June 23rd – I’m not sure what this is. There’s a shock of it growing on the common at Brownhills, just near the ditch to the south of the A5 Watling Street. I’m seeing lots of similar flowers in hedgerows, but they tend to be at the white/blue end of the spectrum. These are really bold and impressive. Anyone got any ideas, please?
June 23rd – I braved a very windswept Brownhills Common today, and tore around it. It’s ages since I’ve been up there, and it was fun to throw the bike around the muddy tracks. The plant life is gorgeous there at the moment. So many species, just begging for your attention. This remarkably complex flower is a common bramble. I’m not sure if this is blackberry, or dewberry, and won’t be until it fruits. Brambles like this are incredibly important, as many types of butterfly and moth feed from them. So beautiful, so often overlooked.
June 4th – The disappointments of the day were compensated for handsomely by the herons on the canal. Even the darkest bits of the industrial Black Country – and I hit the Tame Valley Canal, which has some very grim bits indeed – was host to these fine fishers. Oddly twitchy, it was difficult to get any pictures, but this fine fellow obliged in Rushall. Death on two legs to it’s hapless prey, I must have seen ten or more of these dishevelled, rickety looking birds. Also prolific were the common terns, whose missile-like fishing skills have to be seen to be believed.
April 10th – I saw something remarkable today. It’s usual for the red deer hinds to congregate in groups at this time of year, and I’d been missing them at Chasewater. I actually set out to find them there today, and disappointed, headed back down the old railway line towards Engine Lane. it was on the way that i struct gold. in a meadow between the former track and Marklew’s Pond, a herd of about 30 hinds were loafing, unpeturbed by the cyclist guy. I’ve seen large groups before, but rarely this big of a single sex. I found it a bit odd there were no young, though, although one or two of the ladies here seemed to be looking rather rotund. The general condition seemed a little poor, although this could be just the moult. They hung around watching me for about 5 minutes, before being spooked by something, whereupon they moved over toward the pond, before crossing it a disappearing into the scrub. A fine sight, and one I never, ever imagined seeing here as a young man. We are privileged indeed.
February 16th – There are some things that Wasall Council does very well. It’s countryside services and estates team are wonderful. Rangers, craftsmen and volunteers work hard to look after the acres and acres of common, heath, park and woodland that the borough covers – most of which remains unknown and unexplored to the majority of citizens, which is sad. Here, taking a spin round Brownhills Common on a grey Thursday I noted that someone is gradually repairing the boardwalk, and appears to be doing some coppicing. Excellent stuff.
January 22nd – A bit of a lost weekend, cycling wise; the old health has been a bit up and down, but other commitments and general recuperation were the order of what proved to be a rather intemperate few days, weather-wise. The daylight hours today were beset with an evil wind, and so I slipped out at sunset and chose to throw the bike around the rough stuff on Brownhills Common. No deer today, sadly, but I did disturb a couple of badgers near Engine Lane. The sunset over Wyrley Common was quite remarkable tonight.
November 6th – after complaining about illegal offloading taking place on the old railway track that bisects Brownhills Common a couple of weeks ago, it was great to note that new anti-vehicle barriers had been implemented. It’s very hard to keep the abusers off the common, as there are so many access points, which fall across two authorities, but anything that makes life a bit more difficult for the vandals is welcome. It’s good to see the authorities responding to issues like this.
October 27th – Zipping home late from work in heavy rain, I was suffering a migraine, so headed for the quiet back lanes of Little Aston and Stonnall, the better not to contend with too much traffic. Near Little Aston forge, I spotted this fellow sat bolt upright in the road, enjoying the precipitation. This common toad – I’m surprised he wasn’t already hibernating – must have had a hard, dry summer, and he really seemed to be enjoying the rain. He was alert, and nervous. I moved him carefully to the grass verge and cycled on. Hopefully, he’ll stay out of the way of passing vehicles.
October 9th – On the other side of the road, on the village side of what would have been the old railway embankment – lies this pond. This is the last vestige of Clayhanger Common’s brownfield past. This pond – now used as a settlement pond for land drainage before it weirs into the Ford Brook – is marked on maps as easy as 1884, and used to lie at the foot of the railway embankment, now long since gone. This limpid, placid pond is testament to a successful land reclamation. The clear waters of today would once have been brackish, polluted and full of refuse.
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