Tag: Lammas

March 8th – Passing again from Shenstone in daylight, I stopped to take in The Little Holms, the western end of Shenstone’s Lammas Land, a public space that runs along the whole upper side of the village from rear the pumping station to the Birmingham Road, along the Footherley Brook.

This lovely spot gives a great view of the Victorian pump house, still in use with twin 200 horsepower electric pumps. With a storage reservoir underneath, this facility feeds Barr Beacon reservoir, and keeps Walsall and North Birmingham fed with clean water from it’s boreholes.

Brought into use in 1892, it pumps water from a 131 feet deep, 12 foot diameter well, with a 597 foot heading. The steam pump was retired in 1957, and now a 60 horsepower submersible well pump tops up a 10,000 gallon tank under the pumphouse.

After treatment there, water is pumped by 200 horsepower pumps up to Barr Beacon reservoir for distribution. These pumps can supply 1,500,000 gallons per day, and are backed up by emergency generators.

The cottages were originally for the workers, but I think they’re private now. I love the attic conversion in the end one – that gable wind is gorgeous.

August 13th – I left near lunchtime for a hopefully long, sunny ride; but although the day was temperate, the sun soon disappeared and I found no energy in my tank. I contented myself with a slow bible up to Chasewater, back to Stonnall, Shentone, Little Hay, Hints, Tamworth and up the canal to Hpwas and Whittington, before returning via Lichfield and Wall.

On the way, I passed through the Lammas Land at Shenstone – a lovely bit or parkland by the Footherley Brook, and noted the bizarre ‘shining stone’ sculpture was still resident in the stream for all the world looking like robot excrement.

Shenstone Park is still as beautiful as ever, with it’s carefully tended verges and rolling farmland, and I also noted the surprisingly voluptuous scarecrow is still scaring the crows at Fazeley.

A decent ride, but I really wasn’t feeling like it.