July 8th – Short morning at work on a very windy, wolf of a day – beautiful to look at, but a the very devil to ride on. A short run over to Lichfield in the late afternoon via Chasewater was rewarded with beautiful views of ripening oilseed rape and wheat in fields around hHome Farm at Sandhills.
A lovely afternoon but hard work on the bike!
July 3rd – I passed Grove Hill near Stonnall late afternoon, under a stunning blue sky with light clouds. Currently with barley on the lower slopes and wheat on the upper, it’s a timeless sight that can’t have altered much in a century or more.
The other thing I like about this is it clearly illustrates the purpose of the hedge and lone three; they are there to limit soil erosion. Think about it.
July 1st – Between the railway line and the the backlane into Shenstone, a curiously planted field corner, laid in neat rows. I couldn’t see what the crop was from the road, and it piqued my interest, so I took a zoom shot.
Turns out to be carrots, with what looks like wheat growing thickly between them.
I’ve only ever seen one other field of carrots locally, and that was at the top of Lazy Hill. I’ll be interested to see how these develop and how they’re harvested.
July 1st – Has half the year gone already? Really? Wow.
I flew from Walsall with the wind behind me just after the rain passed, and with a call to make in Stonnall, I let the wind blow me on a lazy loop around Shenstone. The wet lanes glistened in the sunlight, and the sky was deep blue. With the wet June, everything is verdant ad green, except the barley, which is turning now to the gold of high summer.
As the year and seasons move inexorably on, although it’s been wet, it hasn’t felt like a bad year for the weather. Let’s hope we get a drier, sunnier July and August.
June 5th – Over to Middleton Hall for cake, and a weary return through Tamworth up the canal. Although it was a gloriously hot day, I just wasn’t feeling it and my energy was low, but the scenery really perked me up.
Everything is so green at the moment – from the barley in the fields to the gorgeous limpid canals – and that view of Middleton over the fields never gets old.
A lovely ride, even if I was knackered!
April 3rd – Up near Wall, the old cricket pitch was ploughed up a few years ago now by the farmer who owned it, leaving the portakabin pavilion – which must have cost a few bob to install – marooned.
It’s so sad to see the cricket pitch gone; many a Sunday or Saturday afternoon as a young man I’d pass here with a game in full swing and sit and watch with maybe a beer on the go.
Remarkably, the in and out field are now supporting a healthy, blooming crop of oilseed rape, which seems a wee bit early for me – but it is beautiful.
Three years ago this weekend I found a car still abandoned in deep snow not half a mile from here. How the seasons in this country vary.
August 10th – A return on a gorgeously languid summer evening, along the canal and then the cycleway to Pelsall. On my return, I spotted the wheat crop at High Heath, surely ripe now, and on the verge of going over.
Soon be harvesting that, I guess. But in the meantime, what a gorgeous view. The is north Walsall, folks.
July 28th – Returning home from Telford, unusually these days, I took the train to Shenstone and rode from there. It was against the wind, but a lovely ride: the fields are full of life and everywhere looks beautiful in summer colours.
Lots of maize about this year, interestingly in fields it was in before; clearly, crop rotation not a big priority. The crops are growing tall around Stonnall, and lush green, like a jungle. It’s a most un-British crop in that it’s so tall.
Also prevalent this season are spuds – acres and acres of them around Springhill. I wonder where they all go?
July 19th – Oats are in fashion this year. After years of barely seeing any at all, this year all the best-dressed arable farms are wearing them.
I’m seeing them all over the place – the price, or subsidy for them must be high this year. They are a beautiful golden colour at the moment, and are painting the fields in shades of high summer.
These at Home Farm seem to be ready for harvest.
July 17th – I had to pop down to Shenstone on my way home; on my return through the backlands I noticed something that had largely been passing me by of late; the crops in the fields are now ripening, and the harvest cannot be far away.
At Footherly, a field of nice, plump wheat is turning golden in the July warmth. The clean, milky-tasting grain will, if the weather continues to be reasonable, make great flour.
Nice to see.
BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking 