Tag: Farewell

April 9th – A wet, but warm day with quite a strong southerly wind. I only set out to go round Chasewater, but the riding was good and the weather didn’t seem so bad, so after a hearty lunch at the cafe, I headed up over Shute Hill and Chorley to Farewell, then down through Longdon Green, Hanch, Seedy Mill, Curborough and Lichfield, before returning through Abnalls and Fulfen. I got soaked, but there was hardly anyone around, and the roads were fast and challenging. Poor bank holiday weather by any standards, but I enjoyed the ride anyway.

June26th – Farewell church is so secluded, one might not realise it existed at all. There has been a religious presence here since 1140, and this is a very old place, the current St. Bartholomew’s church was built in 1745, and hides down a narrow, leafy track that dives sharply from Stonywell Lane. Here one is truly far from the madding crowd, the shady churchyard being a favourite haunt of cyclists and ramblers alike.

June 26th – After the Canal Festival at Brownhills I took a lazy, hot ride up over Longdon Edge. Climbing Shute Hill near Burntwood is always a challenge, but is rewarded by excellent views and the most wonderful sequence of tumbling, twisting lanes. From the top of hill, the view northwards over the plains is stunning and green. Is there anywhere finer than Staffordshire on her summer throne?

May 30th – Rabbits don’t do clever, but this one at Farewell, Staffordshire was quite unique. Taking a suicide run out of the hedge on the left, he doubled back when he realised the danger and ran straight ahead, in the same direction as me, for about a quarter of a mile. The camera loses him for a bit, before I catch him up again and he jumps into the hedge. Never seen that before.

The video quality is quite poor. I’ve had to zoom in quite a bit, and you may need to turn the quality setting up on youtube.