July 15th – An evening spin out after a day doing bike maintenance. It was warm and sunny and I did a lazy loop around Shenstone with the Nikon P900. It was a little too hazy but the Cathedral and Little Aston church came out well.
Sad to see so much building waste – clearly all from the same source – flytipped around Bullmoor and other local lanes. It has been reported.
August 12th – An run out after a busy day saw me investigating a few things I’d been meaning to locally. It was a bright but slightly hazy evening, and I took the opportunity to try some familiar zoom shots from near Fishpond Wood above Stonnall, and the perennial favourite Lichfield from the quarry gateway.
It was a bit too muzzy for Lichfield, but Wall came out beautifully, unlike the familiar towers of Shenstone. I suppose the mist and haze must have been sitting in a depression or hollow between us, unlike Wall.
Wonder what the science is here?
January 6th – A fair commute in both directions for once, in fact almost sunny.
On the way, the sun was trapped above low smog but I didn’t mind – as I came through central Walsall on the ring road, it made everything look beautiful. I don’t know if it was just in the haze or my mind, but everything was suffused in a delicious yellow, soft light.
The Workhouse Guardian’s Office in front of the Manor Hospital may still be derelict, and gradually being carried to dust, but it’s at times like this it regains some of the lost stature.
Could do with a few more days like this, please.
February 4th – I had to nip into Wednesbury from Darlaston mid-morning, so hopped over Kings Hill. Something about the light, the cold, the slightly softening haze caught my eye. It’s brittle cold at the moment, but I’m at the stage where I’m barely noticing it. I love days like this, wrapped up well they’re a joy to ride in.
November 25th – It was a bright, frosty and hazy morning, but sadly I had another appointment early and missed the best of it. It was still beautiful, however, when I headed to work. Passing that jewel of Walsall, the Arboretum, the view over HathertonLake to the bandstand was irresistible.
A cracking day.
April 3rd – The poor air quality brouhaha at the moment isn’t all hype. As a chap given to a degree of sinus trouble, it’s hell out there at the moment. There’s an appreciable wind, and the air isn’t wet like in normal mist; yet it feels oxygen-less, like being stuck in an unventilated house with the heating on. It makes me feel breathless faster, and stings my eyes, as well as causing a blocked nose.
I’ve never experienced days like these before. I’m used to traffic fumes in the city in high summer, and the effect it has on my hayfever, but I’ve never seen this before.
The New Ring Road in Walsall looked ethereal and grey, even dystopian. But I did notice one thing; that’s a fine weathervane on the roof of the old Workhouse Guardians office, there.
March 12th – Despite it being a lovely, misty afternoon, the photoraphy was surprisingly lousy. I did, however, get a pleasing photo in of a very challenging view: Ogley Hay from Shire Oak Hill.
I love this view, but like all the views from Shire Oak, it’s difficult to capture in a photo due to too much stuff being in the way in the foreground; the view of Walsall to the southwest is cluttered, as is the view of Lichfield to the northeast. To the northwest, the view of Brownhills is actually enchanting to me, but translating it to an image never quite works.
I’m quite pleased with these, although the haze distorts them a little.
April 9th – When I left for work this morning, there was no frost, although the now familiar hatchet-edged wind chilled my bones as it has for a couple of weeks. However, on my return this evening, something had changed. It felt warm. I took off my gloves. It was grey, and the air felt moist, but as I winched myself up Shire Oak Hill, a pale ochre sun etched it’s way through the clouds.
Little by little, there’s a change under way. Las weekend, I changed back to normal tyres. Let’s hope that’s the last outing of the ice spikes until next winter…
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