Tag: green

May 13th – Less dramatic and more serene was the view over the new pond at Clayhanger from the canal towpath; caught in a glorious golden hour, the fresh greens glowed in the evening, and all seemed right in the world.

I was, of course, taxed for tidbits by the same pair of geese as usual, the canny devils – all hissing and wing flaps until they get food, then they waddle off, sated.

May 9th – A ride up to Chasewater, and back to Brownhills along the canal. It was a dull, overcast day that seemed to permanently threaten rain. However, the sheer beauty of the newly green landscape was a joy to the heart. 

At Newtown, a rabbit in the pasture near the mobile home park; the warren by Newtown Bridge seems to have been wiped out by myxie, and only this burrow remains. The bunny looked healthy enough, though.

The sallow is coming into bloom, and the weeping willows over the canal look majestic, as do some of the canalside gardens. 

Even when the sun is elusive, this time of year is beautiful.

May 4th – The day may have been on the dull side, but the countryside wasn’t. It delighted in shades of bright green, yellow and gold; and the undulating patchwork visible from Crow’s Castle was a joy to the heart. 

The path from Hints Ford up the Blackbrook Valley is gorgeous with the bluebells right now.

Get out there, people. These bright colours don’t last for long!

May 2nd – How can grey days be so beautiful? It was awful weather, cold, miserable, wet. But returning to Brownhills near Clayhanger on the canal, the hedgerows were emerald green, blossom was around and forget-me-nots dappled the embankments. Such a delight after so long grey. 

Sun would be most welcome, and a bit of warmth; but this ain’t so bad.

May 1st – Like an idiot, I left my camera at home this morning. I like the iPhone camera, but after the all-singing and dancing idiot box I’m used to, it seems very limited.

I left work earlier than usual, and on my way home shot over Shire Oak hill for a spin to Shenstone and back. The backlanes were glorious and sun bathed, and it really felt like spring out there.

I’ve missed this sort of thing in recent years. It’s good to get back to riding just for the hell of it.

April 22nd – A spin around Stonnall on an errand on the way home, and it’s getting to late spring, early summer, or at least it feels that way: warm air, surrounded by flowers and greening hedgerows and trees. I seems a world away from the scene here a few short weeks ago.

It’s also hard to imagine that on April 5th, 2013, there was still snow on these fields.

One of the most charming and frustrating things about cycling in Britain is the weather. You never know quite what’s going to happen next…

April 20th – A shock this morning. I had a train to catch so left as the sun rose. It was very, very cold with a light ground frost, inadequate a significant mist. Still, it shrouded Grove Hill in Stonnall beautifully, and gave the pylons at Mill Green an other-worldly, sinister presence, and the sun soon burned it off.

April 16th – Jockey Meadows between Sheffield and Walsall Wood are also greening well – and early – this year. As I rode past on a warm but breezy evening in pleasant sunshine, I noticed that way over by the marsh, red deer were grazing – which must be a sign that the sedges and moss they like to eat best must be growing again.

Jockey Meadows are always beautiful, and unexpectedly so, wedged in between two urban areas – as a notified Site of Special Scientific Interest they’re well worth a visit – but take some wellies!

April 15th – Shelfied, just on the marooned triangle of land where there was once a railway bridge, a beautiful display of daffodils, better than ever I remember them.

Every year these gorgeous flowers drag me into spring. They are a joy to the heart. My best wishes and thanks to those at Walsall Council who planted and look after them.