Tag: Footherly

August 8th – I snuck out of work early, and took the train back to Blake Street to enjoy the early evening countryside around Little Aston. Much as I salute the great success of British Cycling and the olympic team, the plastic Wigginses are out in force on their new bikes. I don’t mind them so much, just wish they’d return the greetings. That, and stop wearing yellow jerseys. They just make you look daft, frankly.

I got stuck in some distinctly rural traffic near Footherley. I noticed the farmer here cutting his hedges yesterday, near the top of Footherley Lane by the little bridge. Now he was doing Wood Lane and New Barns Lane. I found it a little concerning – hedge flailing isn’t usually done until Autumn, when birds aren’t nesting. However, watching the operation (I had no choice, I had a tractor behind me too) the driver had a very light touch, and was only trimming the excessive overgrowth caused by the wet summer.

I do wonder how the newcomers on their road bikes will fare on these now thorn-strewn lanes; my tyres are fairly hardy but those strips of liquorice the speedsters use are well vulnerable… hope you’ve all got repair kits in the back pockets of those champion jerseys…

April 5th – There seems to be an awful lot of early-flowering oilseedrape about at the moment. The normal varieties seen in the fields around Shenstone, Stonnall and the outskirts of Brownhills flower around mid-May, but I’ve noticed in the last twelve months late and early strains, like this field near Footherly. It’s a gorgeous plant, I love the colour, the scent and the the bug life it attracts. This oil-rich brassica (that’s right: it’s a member of the cabbage family) must earn a lot for farmers, and seems to be quick and easy to grow. It often receives a bad press, with people blaming the plant for hayfever outbreaks, yet it’s pollen – evolved for insect and contact rather than wind pollination – is far too heavy and sticky to be wind borne.