May 31st – A very poor photo with lousy focus, but another first for the season: My beloved beauties the orchids are coming into bloom.
They don’t last long, so keep an eye out on canal embankments, meadows and wetlands. We have a number of varieties, and these mall flowers are always tiny perfection.
The slug seemed to be enjoying them too – this example was on the bank of the new pond at Clayhanger.
May 2nd – Further up the canal, at the new pond in Clayhanger, the pear blossom is very strong and fulsome this year – since we’re now hopefully too late for a frost, we might have a decent crop this year.
The canal itself is beautiful at the moment in shades of bright green – with the rare glimpse of blue sky and such gorgeous blossom it’s possible to convince yourself that this morning had to be the last of the bad weather and summer might finally be coming…
January 17th – It was a nice day on the canal, and as I came past Lathams Bridge on the way home, I couldn’t resist a couple of peaceful shots of the waterway. The marina doesn’t seem very busy at the moment, I must say, but the view is as lovely and serene as ever. You wouldn’t think you were only tens of metres from a busy, large marl pit and a bustling chemical waste transfer and treatment facility.
The new pond at Clayhanger, this year will be thirty years mature and no longer new is looking stark but beautiful, with the last of the previous night’s snow still hanging on on the shaded bank. I wonder how many times I’ve parked my bike and sat on that bench over the years? At least ten different bikes and it must be hundreds of times. Looking at the rot, I don’t think it’ll stand many more…
June 2nd – The orchids are really prolific and pretty this year, I’m very glad to say. In many shades of blue and purple these small, dense blooms are springing up all along the canals, heaths and wetlands.
These were at the canal by the new pond in Clayhanger. Look at the markings on the petals – absolutely gorgeous.
They’re not with us for long, so get and see them while you can.
April 20th – Further on, Clayhanger Common is greening over a treat: the bench by the canal overlooking the new pond is once more watching over a sea of verdant green, and the pear tree there is in blossom, too.
Near the canal overflow, the foliage and creeper archway over the desire path onto the common there has delightfully regrown this year, and that makes me happy. It’s a lovely accidental feature of the common I don’t think anyone’s noticed much.
Spring, you’re so welcome…
June 23rd – By the new pond at Clayhanger, the pear tree I found last year seems to have a reasonable crop, but it’s under attack from something bruising or otherwise damaging the fruit.
I’ve not seen anything like this before; the pears grown here last year were small, but well formed and without blemishes.
My grandfather used to say that a late frost catching the fruit blossom would ruin a crop. I wonder if this is what that looks like – after all, we did have a late and quite heavy frost this year?
April 18th – A devil of a day beset by difficulties at work. I rode off early in the morning into an unpleasant headwind with a bad stomach and the day didn’t improve much. I was distracted on the way home by a mechanical issue, and just took these photos of the new pond at Clayhanger, which is greening up beautifully at the moment, but is suffering a little for being a hanging-out place for local kids who are littering a little.
Hopefully in a few weeks the slopes around the pool will be alive with orchids again, as they were last year. Sadly, it’s a bit too wet down there at the moment to investigate.
Repairs carried out at home, I’m hoping for a better day tomorrow – it wouldn’t be hard to achieve.
August 24th – Fruits of all kinds from berries, to nuts to pears. All in a short section of canal from Clayhanger to Brownhills on a dull, airless journey home. Nature is bountiful at the moment, and I was pleased to find the untouched windfall hazels, as here don’t seem to be many around this year. I note also the pears did quite well at Clayhanger, and the blackberries are delivering a huge crop this year.
It’s feeling a lot like autumn now.
July 6th – On an equally dull return commute, harassed by the threat of an oncoming deluge, I shot along the canal on the way home. Pausing only at the small patch of meadow – less than 100 square feet – at t eh top of the new pond at Clayhanger, I captured these midsummer soldiers: St. John’s Wort and the gorgeous thistle.
Come back sun, and make these soldiers shine!
September 15th – I headed out late morning hoping to get back before the weather closed in. I misjudged, and as I was pottering over The Swag the rain started. The marsh was great, and deserted, but almost everything was horrid shades of headache grey, the only colour being a curious orange flower growing in the brook. I headed back to Clayhanger and round the new pool, which still looks remarkably verdant for the time of year.
It felt wintry, and I felt down. There’s months of this to come and I don’t feel ready for it at all.
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