September 15th – I had to visit Tipton of a hot, humid and hazy afternoon. The traffic was intense and the atmosphere oppressive and thick, but glancing over the canal bridge near Owen Street, the canal looked beautiful in the soft sunshine, and near a disused arm bridge, two young lads were fishing in a scene that couldn’t have changed much for decades.

The Black Country has a knack of showing its beauty when you least expect.

February 8th – Up at Chasewater, another sunny but hazy afternoon. The atmosphere was lovely, but the trails and cycleways were very, very muddy and the going quite hard. The deer didn’t seem to mind though, and a small group were on the wettest part of the north heath clearly enjoying the marsh.

November 24th – A gorgeous, frosty winter morning. I had a call locally before riding on to work, so when I passed through Walsall on the canal, the autumnal colours that were still hanging on looked gorgeous.

I’d love more days like these. Refreshing, beautiful, quiet – in recent years, there haven’t been enough. I’d also like some decent snow this year.

I hope the weather gods are kind to me…