Tag: Lichfield

#365daysofbiking Ever falls the twilight

January 12th – I made it to Lichfield in good time, thankfully, and had a 30 minutes to mooch around the city at twilight with my companion.

The classic Stowe Pool twilight shot is always too good to resist, even though it’s a local cliche.I don’t think I’ll ever tire of it.

The heron on Minster Pool was a rare treat, as were the chimneys of Leomansley.

It was a day of dramatic skies, and until the English winter cold kicked in, a beautifully springlike afternoon.

Dare I dream?

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#365daysofbiking Facing rock

January 11th – I needed to collect something in Burntwood, then get something else in Lichfield. I was delayed. The wind was horrific and it rained on me. And when I got to Lichfield, the place I needed to go had closed early and I was thwarted. One of those days.

Hurrying down Abnalls Lane to Lichfield unaware of the oncoming disappointment, I rounded a bend on this ancient Holloway to find there had been a rockfall.

It looked like it had been there a while, and was largely sandstone and vegetation from the bank; here, water has eroded the rock the lane is cut into, and the undercut eventually causes the overhang to collapse.

Surprised nobody’s come a cropper there, to be honest. It’s not lit or barriered well.

One wonders how extensive the problem is. I cycled on my way down the middle of the road, just in case…

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#365daysofbiking Into the darkness

December 22nd – I was in lichfield getting cheese and other essentials for the holiday. I started out in daylight that slid slowly into a dark, dark blue dusk.

I came back over Aldershawe and through Chesterfield which felt very festive in the dark.

That choice though, proved to be a little bit of an error, though….

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#365daysofbiking Just desserts

December 15th – The day had been OK, so far. I’d been to a cChristmas Fair at the Rugby Club, then dropped into the craft centre north of Lichfield – Curborough – for Christmas shopping. While I was there, the heavens opened, and I hadn’t got my waterproof trousers.

I partook of a nice pud at the cafe and waited for the deluge to abate. It didn’t.

Making a dash for home, I got soaked. But I still had time to take a couple of shots of Stowe Pool. Funny now to think that in 2006 I took a sunset view of that church from this point at about this time of year that really kickstarted my desire to document my rides and what I saw.

At this precise point, I couldn’t have felt less like riding a bike.

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#365daysofbiking The quiet city

December 14th – I stuff to do in Lichfield on a Saturday afternoon, so left it late to catch the gathering night.

I wasn’t disappointed.

It took me ages to work out what’s special about Lichfield City Centre after dark: It’s the lack of normal streetlights. The lights there are – on buildings, mainly – are verbally low press ion, very yellow sodium which combine with the often far more intense shop lighting to give an illusion that the streets are darker and more suffused than they are.

I notice that Ye Olde City has again been invaded by those bloody creepy, sinister nutcracker figures again. Enough to give a man nightmares.

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#365daysofbiking Crawling up a hill

November 16th – Another wet and grey day, another errand: I had to pop over to Shenstone and then to Lichfield at teatime. The wind was hell coming home and the rain sporadic. It wasn’t;t a great ride if I’m honest.

Coming back up the A461 to Shire Oak over the Summerhill motorway bridge, since there was a break in the rain, I tried a long exposure with the G5X. Interesting result, but I needed more traffic – unlikely at this time on a Saturday, to be honest.

With the wind against me, rain starting and no fuel in my tank (I’d forgotten to eat during the day) the ride uphill was not nice.

Still, it was nice to get home.

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#365daysofbiking City of ghosts

September 28th – The shopping and other errands in Lichfield took longer than anticipated and I ended up returning after dark, but it’s always nice to catch Lichfield in the dusk.

My friend was keen to practise their low light camera skills and it was truly a pleasure to try the old haunts and muses. I always love how the people in these images look almost insubstantial.

There’s a much better photo in the cathedral walk artwork but we didn’t stumble upon it – one for another night.

That old underpays – site of many an 1980s band publicity photo – is still captivating in it’s otherworldliness.

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#365daysofbiking Held to ramson

April 28th – At Pipe Hill, between Wall and Burntwood it’s nice to see the wild garlic inn bloom again.

I really love this beautiful, edible plant – sometimes known as ramsons it tastes and can be used just like a little more subtle normal garlic, and it’s scent hangs heavy around woodland, hedgerows and damp ground far and wide.

One of the most popular posts on this journal featured the glade of wild garlic that grows by the River Arrow in Redditch with over 18,000 reactions since it was posted in 2011.

It seems I’m not the only one who likes wild garlic!

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#365daysofbiking Thank you Gordon

April 2nd – One of the delights of Walsall Borough in springtime is the huge amount of daffodils on verges, in parks and other open spaces, like here on the corner of Four Crosses and Lichfield roads in Sheffield.

They are a credit to Gordon Kinnair at the council, sadly no longer with us, who was responsible for their planting.

This post is dedicated to both Gordon and his good friend Kate Goodall.

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#365daysofbiking Night ride home


February 9th – A run out to lichfield for shopping, some air, a coffee and hopefully to catch a decent sunset over Stowe Pool.

Fortunately, the sunset was dire as when I pulled out the camera, the battery was flat. Oh dear.

Returning after dark over the mortuary bridge at Summerhill on the A461I tried the camera on a couple of classic night shots. It didn’t do too bad to be honest.

I realise most of the magic is in software but it’s still remarkable how well these tiny little cameras perform.

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