August 20th – Much as I hate the current fad for obsessively mowing the canal towpaths, I quite like that they seem to be leaving the reed beds alone for now (although I don’t doubt they’ll be next).
Here near the Pelsall Road in Brownhills, they are little oases of disparate species, havens for insects and other wildlife.
And they just look really, really good.
Do we have to keep cutting everything back? Put the mowers away!
July 9th – I wasn’t particularly late back, but the golden hour seemed to settle in early, on a peaceful, mirror calm Catshill Junction. The new flats have balconies now, but still no sign of anything being done with the scrub and statue on the canal bank.
On the towpath side, the buggers don’t seem to stop mowing at the moment – I’ve never known a year like it. It’s almost as if the moment an interesting flower pops up it must be cut down.
It never used to be like this. I’m convinced it’s just so the Canal and River Trust can look like they’re pro active whilst ignoring real infrastructure issues.
June 29th – I’m loving the orchids this year – they seem to have been becoming steadily more profuse over the past few years. I make no apology for repeatedly featuring them, for they are remarkable flowers, and this year they face a herculean struggle to avoid the rigid, inflexible Canal & River Trust mowing schedule, which has seen many fine blooms wiped out.
They’re only here for a short few weeks. Keep your eye out for that flash of vivid purple in the grass – there are several different varieties locally. This one is near Pier Street Bridge in Brownhills.
May 1st – There are some things that Walsall Council does really well, and one of those things is generally their grass cutting and greenspace management. However, something has gone horribly wrong. I was heartbroken this morning to see that the top grass cutting operative delegated the task of mowing the verges in Shelfield along the A461 Lichfield Road has mown off all the daffodils. As many gardeners will know, after flowering, daffs absorb nutrients back out of the foliage to develop the bloom within the bulb for next year. Cutting off the tops will prevent that happening, and next year’s plants will grow blind – without blooms. Cheers, mate, I really owe you one. Not.
Those flowers are usually beautiful, and a welcome splash of spring colour in a drab urban landscape. Now, they’ve been wrecked for next year. What an idiot.
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