June 6th – One of the lovely, accidental features of Clayhanger Common is the well-worn pathway through the green thicket arch behind the Cala overflow at Clayhanger Bridge.
Every year it forms again – it’s like a portal to a green netherworld.
It always makes me smile when I see it.
April 23rd – Later that same day, a visit to Telford saw me hauling up the cycleway to Priorslee. A few short weeks ago this view was barren and grey.
Once more this byway is turning into a beautiful tunnel of verdant green.
I love how spring and summer can make even the most dystopian of places beautiful.
April 18th – Last week I found the lovely pieris flowers I didn’t recognise in Wednesbury, even though as readers Susan Marie Ward, Linda Mason and others pointed out, I’d posted them here before.
The reason I hadn’t recognised them was because I’m used to seeing them with the beautiful bright red foliage they normally develop in early spring, but this year seems very late, and last week there was no hint of it.
Well, now it’s arrived and the result is truly stunning. Pieris – sometimes called fetterbush, rather delightfully – is grown a lot in gardens and in beds on industrial estates and parks.
Little things like this make spring such a wonderful time, I’m so glad it’s finally here.
June 17th – The skies were still grim when I reached Shire Oak, although the sun was trying it’s best.
I hope this is the start of some more settled weather.
The rain does seem to have made the trees and fields very lush though. Beautiful.
April 3rd – the mist, poor air and lack of sun means something remarkable is happening unnoticed. In the last week, the trees, hedgerows and shrubs have mostly been bursting into leaf. The deciduous copse at the rear of the new pond in Clayhanger is alive with willow, oak, birch and elder, all sprouting a variety of foliage. At Catshill, the blackthorn blossom is gorgeous, and everywhere there are the vivd greens of fresh growth.
If the sun would only shine, they’d positively glow.
September 9th – I got soaked again on the way to work this morning, less that 12 hours after getting similarly wet the night before. I’ve certainly not had much luck with the showers this last few days, and there’s now a permanent rainbow over my boots. The rain on the rowans and other shrubbery beside the cycleway at Telford looked nice, though.
Here’s hoping for a drier week…
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