Tag: hilton

February 25th – There’s cold weather coming in, and on this splendid day, there was a razor-sharp edge to the harsh east wind that made the journey to the cake stop at Hints hard work, made worse by the fact they mithered about serving me 40 minutes before closing time. 

Customers are such a pain in the arse.

The cake and day however, were beautiful, as was the countryside. I saw my first full size daffodils of the year on the old A5 at Hints, and lots of plants are clearly waiting for the warmth to come and spring will be on her throne.

February 18th – One of the stranger legacies of the M6 Toll motorway coming through the area has been the drainage and pollution control lagoons that dot the countryside at intervals along it’s route. 

I think the idea is that surface drainage from the road is taken into these pools which can be isolated during instances of pollution, like diesel spills. The lagoons themselves seem to overtop into local drainage, so they also provide a sediment settling function.

The one on Bullmoor Lane has matured well, and is, in summer, alive with wildlife. Secluded and rarely visited, it’s a little enclave of peace and tranquility. Only the sign by the roadside gives you any hint of what’s there.

October 27th – Yet the day had it’s best in store for me. Labouring up past Aldershaw feeling tired, I returned via Chesterfield, Wall Butts, Hilton and Stonnall in a truly glorious, remarkable golden hour of beautiful orange light and glowing autumn colour.

It’s amazing how one afternoon can completely transform your mood and lift you from the gloom you’ve been in.

June 16th – Summer is finally on her throne, and how glorious her reign. I slipped out after work on a circuit of the backlanes of Shenstone, and took in all the overcast but warm day offered. The hedgerows and fields are green, flowers are out (including the curious ones I found at Summerhill I can’t identify) and the view of Wall Church from Hiton was gorgeous.

Even the Victorian and decidedly austere pumping station at Shenstone looked incredible surrounded by lush pasture.

This is the time I love.

April 23rd – In the sun, it was warm, but otherwise another cold, quite windy day with very bright sunshine. I headed out on a beautiful St George’s day and found the English countryside at it’s springtime peak. Trees verdant, coconut-smelling gorse lined lanes; bluebell woods were a carpet of strident violet and orange tip butterflies mated in the hedgerows.

Even the oak plum galls growing in profusion near Hilton were sort of beautiful, in the slightly unnerving way only  these parasite generated growths can be.

Again, I’d appreciate a bit more warmth, but not a bad day at all, and a lovely ride.

February 27th – Another wolfish day, but with a softer wind. A horrid morning commute – into a headwind with driving rain – was not a great start to the week, and through the day, the yin and yang of rain and shine battled across the sky, even resulting in one point at a fall of snow.

I had to go to Lichfield on an errand and I successfully dodged the rain, returning fortuitously in a gorgeous semi-golden hour through the backlanes of Wall.

The fields are emerald green now, with fresh crops growing well; the sky was pleasingly azure between the clouds, even at gone 5pm and spring does seem to be ready to assume her throne.

Not a bad end to a day that didn’t start with a great deal of promise…

November 19th – Riding to Lichfield on a grey afternoon to get a little shopping in and get some fresh air. I went through the backlanes of Hilton, Wall Butts and Chesterfield, and was cheered here as I was elsewhere earlier in the week by the still wonderful autumnal colours.

I’m finding the darkness a little tough this year, but rides like this, although mostly dull and grey, the brightness I do find helps immensely.

Spring can’t come soon enough – yet it’s barely winter. Oh dear.

January 15th – First really cold day of the year, with the lightest, cutest dusting of snow that sat on the landscape like icing sugar. Not yet having fitted the ice tyres, I let some air out and rode the heaviest bike I have. It was gorgeous; the temperature didn’t get above freezing all day, and I got cold and hungry, but it was worth being out in. It was good to be off work but it was also good to be out in the glass-hard, clear day. Stonnall, Wall and Hammerwich positively glowed in the cold winter sunshine.

I’ve needed this for so long.

May 30th – As is traditional on a day when you have a new camera to try out, the light was crap. It was dull and overcast and less than inspiring – but the views over the Brownhills and Shenstone countryside were green and lush.

That limpid-looking pool is a surface drainage lagoon for the M6 Toll. You’d never know to look at it.

April 19th – I still wasn’t feeling great, and added to which I was having trouble with the computer, so I slid out on a changeable, but mostly sunny afternoon for a scoot over to Chasewater, Lichfield, Wall, Chesterfield and back home. It cheered me up no end – the oilseed rape was just coming into flower, and it was one of those high-contrast days that make for dramatics skies and nice photos.

I love how the tulip looks like it’s got a tiny, tarantula-type creature inside.