Tag: great

#365daysofbiking Lost lanes

August 4th – A lane I’d not really ever registered the existence of disappeared a while ago, without me being aware. This is unusual, as I’m normally fascinated by these things.

School Lane, Little Wyrley was a quiet, winding, lightly used lane with no dwellings between the A5 Watling Street and Gorsey Lane. This whole area of scrubby, grubby not-quite countryside between Brownhills and Great Wyrley is plagued with fly tipping and other antisocial behaviour, but School Lane was particularly badly affected.

Having endured enough, in 2016 [Edit – It’s been closed much longer than this, from at least 2009 – Bob], Cannock Chase Council decided the best way to stop the problem was to gate the lane. Permanently.

This completely passed me by at the time, and I only noticed when it was mentioned in passing a few months ago on social media, so I made a mental note to ride it while I still could. As you can see, nature is now taking over and it’s an odd, but peaceful and wonderfully pollution-free byway disappearing slowly back into the landscape.

Like Dark Lane near Longdon, lost lanes intrigue me no end.

I’m glad I checked this out.

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October 8th – A better day when the sun periodically graced us with it’s gentle, warming optimism, and since it’s autumn, where better to go than Cannock Chase? It’s one thing I miss in summer; the Chase is far too crowded to ride much in summer, making every ride a trial of concentration and nerves, but at the cooler, damper end of the year it’s virtually deserted in the best parts and people rarely venture there.

I hauled myself up over Pye Green and to Brocton Field before descending into the Sherbrook Valley and over Milford and Shugborough and back along the canal to Rugeley and then home through the night-time lanes of Longdon.

A great ride tat cheered me up totally – and I’d forgotten the improvised birded feeding point up in the car park off Chase Road for Freda’s Grave – I watched birds happily feeding for 20 minutes, captivated by their antics. It was also wonderful to see a nuthatch, which is a first for me – it reminded me of a land-based kingfisher. The colours are gorgeous.

We need more decent weather days. I need more of this in my life right now.

December 30th – Middleton Hall for tea and cake on a very grey, damp afternoon was unexpectedly rewarding: the tea and cake were as excellent as ever, but I also discovered that RSPB Middleton has a feeding station with an excellent viewing platform.

A constant stream of birds visit for food. I can’t wait to get there in decent light – these were taken just before sunset. I loved the thoughtful-looking woodpecker.

November 20th – I know very little about great crested grebes, but there seemed to be rather a lot of them on Chasewater as I passed through. Difficult to photograph for their habit of diving just as you get them in shot, they are gradually transitioning into winter plumage and losing their distinctive brown flashes on their heads. They dive and pursue fish underwater, and I wonder if their recent apparent profusion at Chasewater indicates improving fish populations there following the dry years when the lake was drained.

Lovely birds, fascinating to watch.

September 25th – From Tixall, a stop for tea and cake, and then back home along the canal from there to Handsacre – a fair trip. This stretch, which runs limpid at the rear of the Shugborough estate and shadows the Trent for much of the way is captivating and tranquil. Even as it passes Colwich and the busy rail junction there it seems miles from anywhere.

All the time I was in a gorgeous, but chilly golden hour. 

A wonderful ride that perked up a dreadful day no end.

October 7th – up on Cannock Chase for the first decent ride in a while. Due to bad weather and work commitments, I haven’t got out so much this year, which saddens me. But this was worth waiting for. There’s a bigger post from this journey over on my main blog – but the Chase, together with Shugborough and it’s environs, were just pulling on their golden autumn jackets. Superb. I must redouble my resolve to get out more…