April 26th – The cowslips on Clayhanger Common are beautiful too, and being my favourite flowers of all, it’s great to see them so healthy and profuse.
That one particular flowerhead is a stunner.
This spot is where I spread cowslip seed from my pockets in 2014. Nice to see it took hold.
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April 26th – Following my note on finding some lovely yellow archangel flowers in Footherley a few days ago, I need that it was a member of the nettle family – and to prove the similarity, the dead nettles are looking gorgeous on Clayhanger Common at the moment.
The flowers and leaves are similar – the colour is the big difference though.
These nettles – which have no sting, hence the name ‘dead nettle’ – have very sweet, tasty nectar which can be sucked from a plucked flower, but probably best to find some above dog pee height before trying it out…
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April 25th – The weather is grim again – it’s cold with periodic heavy showers and I’m wondering what happened to spring – then, returning from Lichfield I realise that spring is still here and ongoing.
Looking over Sandhills from the Lichfield Road towards Ogley Hay over the green growth of a new crop and trees in fresh leaf, just peaking above the treetops, the spire of St James chChurch in Brownhills.
A lovely sight and a reminder that the weather will soon be better.
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April 24th – I returned in heavy rain in the afternoon to Telford Station.
Ten million pounds spaffed by Network Rail and Telford and Wrekin Council on a structure so poor that has no solution to rainwater control other than holes drilled in its deck. Water spouting down onto the platform below, flooding it’s own lift shaft.
The designers and commissioners of this fiasco should be ashamed.
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April 24th – I’m not working too much this week, but had to go to Telford for a meeting. On my way to Hortonwood but also having need to visit Stafford Park, I passed this stunning line of ornamental cherry trees in Blossom along the motorway.
Industrial estates like this never get much attention – but those trees are relatively undisturbed and the margins, edgelands and verges of places like this are relatively undisturbed havens for everything from pollinators to fungi.
Bravo to the people that planted these trees. A gorgeous sight in an unexpected place.
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April 23rd – Also yellow in Footherley, but less dramatically so, was the yellow archangel.
A gorgeous member of the nettle family, this fascinating plant is beloved by bees and looks stunning. I only became aware of what it actually was last year and it’s captivated me ever since.
A lovely wild tower.
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April 23rd – A day of bike maintenance, then a run late afternoon to Shenstone on an errand. The weather was changing; it was colder and the sky looked threatening.
However, the spring colours, although muted in the grey light, didn’t disappoint. The oilseed rape between Shenstone and Footherley was gorgeous and the path through it to the woods magical.
Refreshing on a grey day.
Hope the sunshine returns soon.
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April 22nd – The floating market, despite it’s diminutive size was lovely. Ice creams were had, and I browsed canal ephemera and craft products for an hour or two.
But what made the event – and what always does with these things – were the dogs.
Boater dogs are the best dogs.
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April 22nd – Another tough ride but very enjoyable for Bank Holiday Monday – out for a potter to the floating market at Great Haywood at the back of Shugborough.
It was lovely: I must confess though, I was expecting a bigger, more varied event; although it was lovely it was pretty much the same as Fazeley had been a few years ago. It would me nice to see some different traders.
I took a tough route up through Goosemoor Green and Dollymaker Hill, then over George’s Hayes and Red Hill. On my return I came through Shugborough – which currently have a wonderful herd of longhorns – and back over Cannock Chase.
A great 40 mile bimble but I was still suffering.
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April 21st – Of course, the sunset was yet to come and it was a sign of my slothiness that I caught it on the canal at Newtown, Brownhills.
The colours of the day were beautiful, the colours of the sunset were stunning.
Sometimes, recovery is not in what you do, but what you see.
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