June 3rd – Also dotting the verges of Darlaston today, white clover – well, more cream-brown really.
Usually later than it’s pink-red sousin, white clover is another gorgeous, overlooked classic I love to see.
Always worth studying the grass under your feet to see what gems lurk there in summertime.
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June 3rd – Another day, another wildflower appearance, and one that although very common, is lovely if you look closely – the humble bramble, or blackberry blossom.
Very white, delicate almost as if mate from paper, and always creased. Fascinating little flowers hardly anyone pays attention to.
It might be me but they seem early this year…
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May 30th – For the first time in quite a while, despite the rampant hay fever I decided to ride home along the canal through Birchills in Walsall to Goscote.
Climbing the lock flight here is always a pain – not so much the climb but negotiating the many sets of anti-vehicle barriers, so it’s not one I do often; but today, I had a pleasant surprise.
The towpaths on the stretch I rode are all being resurfaced. This is good news: The runs through Leamore and Harden particularly have been deteriorating in recent years and this will make them much more viable in winter on dark evenings, which is when they’d be most useful to avoid the traffic in central Walsall.
At the moment, the route as far as about Leamore is surfaced properly with asphalt down, the rest is in various stages of excavation or restoration, and on anything less than a mountain bike will be very hard going, so if planning to ride this stretch, I’d wait a week or two.
Now, if only the authorities could be persuaded to re-lay Ryders Hayes to Blakenall and Aldridge to Rushall Junction we’d have a totally ridable local network, possibly for the first time ever…
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May 30th – Also blossoming now is the delightful and humble elder, a shrub beloved of winemakers for hundreds of years. It grows in woods, hedgerows, on wasteland and anywhere it can. Here in Harlaston it’s thriving at the back of Victoria Park.
The tiny, beautiful white flowers have a gorgeous scent and can be used to make wine or champagne: the berries they make way for – deep red, almost black – make a heavy, heady wine that’s almost legendary.
This gives the winemaker a tasty dilemma: White and floral or red and strong?
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May 30th – One of my favourite times of summer is when the orchids come into bloom.
There are many species of orchid in the UKL and none are particularly common – those we see around the canals and marshes of the local area now are a recent thing and a delight to see.
Varying in shade from a sort of lavender blue to very deep purple, the marsh orchids by the canal and over CLayhanger Common are just beautiful.
Let’s hope the mowers of the Canal and River Trust are held off until they’ve finished their lovely display for another year.
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May 29th – Encountered just by Clayhanger Bridge, the Watermead swan family are growing fast, and the youngsters are growing in confidence and pottered over to see if I had treats, under the stern, watchful eye of dad.
Mum was grazing the bottom of the canal, pulling up choice strings of algae and offering them to her chicks – who obliged by attempting to copy her. This is obviously ja learning exercise only, as the tiny birds can’t yet reach the bottom.
Lovely to see the family growing and developing so well.
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May 29th – Always nice to see the flowering of the beautifully yellow flag irises that grow in abundance alongside the local canals and wetlands.
Sadly, they really, really trigger my hay fever like nothing else.
So for the next few weeks every canalside ride will be punctuated by sneezing – but in such a good cause.
Such lovely blooms.
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May 28th – I note the pathway on Clayhanger Common between the overflow by the bridge and the grassed area behind is nearly overgrown again.
Every season this delightful, overgrown desire path through the scrub very nearly disappears, but is kept in existence by whoever uses it regularly (and that appears to be sometimes, at least, deer.)
Right now it’s at the stage when any use involves breaking off bits of overgrowth. It’s absolutely gorgeous.
I love the almost secret garden feel of it.
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May 23rd – Spotted waiting for a train at Blake Street, an urbane puss undertaking some grroming duties whilst loafing on the platform like so many commuters do.
This utterly unfazed, handsome and elderly-looking cat just continued with the maintenance while a train came and went only pausing to scowl at me for daring to take his photo.
Long time since I met a railway station kitty. A pleasure to make this one’s acquaintance on such a lovely morning.
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#365daysofbiking The wind that shakes…
May 23rd – Seemingly very early to me, but probably not: The barley is growing beautifully in the fields all around us at the moment. Every year seems to have a different crop that local farmers major on, and this year beans and alley seem to be the popular choices.
Barley is an odd crop aesthetically: it’s spiny heads interact with the wind in a beautiful way and the colours are stunning, yet close up it seems almost hostile and maybe just a bit insect-like.
Either way, it’s a sign of the rapidly advancing summer and made for a lovely sight on a beautiful morning.
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BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking 