July 4th – Fully loaded with shopping, I pottered back, becoming slower and slower as my energy dropped. I was pleased to note, however, lots of new duckling families on the canal at Brownhills. There are mallard chicks from newly hatched to a week or so old, clearly all second clutches.
This summer seems to be favouring the wildlife, which is nice to see.
November 10th – Wakelake, the Wakeline facility installed at Chasewater 18 months ago has been a great success and seems very popular. I love the way it’s rejuvenated the formerly derelict control pier, and the antics of the boarders (way braver than me) make for great photos.
After the dry years, it’s so nice to see people enjoying Chasewater again.
June 24th – The wildflowers have peaked now – as summer draws on, only the old familiars will really remain as the more showy specimens fade. One of my favourite long lasting flowers – up there with birds foot trefoil – is this vetch, an electric blue/violet delight. It’s growing in abundance on Clayhanger Common and near the Pier Street Bridge in Brownhills, and is really rather splendid.
It always seems alive with bugs, too, so it serves a useful purpose to boot.
December 26th – It looked like it was a fine cycling morning, but in reality, it was horrid, even by my standards. Everywhere is sodden, and a simple ride to Chasewater was awful – the towpaths were nothing but slippery, greasy mud, and the trails in the park itself were even worse. I was plastered in muck from just a short ride, and it was heavy going, to boot.
I did notice, however, that Chasewater is filling well right now, and is fuller than it has been for quite some time. It’s currently about 400mm off full, and this shows at the spillway weir at the back of the Nine-Foot pool as well as on the gauge scale on the pier. I wonder if they’ll let it overflow into the spillway again, like they did this time last year?
It’s good to see the place looking so healthy again. But we do need a few dry days to let the landscape drain a bit…
June 23rd – An evening spin out to Chasewater, and a surprisingly choppy reservoir put me in ming of childhood trips to Rhyl or Prestatyn. The wind whipped the water into spume-topped fury, and buffeted the pier, breakwater and wakeboard line.
Wakelake seem to be settling in now, but seem to be still erecting gear. They’ve made a much better job of renovating the pier than I originally thought, although it will stay out of bounds to the general public.
It’s so good to see this facility here, and the old wooden jetty come back to life.
June 7th – The new wakeboard facility seems to be undergoing testing at Chasewater – at least, the first line is now up and in use. I hope this will bring folk to Chasewater, and it certainly looks like fun. I’m actually surprised at how unobtrusive it is, really, considering the fuss some folk made about it. Had hoped the pier would be in for a bit more TLC than it seems to have received, but it’s still nice to see it in use again.
I wish the operators well in their new venture. Welcome to Chasewater, folks!
May 27th – I noted at Chasewater today, work was ongoing on the new Wakeboard line installation there. Towers have been constructed on land, and look set to be erected soon in the water. The pier has had all of it’s handrails removed, and the steps cropped off. Engineers were also working on a floating pontoon.
I’m really interested in this, and am keen to see how it progresses.
February 16th – Chasewater: the suspense is killing me. Last week, 33cm from full. Thanks to a week of snow and heavy rains, now 14cm from full. A gain of 19cm – nearly 8 inches since last Sunday evening. Considering the huge surface are of the reservoir, that’s astounding.
I noted these teenagers running along the top of the weir, trying to demonstrate their bravado to their female companions. Nothing changes. When I was their age, I’d have been doing the same thing. Bet at least one of them ended up squelching home, dejected.
December 30th – I think I was a little over optimistic in wondering if Chasewater would be totally full by new year, but I guess it’s only got 18 inches or so to go. It’ll be interesting to see if the authorities allow water to overtop the new weir into the spillway, or if they open the drain sluice before that point.
There’s no doubting, however, that the lake is back to it’s old self, and the now the wildlife should recover well. There are already huge nightly gull roosts, and the waterfowl seem happy. This has been an incredible process to witness, and I’m glad I documented it in a small way.
For those interested in such things, the phone camera isn’t bad in the right conditions – this was taken on the phone.
December 23rd – An evening return through Chasewater revealed, unsurprisingly, ever increasing water levels. I’m hoping the lake will be near full by new year, and by the state of the forecast, that looks distinctly possible. At the moment, I’m most interested in the waterline around the pier. After so long high and dry, I’m wondering how being soaked again in the water is affecting the structure, with let’s face it, was knackered a long time ago. I can’t figure out why it hasn’t actually been removed…
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