Tag: moxley

November 20th – I’ve seen herons do many odd things in my time cycling the canals. They are distinctly eccentric birds, who clearly operate to their own rules and desires.

But I’ve never had one so determinedly turn it’s back on me before. It is absolutely, unquestionably giving me the shoulder.

I presume it’s annoyed because I disturbed a fishing session.

Well, pardon me, fishbreath…

November 20th – The last shreds of daylight, heading between Tipton and Moxley on the canal in an overcast, damp Black Country late autumn Monday. You’d think this would be depressing, but it wasn’t; despite the awful light, the drizzle and relentless oncoming darkness, fallen leaves dappled the canal. Peace reigned. There was colour fighting through the gloom. And what else?

Peace and quiet.

This’ll do. It’s not exactly winning, but it’s definitely breaking even.

June 20th – A day of errands in the Black Country and plenty of riding the canals, green and limpid as they always are in summer, and alive with life, from the Wednesbury mother and foal to the bugs in the cowparsley. 

The pink flowers are stunning and I spotted them on the way home in Harden, just on the canal bank there. Does anyone know what they are? they’re absolutely gorgeous.

March 30th – The wolfish, windy days continue, but at least it was warm and sunny. After battling the wind from work into Tipton, I returned with it thankfully behind me. Crossing the Black Country Route near Moxley, I noticed the hint of spring in this favourite view of the church.

Just a hint of green. Soft sunlight, A blue sky. This’ll do.

February 21st – Unfortunately, I forget my camera so just one picture for today, and that’s not brilliant, sorry.

I had to nip into Tipton on a day with an evil southwesterly, and crossing theBlack Country New Road at Moxley, I was once again captivated by that marooned, beautiful church – like Wood Green, and a host of others in the conurbation, urban churches are often extant on odd islands or spurs as road systems grow around them.

Thirty years ago, this view would have been completely different.

I love that these wonderful buildings are preserved and they’re like lighthouses to the past in the changing landscape.

December 19th – Near the Black Country Route in Moxley, the moss on this old hawthorn buss fascinates me. Although, to be fair, it could be lichen… like fellow hugely complex organisms fungi, mosses and lichens are fascinating, intricate and a world away from conventional plants.

The colours alone are stunning. I wonder why this particular bush?

December 15th – The cotoneaster this year seems to have not been doing so well. These bright red berries, beloved of blackbirds, are normal evident in profusion along urban towpaths, footpaths and cycleways, but for some reason are heavily planted on industrial estates.

This huge bed at Moxley is normally a sea of red-orange at this time of year, with a permanent fluster of wings and beaks. But not this year; I’d say the crop is abut 30 percent of it’s normal size.

Whilst my grandfather used to say ‘it’s always a good year for something’ I guess the reverse is true and this just wasn’t the cotoneaster’s year.I hope it’s not cold otherwise the blackbirds may struggle.

December 9th – Near the canal at Moxley, Darlaston, I found these fascinating fungi – I’d stopped to undertake a quick mechanical adjustment, and had I not been crouched fiddling with the bike, I’d never have seen the rosy earthstars and what I assume from guides is some kind of pterula multifida living well in the under hedge leaf litter.

It just goes to show what wonders go unseen in our everyday environment.