Tag: Lichfield

February 9th – I’d seen the little dog at Waitrose before – tethered to the trolley rail, he waits patiently and forlornly for his master. He’s a gorgeous little dog, but he does look so very sad. I could have taken him home.

The cat, on the other hand, clearly found me nothing more that a curiosity. Sat on a shed roof in Wall, he was surveying the comings and goings in the road below, and seemed a bit peeved that I’d spotted him. I think we met a couple of weeks before in the churchyard. He’s a lovely friendly boy.

There’s more than a hint of the Cheshire cat about the marmalade fellow, I think…

February 9th – The day was pretty grey, really, but had it’s moments. Fed up of the mud and slurry of recent haunts, I cycled down into Lichfield to pick up some shopping, and I returned via the back lanes around Wall.

The winter panorama of Hammerwich was stunning, but the wind was evil, and it blew me down Pipehill at a fearsome speed. Passing through Sandfields, I stopped to look at the Pumping Station, an architectural gem marooned in a sea of modern mundanity. I wish the preservation campaign every success.

At Wall, as the sun was beginning to set, I found my first snowdrops of the year growing in the churchyard.

Spring will come, I can feel it now. It wasn’t dark until gone 5:30pm..

January 31st – It was a day of ups and downs. I had to get to the dentist, which is never pleasant, but the morning was decent, and the long awaited arrival of a new computer was good news. The weather turned about lunchtime, and cleared a little around 6pm. It’s really hard at the moment to find decent photographic subjects in a wet, grey or dark landscape. I find myself really craving spring right now.

I went down to Stonnall, and experimented with long exposures without a great deal of success. The long-distance shot from the quarry gates was interesting enough – although out of focus – to feature here. I did like the ones down onto Main Street, but others I took of the Chester Road were useless.

Some days are just to dark to do anything with.

January 19th – On the way back, I passed Chesterfield Lodge on Raikes Lane. It always looks so peaceful and welcoming at night, but on Victorian maps, this was marked as a workhouse. Whether it was this actual building or a predecessor, I never quite worked out. I’m still hoping Kate Cardigan of Lichfield Lore might weave some of her investigative magic here and find out the truth one day.

It’s an absolutely gorgeous house, that’s for sure.

January 18th – At the cycle jumble, I picked this hardback book for a fiver. Published in 1991, it has some great curiosities within about the origin of cycling and cycle culture. I spent an hour or two chuckling over it last night.

I’m pleased to see the Hobby Horse noted. So many cyclists, me included, have them. Sad to see the ancient cycle touring arts of skinflinting and grudge honing are not mentioned, though…

January 18th – Today, I popped down to Lichfield’s first bicycle jumble. I love a good bric-a-brac sale like this, and Erdington is on my list every year. I arrived at the Martin Heath Hall fashionably late, when things were well underway. It was banging. Loads of folk there, and not just the old nodders like me, but youngsters, fixie kids, tourers and hipsters. Loads of stalls, good tea, and plenty to tyre kick and haggle over. I actually spent more than a tenner, too, which is unusual for me. 

It was good to see Vickers Bicycles here too – their Lichfield made roadsters are a modern classic, as was the rather new-looking Charge fixie parked up outside.I loved the vintage lighting – from acetylene to Ever Ready, and I was seriously considering the Sturmey Archer five-speed hub gear (note the two cables).

A fine hour or so in the company of other cyclists, and my compliments to the organiser, Martin Cartwright. Lets hope for many more!

December 29th – One of my favourite sets of Christmas lights is a simple run of coloured bulbs along Minster Pool in Lichfield. When I came here before Christmas, I was sad to see that weren’t on; fortunately, it appears to have been a fault, and the wonderful LichWheeld told me they were on the following day.

I returned, just to see them. I think the combination of light and reflection is magical. It’s my inner child coming out.

December 22nd – Last Thursday, I recorded the former Shoulder of Mutton pub, lathery a restaurant, as being boarded up and derelict. Things seem to move fast in these parts, as today when I passed, the pub wasn’t open, but the boards had been removed and lights were on.

Anyone have a clue whats going on?

Reader Andy Colman said in response to the original post:

I was just thinking that my abiding memory of this pub is the smell riding past it on club runs and then you stated the same thing. Maybe if we’d popped in from time to time ?

Andy, you’re probably right. The trouble I have is that often, I pass establishments like this, and The Trooper et al, and wonder if they’re still really pubs, and would they welcome a cyclist? It’s a bit of a vicious circle, I guess.

December 19th – I see the Italian restaurant the the former Shoulder of Mutton had brome on the outskirts of Lichfield has closed. I noted this with some surprise, as I thought this was a popular, decent place to eat. I seem to recall the signs outside proclaiming awards for quality. It always smelled delicious when I passed, too.

Sadly, now it’s just another empty, boarded up pub. Hope someone can rescue it. Tragic.

December 6th – I finished work early, and headed to Lichfield to get some shopping in. The weather was horrid – a constant not-quite-rain that soaked everything all the same and painted the city in shades of miserable.

I quite enjoyed it, all the same. Lichfield is quite Christmassy, but for me the magic here at this time of year is exemplified by Dam Street after the crowds have receded. 

Sad to see there’s no lights up along Minster Pool this year – they normally look wonderful.

Sadly, at that point, the camera battery died. Think I might need a new one…