Tag: leaves

November 5th – In Shenstone, a timely reminder of the season. The roads were thick with leaf pulp, caused by the action of traffic on fallen leaves. It looks muddy, but it’s also soapy and greasy. Hitting this goop on road tyres can be a sobering experience as it’s apt to steal your wheels from under you; the balsam and sap mix to form a lubricant that remains, even after the debris is removed, so take care anywhere where there are overhanging trees – from up on the Chase, to residential suburbia. 

October 31st – I cycled to Darlaston in soft, warm drizzle. The rain couldn’t make up its mind to stay or go, and just hovered in an indecisive, grey mizzle that painted most things I saw shades of murky grey. However, it’s time to point out that despite the grey, your local parks right now are marvellous. Whether it’s Walsall Arboretum, Holland Park in Brownhills or as shown here, Victoria Park in Darlaston, the trees are really showing great colours right now that can brighten the most dull days.

My has is tipped to those who work so hard to maintain them. Thanks, folks.

October 23rd – Strategic mistake. I left Leicester early, and hopped on the first train out of Birmingham I could. I ended up cycling from Shenstone against a fearsome, grinding headwind. Although the lanes are taking on the beauty of autumn at last, this was a hard ride and I didn’t really appreciate the dry, sunny ride at the time.

So far, this has been a week of very grim commuting.

October 8th –  more pleasing spot right now is just up the road from the old Wheel Inn, at Anchor Bridge. The open space here is dotted with an assortment of mature trees, from willows to birches, poplars to ash. They are handsome any time of year, but right now, they are spreading the grass with a variety of colour. With the canal adjacent, but for the roar of the nearby traffic you could be in a great park…

September 26th – Further up the canal at Pelsall Road, I noticed what appeared to be oil on the surface of the canal. I was quite concerned as I approached, but I realised as I got closer that the scum is in fact a mixture of leaf-litter and other seed debris that had fallen onto the surface of the water. There must be physical reasons why it all seems to clump in one place…

September 20th – On my return from Shenstone, tired and feeling down, I noticed that the trees along Lynn Lane were turning colour, and everything, including the surrounding, freely ploughed fields, was looking very autumnal. The colder, shorter days are coming now, and it’s hard to feel positive. I hate the nights closing in.

October 17th – I noticed today in Redditch that the leaf fall had started in anger. With the buffeting winds, there was a large amount of leaf-litter on the roads and cycle paths. This is fun and beautiful right now, but something to beware of when the rains come, as they are scheduled to this evening. The first significant rainfall and subsequent traffic will mulch nature’s debris into a slimy, soapy goop that can whip your wheels from under you. Fellow cyclists, beware of this treacherous, slippery and often unexpected hazard.

September 25th – We seem to be being blessed with a gorgeous spell of beautiful weather – this warm, sunny and dry indian summer is really accelerating the leaves turning. I noticed on my way home from work that even mundane places – like this normally ordinary spot in Shelfield where the old railway used to run – is rendered gorgeous in it’s seasonal hues of gold, green and brown. Long may it continue!