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January 21st – Heading out for a meeting in Birmingham, I had a little extra time in the morning, so I rode to the station via the backlanes – taking me past Little Aston Forge.
The precarious hairpin bend and hump bridge here are a remarkable feature of the lane, and I’m surprised there are not more accidents.
The cottage and countryside here are beautiful though, I must say.
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February 8th – I’ve not ridden through Little Aston Forge for ages – and this curious hairpin over the Footherley Brook on the plain between Stonnall and Little Aston hasn’t changed a bit.
The brook still flows noisily, and those cottages still sit at an oblique, alarming angle to the lane on a series of nail-biting bends around them and over the hump bridge.
This is aways a good spot for early spring flowers in the hedgerows of the copse-lined lane, and this evening didn’t disappoint – just as the light was dying, a beautiful patch of wild snowdrops to compliment a pretty decent sunset.
Must start coming this way more often again.
September 21st – In the last few days, Autumn has kicked in and the leaves have started to turn. In a short journey through the backlanes of Stonnall, it was evident that the season was now irrefutably on her throne now and had her pot of gold pain at the ready.
Sad, but beautiful. No stopping the season’s wheel from turning, I guess.
September 3rd – I’d been to Redditch for a meeting. I don’t go there much these days, and it made a nice change, to be honest. Nicer still was an early finish, and riding back from Sutton, I chose to ride up through Little Aston Forge, a route I also hadn’t ridden for ages.
I must have passed those lovely cottages on the hairpin loads of times over the years, yet I’ve never noticed the pear and plum trees in the hedgerow opposite. The plums – they seemed a bit large to be true damsons – were well over now, but it looked like there had been a decent crop.
The pears had suffered from pests, and some were frost damaged, but the ones that survived were large and beautiful.
I really don’t know why I’ve failed to notice these before…
August 15th – There’s a story here, I’m sure of it. This house is on the A460 Uxbridge Street, just next to the Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Hednesford. Looking up by chance, I noticed it bore the plaque ‘Forge Street’, whose junction with Uxbridge Street is about 50 metres to the south. Underneath the word ‘Street’, another word seems to have been chiselled out. Why would a house bear a street name to a thoroughfare it’s not standing on, and why would part of the inscription be so wrong as to require removal?
Any ideas welcome.
January 8th – The house that stands on the junction of Mill Lane and ForgeLane in Mill Green, Little Aston is still lying derelict, unloved and appears to be falling into ruin. This is a very large house in an exclusive, rural area. When occupied, it must have been worth at least £500,000, maybe more. I can’t even work out how such a property comes to be abandoned and left to vandals. This was once, clearly, a family home. Someone must own it, their must be a backstory. Nothing has changed here for years. Anyone know anything? It’s a crying shame.
November 2nd – I mentioned last week that the modern Little Aston – location of exclusive private hospital and old folks home, as well as being millionaires square mile – still shows some evidence of being a village of some antiquity. There is, however, a bit of a conundrum. Where Forge Lane crosses the Footherley Brook, adjacent to Forge Wood, there’s a peculiar kink in the lane over a hump bridge. This treacherous hairpin is overlooked by a row of homes called Forge Cottages. Yet further down towards where the main body of the village stood, opposite the primary school is another old forge, still standing, although now occupied by a design studio. I guess both must have been home to blacksmiths.
This is a lovely little village you look past the modern developments.
June 19th – cycling back from Blake Street station, I took a spin up through the backlanes of Litte Aston and Stonnall. There seems to be a bit of a wildflower theme going on at th moment, and when I spotted this patch of poppies growing in a ripening oilseed rape field at Little Aston Forge,I just had to take a picture. In the distance is Shenstone. A lovely view.
October 27th – Zipping home late from work in heavy rain, I was suffering a migraine, so headed for the quiet back lanes of Little Aston and Stonnall, the better not to contend with too much traffic. Near Little Aston forge, I spotted this fellow sat bolt upright in the road, enjoying the precipitation. This common toad – I’m surprised he wasn’t already hibernating – must have had a hard, dry summer, and he really seemed to be enjoying the rain. He was alert, and nervous. I moved him carefully to the grass verge and cycled on. Hopefully, he’ll stay out of the way of passing vehicles.
October 11th – I’ve been watching this tree change colour for a couple of weeks. It stands in the pasture near Little Aston Forge, on the bank of the Black Brook, and has gradually turned the most dramatic shade of yellow. I think it’s some species of ash, but haven’t got close enough to look. On this dark, dismal evening with dusk falling, it was a cheery sight as I cycled home against the wind.
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