March 6th – It was still not dark when I returned along the canal to Brownhills. There was none of the snow remaining which surprised med, but there was still quite dense ice on some sections of canal like Catshill Junction.
Things are still looking a bit grey and colourless apart from the early spring flowers, and I’m looking forward to seeing some signs of fresh green soon.
Won’t be too long now hopefully, before life becomes colourful once more. I’ve had it with all this grey.
March 6th – Passing through Walsall as dusk fell, I passed by Town Wharf. Whilst the paving and general infrastructure is looking a little tired here these days it’s looking a lot more active in recent months. Now the Wharfinger’s Cottage is occupied, and there’s more on the waterfront, it’s becoming quite a nice place to be.
There are still derelict buildings here though: to the left the old factories still cast a long physical and economic shadow.
March 5th – With warm weather and the snow disappearing, I couldn’t resist a visit to Kings Hill Park to gain some inspiration from the daffodils there, which I have to say were looking splendid.
Hopefully, that will now be the last of the cold weather and we can fully welcome a verdant, colourful spring.
However, one must never forget that the heaviest snows for years came in 2013 at the very end of March…
March 5th – Heading to work on a bright, sunny and very warm morning, with the snow melting heavily, I was enjoying the warmth and thaw, with the icy remnants of the weekend now confined to the verges.
Looking over to Jockey Meadows, I noticed a herd of red deer grazing the goat field. Sadly, I couldn’t get closer due to the wet ground, but what a lovely way to perk up a Monday Morning ride to work!
February 28th – The run home was no better. I got caught in a prolonged snowstorm, the wind was hard against me and the traffic was mad.
Temperatures actually got as low as -8.5 degrees C. Despite good gloves and being wrapped up in many layers, it physically hurt to be out there.
It seemed to take forever, but when I finally reached the end of the journey, I was glad to get home.
February 28th – A day with two of the harshest commutes I’ve ever known – both sub zero, both punctuated by snowstorms and ferocious winds.
On the way to work, I followed the canal somewhat unusually for me, all the way down through Moxley, and on the way noted the dagger-like icicles on Scarborough Road Bridge in Pleck, and the hardiness of the animals I saw – mainly birdlife defying Dry Marland’s IC scale, but also a sad but stoical horse tethered by the Black Country Route. At least it had plenty of hay to eat, poor thing.
Snow squalls came and went, but during them, visibility was poor. I don’t think I’ve ever known commuting on a bike this hard. The winter as it moved on from Christmas has been bloody endless.
Enough already.
February 27th – The coldest early evening commute I’ve known for a long time, I battled a vile headwind and sporadic black ice and made my way home carefully.
My ice tyres worked well, and the roads – like the Green Lane here at the Black Cock Bridge – have been very well gritted. But pavements, backroads and car parks were deadly and I made careful, slow progress.
It’ll be interesting to see how bad this gets.
February 27th – It was still bitingly cold, but the predicted heavy snows missed us, instead teasing me with light flurries at the same time as bright sunshine. The contrast was beautiful.
In Victoria Park in Darlaston, hungry pigeons flocked to me when I stopped, but it was so beautiful. Thankfully the roads were not too icy, but the cold and wind were unpleasant.
Worth it for the beauty, though.
February 25th – A day of continual light snow and odd sunny periods, but it was again fiercely bitter.
Returning from Shenstone Station, I stopped to note than in the daylight at last, my commute revealed the twin church towers of Shenstone – one in use, one very much derelict.
Across the rooftops of the village, that’s a lovely sight and one that every year reminds me that although the weather may be bad, spring and warmth are on their way.
February 23rd – The mist had mostly cleared, but it was still very cold, and once more I found myself cycling back from Shentstone to Stonnall is the curious, netherworld twilight that’s neither day nor night that you get at this time of year.
I the cold and against a pretty sharp wind, the lights of the cottages and houses I passed were like soothing beacons in the gloom.
Passing through lower Stonnall my mind wandered to how many barn conversions and adapted houses there are here now: When I was a kid, they were working farms.
Such change.
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