Tag: commute

May 4th – I’ve noticed over the ;past few days that engineers have been examining a lot of local roads since the cold, wet winter left many in a parlous state.

Walsall Council on the whole have been very good at dealing with damage, but more can always be done. Here in Darlaston on a number of streets – but most noticeably Station Street and Darlaston Road – technicians have taken periodic core samples to see how thick the road surges is and what it’s composed of. 

This helps with resurfacing, and knowing how much to plane away before laying new tarmac.

When the sample is taken, the perfectly round hole left is filled, leaving this curious scar.

Looks like we’ll be getting some better road surfaces in Darlo soon, then…

May 3rd – On the way to work on a sunny morning, the canal in central Walsall was beautiful.

All the weeks and months of riding in the rain, cold and dark, dreaming of rides like this.

Yet again, another winter is survived and the warmer, longer days are here: Nature is greening, the weather is good and the light is upon us.

Always worth the wait.

May 2nd – Further up the canal, at the new pond in Clayhanger, the pear blossom is very strong and fulsome this year – since we’re now hopefully too late for a frost, we might have a decent crop this year.

The canal itself is beautiful at the moment in shades of bright green – with the rare glimpse of blue sky and such gorgeous blossom it’s possible to convince yourself that this morning had to be the last of the bad weather and summer might finally be coming…

May 2nd – A dreadful, rain-sodden and intemperate morning commute – possibly my worst ever set me up for a lousy day. But things got better, slowly, and when I returned, the sun came out.

Coming back on the canal, heading to Brownhills I noticed that a WalsalL Wood resident near the canalside have had a resident take possession of part of their garden, who will hopefully soon have a little family.

What a wonderful thing to have in your garden – perhaps not so much if you plan on getting out there, though…

My only concern is that nest is awfully vulnerable to beer fox…

April 27th – I had to pop into Lichfield on my way home, and took the opportunity to nip to Waitrose for a bit of posh shopping.

In the fields surrounding the bypass and store, to the south of the Darwin Park estate, the fields are full of healthy, plump spring lambs and their mothers.

On a dull Friday afternoon they made for a lovely sight.

April 25th – The weather is still quite intemperate, but improving. Temperatures climbed at the weekend, then sank again, but on the whole it’s been a drier week – but windier – although the sun too has been welcome.

This improvement has meant trees are now well into the greening phase and it’s starting to look like summer is coming.

With blue skies and emerald embankments and hedgerows, the canal is looking gorgeous again.

It’s a pleasure to see.

April 25th – One of the sadnesses of the season is how short lived the blossom is – it’s there, and gone in a blaze of colour, then shed petals and confetti, then… nothing. A more transient example of the season’s wheel you could not find.

At the moment, the blossom is just starting to end, but passing these two intertwined trees on the cycleway to Priorslee in Telford always fascinates me as it looks like one tree with two different colours of blossom.

I love how, even when fresh, the pink one looks like bright but tattered tissue paper.

Such a lovely, but all to quickly passing, time of year…

April 23rd – Later that same day, a visit to Telford saw me hauling up the cycleway to Priorslee. A few short weeks ago this view was barren and grey. 

Once more this byway is turning into a beautiful tunnel of verdant green.

I love how spring and summer can make even the most dystopian of places beautiful.