Tag: Grange Farm

April 1st – This day last year, I was cycling past 4ft drifts of snow in Bardy Lane, Upper Longdon, and the weather was wet and cold indeed. Today was very warm and mostly sunny, and at Grange Farm at High Heath, the early oilseed rape is just about to come out in a riot of scent and colour.

I love this crop; vivid yellow, smelling like Emmental cheese, it sets the countryside alight with vibrant yellow. Frequently and unfairly blamed for hay fever, the sticky pollen of this plant is way too heavy and course to be wind-borne. A member of the brassica family, it’s closely related to mustard and cabbage, and will provide a boon for bees and bugs as it blooms.

And as it does, I feel the season advancing a little further…

December 18th – I passed through Chesterfield, the sleepy little hamlet midway between Shenstone and Wall. There isn’t a single ugly house here, they are all gorgeous, and I’m sure there’s history here; after all, the workhouse was just 50 yards around the corner for years. 

It’s nice to see that after a period of being empty, someone has bought – and invested no little time or money – in the old Grange Farmhouse. It’s been sad to see it languishing empty for so long, and this really is a lovely, quiet spot, even on dull, overcast days like this.