April 14th – Clayhanger Common is wonderful. On this sunny, spring afternoon, it was green, clean and beautiful. The meadow looked verdant, and the forget-me-nots, cowslips and dandelions were all well in flower.
The new pond too – usually the last place to green-up in spring, is looking great, although the swans don’t seem to be nesting here this year yet.
There’s little here to indicate the polluted, barren wasteland this all once was. A fantastic thing.
April 7th – Damn me, but this squirrel seems happy. Mind, he ought to be; he’s living in the hazel copse just opposite the Watermead in Brownhills. The cheeky little fellow didn’t scarper until I came quite close.
I’d swear he’s laughing there…
If Gradboy is reading this, sorry mate, but it was too good to miss…
April 7th – Yay! The cowslips are here. Heading back to Brownhills from work, I took advantage of a gap in the rain, and spinning up a sodden towpath, I spotted the recurring patches of cowslips on Clayhanger Common near the Pier Street Bridge.
I’m sure I guerrilla seeded these a decade ago, and they’ve spread beautifully. Since then, further bands of these dainty little primroses have appeared all around the common. Seeing them in flower brings me enormous pleasure.
Cowslips are my favourite flower. To me, they symbolise spring; yellow, hardy, and they appear when the worst is passed. This year, they’re a good couple of weeks early.
The snail seemed quite pleased with them too…
March 23rd – Out in the late afternoon to bright sunshine, but a fearsome wind. I had been planning to head to Hopwas Hays Wood, but the thought of the headwind on my return put me off. I headed north instead, over Gentleshaw Common, over Castle Ring, down into Stonepit Green and back around the eastern flank of the Chase through Upper Longdon, Farewell and Buntwood. The wind died as I was out, and although nippy towards sunset, it was a gorgeous ride. The CHase is still very muddy, though…
February 23rd – I was grey and very, very windy when I headed to Chasewater, but it still felt springlike as it was very warm for the time of year. Chasewater was very choppy and largely deserted, but heading back over a drying-out Brownhills Common I noted the paths and tracks were already beginning to self-heal from the felling activity here a few weeks before. I also noted some great information signs, the most interesting point on which was that the felled wood was being used locally.
This whole project has been beset by poor communications, and had some of this information been available at the outset, much of the hysterical reaction to the works could have surely been prevented.
Hopping on the cycleway at Engine Lane, I noticed someone has been hard at work there, cutting down the undergrowth and overhanging bushes and opened the whole track out – nice one.
Wonder who was responsible for that? Whoever it was, I salute them.
January 26th – Reader Jeepboy contacted me this morning, noting that the heathland restoration work had begun on Brownhills Common and things were a bit lumpy. My curiosity piqued, I took a ride over the common west of The Parade to have a look. True enough, the conditions up there are muddy and wet – take wellies if you’re walking. But it’s interesting to see the landscape open out a bit.
Nothing much grows under the conifer plantations, which have spread widely. This threatens the historic and biodiverse heath, and the wildlife that thrives upon it – everything from red deer, who munch on the sedges and lounge in the low cover to the birds that feed from the berries and seeds of the broad-leafed trees here.
Whilst the clearance looks shocking, only selected batches of coniferous woodland are being cleared, and deciduous trees left to thrive. It’s interesting to see the landscape re-emerge here. Come some decent weather, the mud will soon dry out and conditions will improve – however, it may be some time before access from the A5 drains sufficiently… it’s the closest Brownhills has had to a lido for some time.
I know this work has been and will continue to be controversial, but I honestly think it’s for the best. It’s sad that the situation was allowed to get so out of hand that dramatic steps were necessary.
January 12th – The day, which had started beautifully, turned to grey murkiness before I got free. The mechanical issues of the previous day were still dogging the bike as I headed out to Chasewater. The canal was quiet, but Chasewater itself, surprisingly busy. A light mist dwelled in the air, and drizzle came and went.
I notice the lake is mage 50-60mm off full again; just as it was at this time last year. I’m wondering if they’ll let it overflow again, maybe as a test. Perhaps the lake is just being used as a storm buffer for a while.
Fly Creek, where the boardwalk crosses is flooded, but the steps are currently being rebuilt anyway, so probably best not go that way for a while. Crossing it on a bike was fun.
I came back over the common, which is showing evidence of wind damage. I also noted that the conifer saplings are still growing and choking the heather on the heath. Let’s hope removing those is a priority for the heathland management work to come.
December 1st – First of all, my apologies. On my main blog I advertised the Chasewater Christmas Fayre for the day heavily; the press release from Staffordshire Council read well, and it looked to be a great event. When I turned up for a look around at midday, it was dire. 5 stalls, one of which was promoting the Forest of Mercia did not a great Christmas event make. My apologies to anyone who attended after reading my advert – I do try to promote decent events. I shall be more careful in future.
Disappointed by the Fayre, and still suffering with a stomach bug, I set out around Chasewater on a pleasantly sunny winter day. The North Heath looked pleasingly dramatic in it’s winter jacket, but sadly, no sign of the deer. Returning, I headed back over the Common and noted some management works in progress, which was good to see.
A pleasant ride, and I would have been out longer but my energy just wasn’t there.
September 23rd – The fungi is really starting to show now. No fly agaric yet, which is my favourite of all, but I did spot this beautiful golden bracket in Victoria Park, Darlaston today. Growing on an old tree stump, it was bleeding some kind of resin and very very vivid. It appears to be some variety of polypore, but I have no idea what, and the internet and my books haven’t been helpful. The other ones are common puffballs, growing on the canal bank at Pleck. When ripe, they’ll burst and release powdery spores that drift on the wind.
In all the flora and fauna, the mycology is the most alien and beautiful to me.
September 22nd – I cycled down the spot path in near darkness, and total solitude. As the path opened out near the bend, I realised how eerie this was, and decided to take a picture. I then found I wasn’t alone at all. Just as this long exposure ended, a large male fox wandered out of the scrub on the left, turned to look at me for the briefest of moments, then walked off over the meadow to the canal.
Clearly, even in the quiet dusk of a Clayhanger Common Sunday night, there is important fox business to be done, if only the humans would mind their own bloody business…
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