Tag: Park

#365daysofbiking Hi deer:

September 30th – after a barren period of hardly seeing any, it was ace to meet the deer at Chasewater, just by the picnic area.

They expressed mild interest in me, but were not overly bothered by my presence.

It doesn’t matter how much I see of these guys – they’ll always be magical to me.

August 8th – Unusually, I was in Redditch visiting a supplier and despite the (currently rare) overcast day, I was reminded of what gorgeous, surprising corners the new town has.

Redditch gets a lot of stick – much of it deserved – for dull planning and generally being a product of postwar urban design; but where it works – Lick the respectfully preserved Church Green or the gorgeous Arrow Valley Country Park, with the time hamlet of Ipsley preserved within – it’s rather wonderful.

I actually like this place a lot. There, I said it.

July 25th – These oak knopper galls actually took me by surprise a couple of days ago, but the photos I took weren’t great, so I revisited the saplings they’re growing on today.

I spotted them on a tree near Victoria Park in Darlaston and I don’t think there’s a single normally formed acorn on that tree at all, and yet several adjacent ones have no knoppers at all.

These mutations of normal acorns are of course caused by a tiny wasp that lays eggs in the acorn buds earlier in the year. A secretion the eggs are coated in causes the acorn bud to mutate and grow in a distorted form, forming a gall, with the wasp egg at the centre. 

The larva hatches, and eats it’s way out of the gall, which provides it enough nourishment to grow to maturity.

Insect galls like this don’t hurt the tree, but of course, do affect it’s fecundity.

Isn’t nature amazing?

July 13th – I’m sad to see the huge horse chestnut trees on Stafford Park in Telford are suffering for the first time I think with leaf miner parasites. 

These tiny larva destroy the leaves of the host tree from within, and although leaving the host pretty much unharmed, they bring on an ‘early autumn’ but causing the leaves to become blotchy and brown.

It looks worse than it is, but it’s a sad end to the season for many a beautiful tree.

Hopefully the current wave of these insects will pass soon.

April 28th – I wasn’t riding a bike, but returning from an early evening meal, I spotted deer from the car on the north of Holland Park by Brownhills School. We pulled over and went to look.

Against the odds the sunset was surprisingly good and the large herd of red deer – numbering between 17-20 – were skittish but curious.

Sometimes, all you need to improve your day are good food, good company, the people you love, a decent sunset and some wildlife.

April 12th – Victoria Park in Darlaston was looking moody and dramatic as I passed back through, and I still adore the mystic bridge. 

This park isn’t doing so well for the flowers this year, sadly; the old cutting is usually a riot but there was hardly anything, mainly I think to over-enthusiastic grass cutting. 

Sad really. Darlaston does have some excellent parks and open spaces.

April 4th – A quick run across Kings Hill Park to B&Q reminded me that although the day was grey and damp, spring was getting on with the job anyway.

A hint of sunshine and this place will be an absolute riot of colour.

Gorgeous as it is, but some warm sun and happiness would really make this fabulous… I hope the weather gods are listening!

April 3rd – A better day. I set off to work in Darlaston on a pleasant, warm and sunny morning, and then rode over to Tipton at lunchtime.

I was reminded why I love this place, and what the Black Country has my heart; The view of Church Hill, Wednesbury and the twin sisters from Ocker Hill was bustling, frenetic, and yet home to me. Then at Tipton, the canalside park devoted to William Perry, the Tipton Slasher and prize fighter of folklore was gorgeous and peaceful.

You can’t beat the Black Country.

March 5th – With warm weather and the snow disappearing, I couldn’t resist a visit to Kings Hill Park to gain some inspiration from the daffodils there, which I have to say were looking splendid.

Hopefully, that will now be the last of the cold weather and we can fully welcome a verdant, colourful spring.

However, one must never forget that the heaviest snows for years came in 2013 at the very end of March…