Thursday, September 24th 2020 – This healthy horse has made me smile a few times of late. Passing it at Newtown, on the A5 Watling Street in North Brownhills, it dwells in a small paddock between the footpath and canal.
I often see it atop the steep bank, craning through the fence to get to the grass on the footpath edge.
The horse is friendly and always enjoys a nuzzle when you stop and say hello.
Gorgeous animal. But I’ll never understand horses.
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February 28th – A day with two of the harshest commutes I’ve ever known – both sub zero, both punctuated by snowstorms and ferocious winds.
On the way to work, I followed the canal somewhat unusually for me, all the way down through Moxley, and on the way noted the dagger-like icicles on Scarborough Road Bridge in Pleck, and the hardiness of the animals I saw – mainly birdlife defying Dry Marland’s IC scale, but also a sad but stoical horse tethered by the Black Country Route. At least it had plenty of hay to eat, poor thing.
Snow squalls came and went, but during them, visibility was poor. I don’t think I’ve ever known commuting on a bike this hard. The winter as it moved on from Christmas has been bloody endless.
Enough already.
June 20th – A day of errands in the Black Country and plenty of riding the canals, green and limpid as they always are in summer, and alive with life, from the Wednesbury mother and foal to the bugs in the cowparsley.
The pink flowers are stunning and I spotted them on the way home in Harden, just on the canal bank there. Does anyone know what they are? they’re absolutely gorgeous.
May 14th – A gorgeous warm run out to Fradley, Barton, Rosliston and Syerscote was just the tonic I needed. I didn’t take many photos – sometimes, you just don’t – but the landscape was beautiful, particularly the river section of the Trent and Mersey Canal at Alrewas, where this most utilitarian of canals kisses the Trent.
I noted also a beautiful red horse chestnut in full bloom in the sheep pasture by Wychnor Church. Those really are lovely flowers.
I really enjoyed the sun on my back today.
January 10th – Sadly, my commuting life right now isn’t terribly varied. I’m seeing a lot of dark urbanity, stations, later and earlier. Apologies. Finding variance in a busy January when you don’t see much daylight is always hard.
Passing through Birmingham New Streetin the evening, I found myself at the same platform as the steel horse sculpture that forms the first in a chain of 12 along the line side to Wolverhampton.
Erected in 1987 and designed by Kevin Atherton, the Iron Horse project put similar horses in different motion positions alongside an urban railway line, to appear as if the train you were on was losing a race with a horse. Some jump, some buck, canter or trot. They are warm, lifelike, and softly amusing.
They have fared well and not dated, and are one of the great curiosities of Birmingham and the Black Country.
July 11th – Today I noticed an odd little curiosity I’d not spotted before. On the canal at Clayhanger Bridge, the rope guards that were installed on the original bridge were transferred to it’s replacement in 1994.
These rusting metal posts were originally at the vertices of the brickwork on the towpath side of the underbridge. Back when narrowboats were horse drawn, the guards were fitted so that the horse towropes would not groove the brickwork, but the metal instead. The years of boats passing wore deep grooves in the metal, which are a sort of historical witness to the traffic that once passed under here.
There are very few horse-drawn boats now, and the posts are merely there as an artefact. I note they were fitted slightly incorrectly in that they no longer protect the corners, and their positions have been exchanged (the wear would be on the right hand side of the post in the picture) – but well done to those who rebuilt this bridge two decades ago for preserving a little bit of industrial canal history.
How have I not spotted this before?
May 22nd – Another good riding day, but I was a bit tired, and didn’t go as far as I’d hoped, topping out at 55 miles. The sun was lovely, but a sudden gusty wind between about 2:30 and 3:30 was puzzling and difficult. I went up around Blithfield Reservoir, called into Abbots Bromley for tea and remarkable cake, then up to Newborough and back through the Needwood Valley.
The stunning work of Oldrid Scott on that amazing church never ceases to amaze.
The views and hedgerows are beautiful right now – but does anyone know what the pink-flowered tree is? It’s like a horse chestnut tree, but different. It’s absolutely lovely.
March 25th – A great Good Friday ride. I slipped out at lunchtime and headed through Caldwell to Longdon, then through Rugeley, Stockwell Heath and Blithfield to a cake stop near Abbots Bromley; then over to Hoar Cross, back through the Needwood Valley and Lichfield.
It wasn’t a very warm day, and in truth, was very breezy, but the blooming spring flowers, awakening wildlife and sun-bathed scenery made this an excellent ride.
I need more of this in my life.
March 5th – I met these two interesting characters whilst returning in the morning from a trip into Walsall on an errand. I had planned to go to the annual bike jumble at Eddington, but my health was still not great and the weather – windy, with periodic showers – was so damned unpleasant, I just couldn’t be doing with it. Which is sad, but we usually get a better day for it.
Tacking into the wind, I decided to try the cycleway down the Goscote Valley on the way back, which was a bit of a mistake. Nipping down Cartridge lane to join the cycleway, both the donkey and horse were stood by the fence, so I said hello. The donkey was grumpy and walked away, but the horse happily had his nose stroked and seems sad when I made to go.
That donkey is a lovely animal, but I don’t think it likes me very much!
May 16th – Second day running with a decent ride, although the weather was quite heavy going on the way back with a nasty headwind. The sun was out though, and I made a good average speed.
I headed to Coton in the Elms via Lichfield, Whitemoor Haye and Catton, and returned via Lullington, Edingale, Harlaston, Weefor and Shenstone. Everywhere was green and springlike, and the countryside as beautiful as ever.
Try as I might, I still can’t get over the sight of horses in fly masks. I know they can see though them, and that otherwise, flies drive horses mad; but they do so look like wannabe equine superheroes.
A fine ride.
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