Tag: overcast

January 22nd – I couldn’t think where to go, so I just took turn after turn following my nose. I ended up doing two laps of the backlanes around Stonnall and Shenstone which was nice enough, and seeing the feeble light die and the house lights come on was strangely comforting.

I love these lanes. They have been my companion, my constant, unwavering friend, confidante and riding partner for 35 years or more. I know them so well, and sometimes, when the atmosphere or weather isn’t great, just riding loops of these familiar byways is enough. 

Sometimes, you stick to the reassuringly familiar.

July 21st – It’s been a great week of commuting so far. Sunny and warm, without too much wind. I felt the sun on my face, and everything had that great summer air about it you only get in during really warm spells.

This evening, however, was different; it was ten degrees C cooler than on Monday, and the skies were grey. As I neared Brownhills, it began to spot with rain, and I raced home to avoid the thunderstorm we were surely due.

It never came, and neither did the rain.

It’s been a great few sunny days, and if the summer would like to return, I for one will make it very welcome indeed…

June 17th – I came through Chesterfield near Stonnall in the afternoon and the skies were very threatening, yet failed to deliver their apparently evil intent.

Equally menacing was the murder of crows, calling and chattering from the overhead lines. It was very Hitchcock.

I hurried home before the storm arrived… be it inclement weather or angry corvids.

April 15th – I had a late meeting in Birmingham, and the weather was grey and wet. Unusually, though, this didn’t dampen my enthusiasm for the city, which never looks good on a grey day. Finishing my task, I went for a mooch around the city centre and spotted this brutalist gem hiding in plain sight in New Street. 

Architecturally, it seems a mix of brutalism and a kind of stilted, controlled art deco. I have a feeling it’s more modern than it’s appearance belies.

Does anyone know anything about it or who the architect was? It’s quietly stunning.

April 9th – A short spin from Brownhills to Newtown and back was under the most peculiar spring weather – bright sunshine but with a dark and very threatening sky, To catch it’s glory I came back from Newtown along the canal to Brownhills, and was fascinated by the eastern skies.

This place is beautiful. Never let anyone tell you different. Even when the weather is poor.

April 5th – It was quite clear from the view over to Wednesbury from where I pulled over to answer a call in Kings Hill that Bill’s Mother now lived that way on – it was looking mighty black over there. 

The sunlight that remained, though, caught the twin sisters a mile away and reminded me why I love this most urban of views.

A real Black Country vista.

March 19th – Chasewater matched my mood, grey, flat and dull… But of course, it had a certain desolate charm. I noted the reservoir was still overflowing and the flowing water in the spillway was attracting a variety of wildlife – early bugs were circulating in the air, which in turn were catching the attention of wagtails and other small birds. As I took photos, a kestrel hovered, searching the wetland for anything small, squeaky and edible.

Oddly, while I was there, I didn’t see a solitary soul.

February 27th – A grey, murky day with little merit, which was OK really as I was so unwell I could barely make it out until late afternoon. I potter in the usual canal loop from Pier Street up to Wharf Lane and back down the Parade. I barely saw a soul. It was very cold, and the light terrible.

I’m so unused to typical February weather this year, when it happens, it’s an unpleasant shock…

February 21st – Another grim, grey and periodically wet day that had started reasonably well, but by the time I was able to escape, had descended into grey intemperance. I headed out to Chasewater and found the water level still rising, but the place was largely deserted and the lake very choppy indeed. This place was hostile today.

The only bright thing here was the gorse, which is strongly in flower all around the park. Such vivid, bright yellow. A real joy.

November 29th – An early afternoon loop up to Chasewater of a warm but blowy day caught me in the rain once more. The canal was deserted and everything looked grey; Chasewater was little better. 

The wind was such that it drove groups of swans into the shallows over by the dam for shelter, and they didn’t look very happy about it; even the gulls loafed idly in the shallows.

I’m fed up of this weather. There has to be better spell on the horizon. This is grinding me down and making photography very hard!