April 15th – Always nice to spot the first mallard chicks of the season and these today were spotted near Bently Bridge in Darlaston.
Clearly new hatchlings, these energetic and busy little ducklings followed mum as she puttered in the reeds. There seemed to be 12 in total, but it was difficult to keep count with several stragglers!
You know it’s spring when the ducklings arrive…
This journal is moving home. Please find out more by clicking here.
from Tumblr http://bit.ly/2UZ0rzc
via IFTTT
April 14th – After a very long day, I needed to slip out for a dusk ride. Just a quick shot up the canal to Catshill and back.
My favourite tree – the majestic horse chestnut at Home Farm, Sandhills – looked soothing in the dusk, still waiting for it’s leaves to sprout forth.
It’s been a hectic weekend but it finished on a very good note.
Sometimes you just need five minutes of solitude.
This journal is moving home. Please find out more by clicking here.
from Tumblr http://bit.ly/2GmVU1d
via IFTTT
April 14th – Spotted on a morning errand, these primroses and scattered down the bank of the McClean Way, the cycle and walking route on the former South Staffordshire railway line through the heart of Brownhills, just below the Miner Island.
I remember as a child watching trains thunder through here full of coal, oil or cars. Now, the lines are lifted and after 30 years of decay, the wonderful Back the Track group led by human dynamo Brian Stringer have done an excellent job of reclaiming the permanent way for public use – and their hard work continues.
These primroses don’t seem much, but they’re a huge achievement. Take a bow, folks.
This journal is moving home. Please find out more by clicking here.
from Tumblr http://bit.ly/2UV94eb
via IFTTT
April 13th – Near Catshill on the way back, I was being watched. It took me a while to spot my observer, but puss ambled along the bank and mewed at me softly.
There’s been a marked increase in recent days of cats out and about, taking the air. It’s sure sign summer is coming when these generally quiet, studious and indolent urban flaneurs appear on the patch.
This journal is moving home. Please find out more by clicking here.
from Tumblr http://bit.ly/2IkJl92
via IFTTT
April 13th – Was going to be busy all day with family things so nipped out early to get the ride it. It was bright but cold, and on a fast run to Chasewater I came across this napping swan by Anglesey Wharf.
It tolerated me but was clearly giving me it’s undivided attention.
I bid it good morning and made a gentle exit.
This journal is moving home. Please find out more by clicking here.
from Tumblr http://bit.ly/2GfVE2T
via IFTTT
April 12th – Returning home was hard tonight. Tired, into the wind, and again, that biting, horrible windchill finding every slightly undone zip and gap in clothing. I ached, my body was weary and mentally, I was on my limits.
Just to get out of the traffic and find a bit of peace, I took to the canal between the Black Cock Bridge and Pier Street. Resting a while at Catshill Junction, I noticed how much greener everything was.
I was nearing home. Rest, food, and copious mugs of tea were within sight. Spring is carrying on despite the cold and it’s going to be gorgeous when the warmth finally arrives.
This journal is moving home. Please find out more by clicking here.
from Tumblr http://bit.ly/2UvtSt8
via IFTTT
April 12th – Mindful Gifts secondhand shop in Darlaston, lunchtime: A selection of every kind of wooden walking stick you could wish for, each with a history and story known only to itself.
This is a wonderful shop and always a delight to mooch around – so much more interesting than a normal charity shop: It’s frenetic, frantic and stacked to the rafters with… Interesting stuff. All in aid of folk with dementia, so what’s not to love?
If I were to need a stick, I’d definitely have the one with the bicycle bell.
This journal is moving home. Please find out more by clicking here.
from Tumblr http://bit.ly/2GgdQt8
via IFTTT
April 11th – One of the odder ecological phenomena of urban Britain is the proliferation of Danish scurvy grass. This salt loving plant is what gives verges and roadsides the white fringe right now, with this hardly, pollution resistant little plant flowering.
Danish Scurvy Grass likes salt, and thrives in the ‘burn zone’ beside roads that are gritted in winter, where the roadways splashes brine onto the verge. One of the few plants not top be hindered by these hostile conditions, its white flowers can be seen by many urban roads this time of year.
There really is a place for everything it seems.
This journal is moving home. Please find out more by clicking here.
from Tumblr http://bit.ly/2UupJ8Z
via IFTTT
April 10th – Returning home late as the sun set I turned into Scarborough Road, Pleck, and caught the sun over the Walsall Canal to the west.
You wouldn’t;t think you were in the heart of a densely populated, down at heel urban area.
Our canals are like green veins in our towns and cities. They are wonderful, and part of me.
This journal is moving home. Please find out more by clicking here.
from Tumblr http://bit.ly/2v1aHIo
via IFTTT
April 10th – My second home Darlaston is looking splendid in it’s spring jacket at the Monet.
How many people hear the name and think of grimy, angry industry, smell, grim urbanisation and pollution? The reality is way, way different.
Darlaston is a beautiful little Black Country town, with astounding architecture, great parks right in the centre, and a phenomenal history.
Go look – there’s no better toime than spring.
This journal is moving home. Please find out more by clicking here.
from Tumblr http://bit.ly/2Isw79h
via IFTTT
BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking 