Tag: evening

July 1st – Half the year gone already. Where on earth did that go?

I was unwell after eating something I shouldn’t (Life with IBS often means interrogating people who cook for you about what ingredients they use, but sometimes, you feel embarrassed and eat anyway). The pumpkin seeds in a casserole from a friend the night before were really causing me hell, and I didn’t get out until early evening.

I met family at a country pub in Longdon for a lazy, louche, sunny Sunday evening social, riding there and back. The countryside is showing well at the moment with ripening crops and the greens going dark and maturing.

I particularly liked the lithe, stripy puss I saw in Hammerwich. – he was definitely the neighbourhood watch!

October 22nd – A quick run up to Aldridge in the early afternoon reqarded me with great autumnal views and a surprise – almost submerged in dense thicket by the old railway bridge at Stubbers Green, what I think is an evening primrose, in strident yellow bloom.

I don’t know if this is normal at this time of year or an aberration, but it is rather beautiful and a lovely autumn find.

September 9th – Change is happening fast at the site of the old market in Brownhills. At the start of the week the earthmovers and excavators were just moving on site, and a mere five days later the groundworks are well underway with new sewers and the like being dug.

I’m sad to see the marketplace gone in some ways – like most Brownhillians I remember the good days of the market here as being excellent – but we have to move on, and the days of prosperity for the traditional market generally in the UK have long since passed, their job being replaced by online retailers and everyone’s favourite tat bazaar, eBay.

But it will also be nice to see life here again once more.

August 13th – A good summer afternoon on the Chase was just the thing my weary bones needed. Tired from the day before, I didn’t go far and stopped lots. From Pye Green to Milford, back to Seven Springs, then Abrahams and Birches Valley. Lots of wildlife to watch, except, oddly, the two things I went to spot – rabbits and deer, which were strangely elusive.

My return through Chasewater was met with a pleasant sunset, too.

I love the Chase and the best time to go is of an evening when it’s not busy.

July 17th – In spite of some grim mechanical problems and slow initial progress, I made it to Rosliston for tea and cake, and then pootled back through Coton in the Elms, Lullington, Clifton Campville, Haunton and Syerscote, calling at Hints and Weeford in the golden hour.

The villages glowed in the summer evening warmth, and even though I was battling a keen westerly, my England was right here – in a view familiar to Peter Cutler, in the flower-adorned villages, and in the sad but tranquil churchyard at Haunton, with it’s ranks of gravestones to nuns from the nearby convent.

It doesn’t get much better than this.

May 12th – It was such a gorgeous evening I couldn’t resist going for a spin around the lanes of Stonnall. Everything was suffused in a gorgeous golden light, and the countryside is looking wonderfully green and mellow at the moment. 

At Fighting Cocks, the dandelion meadow is just wonderful. It would be nice if this weather could stay awhile.

May 2nd – After what seems like weeks of grey, cold weather it was wonderful to be out in the sun. I hit the quarry road behind the hall and rode down to Bodymoor Heath where hopped on the canal, and rode through Tamworth to Hopwas, returning through Hints, Weeford and Shenstone. 

The greening trees this year are almost as colourful as autumn, and I’ve never before noticed the view of Hopwas Church from the Farm Bridge.

let’s hope the fine weather sticks around a bit.

March 31st – Also greening up is the canal through Catshill to Chasewater; the traditional demarkation between urban and rural, this green line of water may be only feet wide but the difference from one side to the other are polar opposites.

But on a mellow, sunny spring evening, with low sun and long shadows, I wouldn’t be anywhere else.

I keep saying it; I shouldn’t have to – be we live in a surprisingly beautiful place. Treasure it.

October 18th – I also liked how beautiful Walsall Wood was on this greyest of grey Sundays. The trees around the Brookland Road junction look superb – and the church of St. John, this evening with lights on for a service -looked great with the turning leaves in the background.

I felt much better today. I got stuff actually done. Once the black dog settles in it can be the very devil to shift, and at this time of year I’m always susceptible. But in truth, the light nights will return, a new year and new spring will dawn, and I’ll feel the warmth again.

In the meantime, I’ll learn to love the darkness. Sometimes it’s your friend. But it’s like doing a deal with the devil.

There’s a lot of cold, a lot of rough weather and a lot of darkness to come before the next spring.

September 29th – But still, there’s colour. There aren’t many places along the canal from Walsall Wood to Brownhills to catch a good sunset; sadly the best spots are obscured by hedges and trees. But as I passed the new pond at Clayhanger, the sun had smeared it’s last rays of the day over the clouds and vapour trails and made the evening precious.