Tag: conservation

#365daysofbiking A thorn in my side

January 31st – I see with their usual subtlety and lack of attention to detail (more on that in a post on my main blog coming up soon) the Canal and River Trust have flailed the hedges along the canal towpath between Anchor Bridge and Brownhills.

This makes for a thorny hazard for cyclists with normal tyres as the flailed thorns are devils for causing punctures.

It’s right to do it this time of year, before birds nest of course, and lord knows, the job needed doing – but the tractor they used has again churned up the grass, and the aggressive mowing has continued, with nascent daffodils cropped along with the grass.

I have no idea what’s motivated the trust to carry out this manic bout of mowing everything to within a millimetre of living but I wish they’d tale a deep breath and think about it more.

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#365daysofbiking Ah, there you are:

September 3rd – I finally spotted them – 2 coos way off in the scrub of Jockey Meadows, Walsall Wood.

These young bulls are released to graze this Site of Special Scientific Interest periodically to maintain the meadow by eating the fast growing species and giving the slower, lower plants a chance. Their hooves chew up the soft ground and encourage new growth, and there is of course the fertilising power of the cowpat love they spread with abandon.

So far, I can see just two, far off in the tall grass and reeds. I look forward to meeting them at the gate soon.

February 8th – At The Parade, as it bisects Brownhills Common, I note the thinning of the conifer plantations continues apace. Many of the invasive trees have now been removed, and light once again reaches the ground beneath them. This is essential work to restore the heath, and it seems to be being carried out professionally and with care. 

The log piles by the roadside are huge and smell beautiful, it has to be said.

June 12th – This one is for Fresh Rosemary, as I know she likes the coos.

These particular coos – all lads – are currently being grazed on Jockey Meadows, just off Green Lane, between Walsall Wood and Shelfield. They have been brought here to churn up the meadow, eat the more aggressive species of plants, and to fertilise the land… naturally. One could say that it’s absolute bullshit.

They’re certainly working well, and hopefully this will allow the less strong species of meadow fauna to thrive. As to the coos, they go home somewhere every night. When I pass in a morning, they’re all out grazing around the field; when I come back late afternoon, they always seem to be waiting by the gate for their lift home. Coos certainly seem to know what time it is.

They’re certainly going somewhere, as I passed by again at 10pm and they’d definitely gone. This begs the question of how my bovine brothers see this: is it like a job to them? ‘Hey Steve, that’s enough grazing. Time to knock off. Where the hell’s the herdsman?’

I’ve asked them. They’re not telling. Bloody inscrutable creatures, coos.

May 19th – Up on the north heath at Chasewater, something rather great has been happening. From the existing path that runs over the hill from Norton Lakeside halt to Chasewater Heaths, there’s a new one been laid towards the lake. Well finished, it bends to the east, crosses a couple of really nice boardwalks and crosses Fly Creek, whereupon it meets the eastern path from behind the Rugby Club. A lot of work must have gone into it, and it opens up the north eastern heath to walkers beautifully. 

For those interested, this is what Brownhills Common should look like: a mixture of heath grassland, deciduous copse and heathers. Not a conifer in sight and the deer absolutely love it, as do the resident maintenance crew, the cows. It varies from being wide open, to dense native woodland, and it’s teeming with life – flora, amphibian, insect, mammal and avian. It’s all here, and a fine work of conservation it is.