Tag: Park

September 3rd – Arum Maculatum is a common sight in hedgerows and woods at this time of year. Known variously as Wild arum, Lords and Ladies, Devils and Angels, Cows and Bulls, Cuckoo-Pint, Adam and Eve and even Naked Boys, it’s a very unusual plant which sheds it’s foliage before fruiting leaving a 6 to 12 inch high column of bright orange-red berries. These berries are highly poisonous and this is the plant responsible for most hospital admissions due to accidental ingestion in the UK.

The berries contain a toxin which makes the oral tract tingle, and causes sickness and swelling of the throat. Always avoid touching it, although the temptation to do so us great, it has an almost artificial appearance that renders it grimly fascinating.

What always worries me about this plant is that it’s at a perfect height, and so brightly attractive, that young kids may be drawn to it. What yours if you’re out walking.

This example is growing, along with lots of others, on the riverbank near the Arrow Valley cycle path in Redditch.

September 2nd – I will continue to rave about the beauty of Darlaston until I have convinced the whole world how wonderful it is.

Passing through Victoria Park and past the Police Station having been knocked off course by the resurfacing, I noted the lady, content in the warm sun, lost to the world reading a book under the bolt-tree sculpture. The Police station is still a gorgeous building, and it’s leafy surrounds are the perfect setting.

It seems a world away from the Black Country, but at the same time, it’s close to the heart of it.

This is the Darlaston and Black Country I adore.

August 30th – I don’t go to Shire Oak Park nearly enough. This Local Nature Reserve, which was once a sand and gravel quarry exploiting the bunter sandstone ridge on the crest of Shire Oak Hill, is a wonderful and rare place. It’s teaming with wildlife, from rabbits to amphibians, mustelids to owls. In this sandy, sheltered enclave, deciduous trees like oaks and birch (and even the odd maple) are thriving, and the outside world seems a long way away.

The reserve is maintained by Walsall Council and on this dull Saturday afternoon, it struck me how clean and litter free the place was. Like all such spots, there’s occasional nuisance from ASB and the odd idiot, but this is a lovely, little known place.

The heather in bloom is gorgeous here, but as with everywhere else, the oaks have had a bad year, with leaf miners and a lack of acorns startlingly evident. Also, I was puzzled by the white appearance of the unrecognised shrub I spotted by the main steps. Can anyone help? Is this disease, pest or normal?

August 19th – This is Victoria Park in Darlaston, once a railway line.

This is in the centre of a heavily urbanised, industrial area in the Black Country. It is a green oasis in a sea of roads, buildings, traffic and noise. It is clean, well maintained and a credit to the town.

This is why I love this place.

August 15th – Climbing the hill from Stonnall, I passed the entry to Shire Oak Park. There was once a gate here that either got broken or stolen, I’m unclear of the exact detail. For over 12 months now, the gate has been replaced by a variety of hastily-nailed planks, torn down once to enable access for flytipping.

Now, the gate has been replaced by two removable steel bollards. 

They don’t look terribly beefy to me. But time will tell. I can’t quite get my head around how long this has taken to sort out.

April 11th – A great day up until 4pm, then all hell broke loose. I returned home late, and was doubly slain by two separate punctures. I didn’t mind too much though, as the air was warm, the sun was out and well, it could have been worse.

What better than daffodils to cheer you up? The displays this year on Walsall’s verges and greenspaces have been terrific. This patch in Shelfield has been particularly gorgeous.

My compliments and thanks to the people who plant and tend them. They cheered up one weary, beleaguered cyclist this evening.

March 16th – I was unhappy with yesterday’s frog pictures, so I thought I’d return today to Shire Oak Park and play around with the camera some more. The frog frenzy had calmed, now, and the frogs and toads that remained loafed on the surface croaking occasionally. I love these misunderstood creatures; they fascinate me. Their life is one of relative indolence; mating done for the year, they have the season ahead to eat, lounge around and prepare for hibernation. And avoid predators, or course.

I loved the little yearling on the twig, he was quite brave and didn’t hop away until I got very close.

March 1st – Cycling on NCN 535 between Witton Lakes and Brookvale Park, I noticed this culvert portal to the brook that flows through the lakes from Kingstanding to the Tame. This steelwork may look ugly and grim, but it’s a vital piece of environmental equipment: it’s called a Trash Screen and stops large items of debris from entering the culvert and causing a blockage where it would be difficult to extract. The grid traps litter, flotsam and jetsam, and can be removed easily by technicians, even in heavy flood conditions.

In the weather we’ve had, clearing trash screens is a major job for councils and the Environment Agency. Often unpleasant, but very, very necessary.

January 5th – The Lammas Land isn’t at it’s best this time of year, but it is still nice to ride along the quiet trail. Running the length of the Footherley Brook along the northern perimeter of the village, it’s a lovely community project and facility, of which the villagers are rightly proud.

I’m not sure, however, about the Shining Stone. A stainless steel sculpture standing in the brook by an old pedestrian bridge on the footpath to Ashcroft Lane, it looks like some alien dropping polluting the water. 

Put in place in 2002 and designed by artist Jo Naden, it’s said to take inspiration from the derivation of the name ‘Shenstone’, meaning shining or beautiful stone. It was stolen by metal thieves in 2010, to be found in a scrapyard in the Black Country, from whence it was returned (the material it’s made from isn’t that valuable as it happens).

The inscription reads ‘A flock of birds settle the green field re-echoes where there is a brisk bright stream’, an Irish traditional verse.

So help me god, it looks like some metallic turd. But the way the water swirls around it is fascinating.

An odd thing, to be sure.

December 11th – In the midst of an industrial Darlaston winter day, flowers. Outside the derelict, doomed Kings Hill Methodist Church, a beautiful rose grows from the scrub, bringing welcome colour on a grey day. The building is thought to have been sold to a developer, and may be under threat of demolition, which would be a shame.

Not 10 metres away, flowers of more permanence – metal poppies complete the detail on beautiful new railings, erected as part of the refurbishment of Kings Hill Park. They are gorgeous. The designer should be very proud.

Brightness can be found even on the dullest days.