#365daysofbiking Fixed in a Hole
August 31st -For the first time in years, I travelled down Hobs Hole Lane which runs from Aldridge down to the Chester Roa, and I’d forgotten just how beautiful the rolling countryside of Bourne Vale and Lazy Hill is.
I must get down here again soon. It’s a beautiful spot and we’re lucky to have it nearby, and I bet it’s lovely in autumn.
November 12th – A stunning day on Cannock Chase, probably the best I’ve had in years, just going to show that you never know what tomorrow will bring. I felt well, happy and energetic.
Following my annual attendance of the Remembrance Sunday service in South Staffordshire, feeling the sombre nature of the day, I did what I always do when feeling sad: Headed for air and open space. Entering the Chase at Castle Ring, then over to Stonepit Green, Wandon, Rainbow Hill, Slitting Mill, Birches Valley, Penkridge Bank, Marquis Drive, Brocton Field, Freda’s Grave, Sherbrook Valley, Pepper Slade, Wolseley Plain, Abraham’s Valley on the finest, brightest autumn day I’ve had for years.
I saw a fallow deer rut. I saw beauty, felt the cold air in my lungs, climbed hills and cruised trails, took in views. I felt alive again.
All topped out with a spectacular sunset.
This is why I ride a bike.
August 28th – Staunton Harold is a beautiful reservoir, created in 1966 to supply water for the growing conurbations of Derby and Leicester. Unlike its partner Foremark which is a creation of the 1970s, Staunton is more secluded and in rolling countryside – and the construction is architecturally more engaging with a surprisingly ornate pump head.
From the south, one can descend the steep banks to a secret-seeming beach shore, which gorgeous views of the lake; from the north, a nice visitors centre with playground and other facilities overlooks the water from a high position. In-between, the impressive dam.
I hadn’t been here for a very long time. I forgot how lovely it was. I must come back soon.
January 15th – First really cold day of the year, with the lightest, cutest dusting of snow that sat on the landscape like icing sugar. Not yet having fitted the ice tyres, I let some air out and rode the heaviest bike I have. It was gorgeous; the temperature didn’t get above freezing all day, and I got cold and hungry, but it was worth being out in. It was good to be off work but it was also good to be out in the glass-hard, clear day. Stonnall, Wall and Hammerwich positively glowed in the cold winter sunshine.
I’ve needed this for so long.
August 26th – Returning late in a glorious golden hour, I stopped to look at Jockey Meadows, as I hadn’t done so for a while. The coos are long gone, and the harvest done and dusted, and the countryside here is wearing an autumnal jacket, everything in the late summer slumber that pervades this time of year.
The days are cooler, and drawing in. I’m going to be controversial here, but I don’t think it’s been a bad old summer.
February 16th – Spotted at Hints Ford, the Black Brook Valley is a popular site for ramblers. If you go into the countryside, respect it and keep your dog on a lead.
By dealt with, the shepherd means ‘shot’.
The shepherd would be quite within their right, and I would wholly support them.
September 1st – Seasonal warning. Yes, it’s the hedge cutting season again, when our farming brethren flail the hawthorn hedges, in turn leaving the roads stewn with thorns made of some material that just glides into tyres. If you’re not rocking puncture proofs, avoid Gravelly Lane in Stonnall right now. It’s also quite grim up in Footherley too.
I don’t know why they don’t make weapons out of the same stuff hawthorn spines are made of. They’d never go blunt and pierce absolutely anything.
Like the Murphy’s, I’m not bitter…
June 5th – The wildflowers (and not so wild) are arriving and making their presence felt in hedgerows and gardens. Everything from lobelia to forget-me-not, rhododendron to laburnam are all showing beautifully. This is the English countryside at it’s best. Get out and enjoy it while you can.
September 21st – Late afternoon, the heavens opened. It’s been a fairly dry month, so it wasn’t too bad. But it affected my mood: it’s now the autumnal equinox when day is the same length as night, and the earth neither tilts toward, or away from, the sun. We are now crossing into astronomical autumn and winter, and the driving rain and wet countryside reminded me of this. I feel like this every year, before the leaves turn and the countryside becomes once more golden. It never gets easier, if I’m honest. It’s hard being an outdoors person when the nights draw in.
September 20th – On my return from Shenstone, tired and feeling down, I noticed that the trees along Lynn Lane were turning colour, and everything, including the surrounding, freely ploughed fields, was looking very autumnal. The colder, shorter days are coming now, and it’s hard to feel positive. I hate the nights closing in.
BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking 