October 9th – A rare journey to Chasetown in the morning saw me crossing Chasewater on a decent morning.
I noticed at the Nine Foot that the water level, thanks to recent rains, is now less than 200mm off full. It’s been a coupe of years since the reservoir was this full.
I don’t know why but I always get a childish thrill from seeing the water flow down the spillway.
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January 29th – The rain finally caught me as I left Walsall. The wind had changed, too, and I found myself mashing into driving drizzle and a distinctly cold headwind. Is this the beginning of a cold spell, I wonder?
As usual on rainy days, every good photo was into the wind and therefore impossible. But I did notice the lights of the service station in Shelfield, which always look attractive, but I never stop to photograph it.
It loos so welcoming – I fuss that’s the idea. It’s one of the way markers of my commute – when I see it, I know I’m halfway home.
August 18th – I left the house in the early evening to get some shopping in and pick up a takeaway. On my return, I crossed Chasewater. It’s really filling up now, and the recovery continues. The depth gauge on the pier now is only about 500mm clear of the water, and slowly, inexorably, the water is reclaiming the reed-beds and willows that populated the dry bed. I’d forgotten the joy of seeing a fine sunset reflected in the lake surface. Majestic.
July 1st – One bonus of the huge amount of rain has been the refilling of Chasewater. Steadily, almost imperceptibly, the water has gradually crept up. Now, it’s inches from the foot of the dam in one spot. The little pools – so long a characteristic of the stricken reservoir – have now mostly joined the main lake again. A wonderful sight. Nice to see the toe of the old pier in the water at last, too.
According to Graham Evans of Chasewater Wildlife Group, the water is currently at the levels it was in 1976. After a winter of almost constant rain, it was full by summer, 1977… yet, I can’t see that being the case here, somehow. I was hoping for a little summer…
April 28th – I headed up to Chasewater on my way to Burntwood, to check out the water level. Last week, the water was only lapping at the right hand side of the mound around the drain culvert – soon it will be submerged. I noticed the grass – encouraged by the earlier rain – now submerged. I have no figures, but would guess the water has risen by about half a meter. This is good, but don’t be fooled; for every centimetre the water rises, the area of the lake increases massively. The journey to 75% full will be a lot quicker than the one from 75%-100%. It is good to see, though…
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