March 13th – I’m trying to not work such long hours, and leave work a little earlier.
This meant a commute home in daylight, and so I took the canal from the Black Cock Bridge to Anchor Bridge, which was remarkably wet and muddy.
Catching the sunset over Catshill Junction though made the journey home battling with hostile crosswinds worthwhile.
Hope the wind abates soon.
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March 13th – A very windy, unpleasant day, but I had to pop to Tipton.
On the way, in Wednesbury’s Brunswick Park, I spotted this patch of grape hyacinths, tiny blue flowers that are one of my favourites in spring. Their composition – of multiple, tiny bell-like flowers is fascinating and one of the joys of the season.
I note also now that the crocuses are finished, a real sign of they year’s progression. Christmas now seems an age ago…
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March 12th – I noticed a couple of weeks ago there seemed to be new bike parking at WalsalL Station, but only got around to investigating it this evening.
It’s in a curious, newly built compound off platform one, and isn’t like the secure hubs at other stations, which are lockable and really deter the casual thief. This is a decent enough stacking stand, with a tethered tool station nearby which is, I guess, a nice touch.
It clearly isn’t secure though, despite the claims it’s monitored by CCTV. A new looking bike lies in one station, stripped and trashed.
I’d rather leave my bike locked on Park Street – and the disclaimers are very off-putting too.
This is nothing more than lip service by West Midlands Trains, a company I’m rapidly coming to dislike.
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March 11th – I had time to spare so hopped onto the restored canal at Droitwich for a mooch. Just under the railway bridges in the last entry, I noticed this relic of the Ordnance Survey.
Flush Bracket 480 is one of a range of such brackets intended as mapmaker’s datums, the slots in which were for mounting surveying equipment at a known datum – in this case 28.7490m above sea level (the Newlyn Datum).
Now redundant as cartographer’s aids, these are more a historical curiosity than anything else, but I still get a buzz from spotting them in the wild.
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March 11th – A trip to Droitwich made a pleasant change.It’s not often I come out here these days – the younger folk in the team generally do it those jobs now, but sometimes I like to pay a call for the adventure of it.
Droitwich Station is interesting – the line here hints at a much busier past, with derelict sidings and a large signal box, but today the line is pretty sleepy and rural.
I’m interested to see that here, old mechanical semaphore signals are still in use, which always seem terrifically heath Robinson to me. They are a masterpiece of rods, wires, rollers and mechanical interlocking and it’s a wonder how they keep working so long.
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March 10th – Despite the generally rather dry winter, Chasewater continues to fill after the rain of the last few weeks, and the slow rise is evident at the Nine-Foot pool.
Elsewhere on the lake, there were no watersports and next to nobody around, and the fierce, indefatigable wind kept all by the hardy away. But for all that the light was beautiful and the air at least made me feel a bit better.
I look forward to calmer, warmer weather.
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March 10th – Some days you look at the photos you’ve taken and wonder if the camera experienced the same thing you did. Today was that kind of day.
I slipped out mid afternoon. I had things to check up on. I felt rough, I needed the air. But it was bitterly cold, had periodically been snowing, and there was a very wolfish wind that punished for any open zip or gap in clothing.
The towpaths and trails were muddy and wet, but I headed for the common anyway, and found it looking good. The heathland management is still going on here and the latest effort has been using and excavator to pull pack the grass in small squares all over the common.
This will help small, fragile plants take a hold and also give bugs and other small creatures access to fresh earth.
Looking at the pictures, I notice how blue the sky looks and how serene it appears. It was really rather unpleasant. My camera is lying.
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March 9th – A terrible long range photo in awful light but a huge herd of red deer were loafing in the fields near Gains Lane, between Pelsall and Great Wyrley. In total I think somewhere around 40 animals were there in total – more were appearing from the scrub behind as I watched.
Wonderful to see of course but only a short distance from the M6 Toll, the A5 and a major junction complex.
It’s great to see the deer around but I do worry about them.
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March 9th – Nipping over to Great Wyrley on an errand, I hopped onto the canal at Silver Street which was, quite frankly a mistake – the towpaths were waterlogged and muddy.
However, I was pleased to spot at the marina just by Tesco a goosander pair who seemed quite at home with the Canada geese watching on.
These fish eating birds are fascinating, beautiful and hard to photograph as they move and dive quickly.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen any in this spot before.
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March 8th – By the time I got to Brownhills, it was late and dark. I didn’t mind though – the rain had stopped and I wasn’t far from a hot shower, fish and chips and a big mug of tea.
The keen wind was drying things out an on the lonely but familiar Black Path, I reflected on what a hard week it had been , and how glad I was that it was over.
Some weeks you’re glad just to survive to see the end of them.
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