Lichfield – Page 24 – BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking

June 13th – out early to Lichfield, the rain of the previous 24 hours had only just ceased, and the roads and rooftops of Lichfield were still glistening. The weak sunlight caught them as I cycled down Pipehill and rendered them precious.

June 5th – While wandering through Lichfield on a grey afternoon, I spotted these lovely cows gracing the shopfront of the former Savers store in Dam Street. I guess that, judging by the subject and various hooks on the frontage, that this was one a butcher. Nice that the cows were retained.

May 20th – Waitrose isn’t the greatest supermarket for selection or price, and it’s certainly not the closest (although it’s only 15 minutes from here by bike), even if the do sell the best Earl Grey teabags (their own brand, surprisingly enough) – so why shop there? Easy. They give a shit about people on bicycles. Secure parking right outside the front window – so you can watch your steed whilst browsing, and free cycle trailer hire, too for those big shops.

All the other local stores don’t care – Tesco Brownhills has no cycle provision whatsoever, and at Morrisons in Burntwood and Aldridge it’s tucked out of sight, as is the cycle shelter at the new Tesco store in Lichfield. Haven’t found the one at Tesco Walsall yet….

May 20th – Shopping trip to Waitrose, in Lichfield, early evening. Pleased to see I can still make it up Castlehill Road from Stonnall with fully loaded panniers without stopping. The light had a peculiar quality today, liquid, golden and gorgeous.

I’m noticing a lot of interesting but everyday architecture lately.

May 9th – Following a post on the Lichfield Lore blog (of which more later on The Brownhills Blog), today on my way home I visited the gazebo folly on Borrowcop Hill, Lichfield. A fascinating thing, to be sure, with good views – I was hoping to watch the impeding storm arrive. Sadly, it never came, but some nice landscape shots in the meantime.

May 7th – I don’t know much about Knowle Hill, near Lichfield. Perhaps this is one for the Lichfield Lore blog, but I suspect it to be some kind of tumulus. Standing on the ridge at the side of the railway, the farm at it’s foot overlooks flat plains to the southeast.

This odd outcrop is a familiar sight to anyone who regularly catches trains on the Cross City Line to or from Lichfield, which passes nearby.

May 1st – a punishing ride into Lichfield to check out the Lichfield Festival Market. A ride that normally takes 15 minutes, with some excellent downhill bits – took twice as long. The exttra wobble perceptible in this footage is caused by the wind.

April 30th – The wind was so strong from the northeast that the usual descent from Aldershawe into ye olde city was more like a crawl. Stopping by the old lodge house at the northern gate, I noticed a view I hadn’t stopped to take in for years; the old lady of the vale in all her three-spired glory. Worth battling the wind for, and it did blow me back up Pipe Hill.

April 14th – From the quarry entrance on the Chester Road at Shire Oak, the view towards the central Staffordshire plains is fascinating. On this murky day, only the Lady of the Vale and her sister spires could be easily seen, with a mere suggestion of the warehouses at Fradley in the distance. In the foreground, Sandhills, Springhill, Summerhill and Pipehill roll and fall, a patchwork of texture and spring colour.

April 10th – Low sun dapples the small, poolside copse on the Aldershawe Estate at Claypit Lane. This evening was more like late summer than early spring. It’s impossible not to love this countryside.