October 31st – And then, the return. In shades of pink, blue, orange and grey, it was cinematic and even the distant, noisy sweep of traffic was beautiful. There was little wind and noise, and the smells of the season just hung in the air.
I’ve made no bones about having the darkness of winter. Everyone who reads this must surely know how I feel about it – yet when autumn is old and winter encroaches, the gloom is punctuated by a beauty you never feel in summer.
September 7th – An early escape from work, so I went for an afternoon bimble in the sun. I hadn’t got long, so just up to Chasewater, then up through Burntwood to Farewell, over to Lichfield and back through Wall and Lynn.
A lovely day with beautiful light. Could this be an Indian summer? I do hope so!
August 22nd – A day of unexpected jobs and delayed activity, I finally got out at dusk and span on an errand to Burntwood, so naturally, despite the oncoming storm, I headed up through Chasewater.
The skies were dramatic, but I failed to capture them well, and whilst there were flashes of lightning and the odd rumble of thunder, despite riding back in steady, warm, refreshing rain, the foreboding, brooding skies failed to deliver.
But it was actually a lovely ride.
May 31st – A wolf of a day again – a heavy wind and wet morning, but bright sunshine in the afternoon made for a short ride and some familiar views to test the Nikon. The zoom is a lot more tricky to get right than the older camera, but it gives way better results, I have to say. Those shots of the Cathedral from Shire Oak and Hammerwich from Newtown are remarkable sharp for the range.
On the whole, the camera seems excellent, and most of my grumbles are with a particularly fiddly user interface, not inconsiderable weight and peculiar autofocus lag.
Oh, and terrible, terrible documentation. But on the other hand, wow!
April 4th – Passing through Lichfield and back later in the day, spring really was in the air. The sun shone patchily on the rolling landscape between the canal and Hammerwich, whereas Minster Pool was dark and broody. On my return, I noticed gorgeous colour as the weeping willows are in bud in Festival Gardens, and grape hyacinths are growing well on the verges of the main roads.
One odd thing is the white plant flowering at the edge of the verges; this tiny flower is Danish scurvy grass, a formerly coastal flower that thrives beside main roads in the salty soil caused by winter gritting.
February 21st – The weather really couldn’t make up its mind – today, in about 90 minutes, I experienced rain, hail, snow, wind and warm sunshine. Heading back up the canal to Brownhills from Burntwood, the skies were beautiful, as were the patches of sunshine and shadow that chased over the landscape.
The verdant green of the new crops and bright blue really do whisper of a nascent spring, but I must remember, some of the heaviest snows for years were at the end of March in 2013.
I don’t think winter has quite laid down yet…
February 7th – The season of sunsets continues, with a lovely hazy one that I chased from Lichfield to Hammerwich. It was a beautiful, ever changing sky, and sadly, it was passed by the time I got to the spot I really wanted to see it from.
But, as it happened, the pictures didn’t turn out to bad.
January 31st – A sunset return on a very cold evening, with little energy. I came from Burntwood with leaden limbs, but the wind behind me; the combination of sunset, street lights and traffic made me think of the cover of Green on Red’s ‘Killer inside Me’ – beautiful, but hard.
I found it so hard, I hopped onto the canal, and wound my way on that back to Brownhills. I couldn’t deal with my tiredness and the traffic.
January 10th – Over to Burntwood to get some shopping in, I went via the canal and Chasewater. Just at Home Farm, where Brawn’s Wood used to be, I noted a new gap in the hedgerow, stomped down. It didn’t look man-made, and there’s no beneficial human shortcut I can see here; but earlier in the week I noted deer footprints coming off Clayhanger Common near Catshill Junction Bridge and I thing they’re probably coming this way now and on to the fields at Springhill and Sandhills.
Further on, on this clear, hard and windy day, Hammerwich and beyond to Lichfield Cathedral were very visible and made interesting zoom photos.
How I adore that view, and this stretch of canal.
December 28th – The dry, still and cold day with a near cloudless sky made for an interesting sunset, with the light reflected off the haze and mist in the atmosphere rather than clouds, giving the colour a uniform, smooth transition.
Hammerwich, the A38 and Knowle Hill were all rendered precious by it. This was a very rare sundown these days and I was glad to witness it.
BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking 