April 29th – There’s a lovely old house on the corner of Forge Lane anfd the Walsall Road in Little Aston. Sheltering under a huge pine tree, imaginatively named “The Cotaage’ is a lovely, well-maintained landmark on the busy road from Aldridge to Sutton. But what I really like about it at this time of year is the gorgeous lilac creeper – I think it’s Wisteria.

Beautiful, even passing by on an overcast Tuesday evening in rush hour…

January 13th – Whilst pottering down the Wednesbury Road, I noticed a curio I’d not been aware of before – a pine tree, or conifer, growing in the front garden of one of the terraces that now form the Girls School there. It’s very, very tall, and has progressively had the lower branches trimmed away. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this in an urban environment before – and why, in all the years it must have existed, have I never noticed it? A real oddity.