the lake by the north end of the dam together with mum and dad; but often, I just see one adult and on cygnet, or groups of solo cygnets.

It’s almost like they’re still family, but go their own ways and meet up later. They really are most fascinating birds, and I really should learn more about their habits.

December 27th – Another foul day. Overcast, misty and cold, it came on to rain in the afternoon, with the lying, dirty snow still stubbornly refusing to shift.

I went out – togged up for it this time – to Chasewater to see just how good the ice tyres were. A blast down the bog boardwalk proved them grippy, as did the surefooted handling on wet mud, slush and ice.

Rolling resistance is high though, and they’re very, very noisy.

A decent ride though, in very poor conditions.

Boxing Day – Sometimes, you do something on impulse that seems a good idea, and it’s terrible. This was just such an occasion.

Snow was forecast. I enjoy snow; I love to be out in it, especially when it’s actually snowing; it saturates my senses and I feel connected to the world; I love the way it plays with the light, and the memory of place.

The snow came late afternoon, so I threw the studded snow tyres on the bike and went for it. The snow was very wet, but beautiful. The bike cam died due to not being charged. The mud on the canal was something else. Snow got on the camera lens and I had no dry cleaning materials to hand. 

Then the snow turned to heavy rain. I had no aquapac for my electronic stuff.

I got soaked. Really wet. The rain was searching, and entered every not-quite shut zip and pocket flap. I felt cold, wet and down.

It had bean beautiful I was glad to catch it. I spun over to Chasewater, and was planning to loop over around Hammerwich. But the rain was just too horrid.

On my way back, I took the line of the old railway along the bypass at Chasetown, to the rear of Anglesey Basin, and saw the deer footprints in the fresh snow. I forgot being wet and cold and followed them – the animals had come up off the bypass, and headed over the scrub to the copse at the back of the cottages, presumably laying low for shelter. Bless them.

That perked me up, but oh boy, this was a horrid ride.

December 14th – This evening, there was the annual Burntwood lantern parade and Christmas Fayre at Chasewater. This was the first time the parade had been held here, and last year, the Christmas Fayre was awful, so I was a bit unsure what to expect when I attended. 

What I actually found was wonderful.

The lantern parade – in the darkness of Chasewater – was beautiful and buzzing. The Christmas Fayre, much bigger than the year before, was packed and popular. This was a success at every level, and a joy to attend. Please excuse the awful photographs – conditions were very challenging for a rank amateur like me.

I hope this is the first of many such events.

I loved the way Santa turned up in a van lit for the occasion. The kids really seemed to enjoy it, and it was very Christmassy.

My thanks and compliments to the organisers – a brilliant job.