October 16th – It had been a very long final day in a very long week. I was tired, my energy reserves were low and to to put it bluntly, I felt lower than the sea’s knees. I called in to Stonnall on the way home, and as I winched myself up Shire Oak Hill at Sandhills, I looked back at the Friday rush hour traffic rolling up the hill.
Dusk was falling, it was cold and beauty was hard to find.
Some journeys are harder than others, even when homeward bound. I felt every inch of this one.
September 27th – I caught a classic, sunny and misty autumn morning just as the mist was burning off. I had to nip to Burntwood on an errand and I took the canal to Chasewater. It was magical and gorgeous.
The spiderwebs on the gorse were captivating and there also seems to be a burgeoning crop of puffballs this year.
Could this be the last good weekend of the year, or are there more to come?
September 3rd – Further on, and caught in a very grey moment, the heather near Newtown in Brownhills is stunning this year. A sea of speckled purple, it’s actually far more vibrant than this image shows.
Well worth a walk or ride along the canal to sea.
August 27th – It was a clear, bright moonlit night and I had an errand to run so I blasted down the canal and looped around Brownhills. I’m really getting used to the Nikon now, and I enjoyed taking these pictures immensely.
The camera has odd foibles, but it’s a great little thing for sure.
I was amused to note the boat – complete with cushions and electric motor – tethered near the Anchor, clearly someone’s beer buggy of choice. Most excellent.
August 22nd – A day of unexpected jobs and delayed activity, I finally got out at dusk and span on an errand to Burntwood, so naturally, despite the oncoming storm, I headed up through Chasewater.
The skies were dramatic, but I failed to capture them well, and whilst there were flashes of lightning and the odd rumble of thunder, despite riding back in steady, warm, refreshing rain, the foreboding, brooding skies failed to deliver.
But it was actually a lovely ride.
July 5th – An odd day involving a fair few errands. I set out early afternoon, hoping to miss the rain. I didn’t.
I had to nip to Chasetown, and as ever, the High Street looked great, but the sky, even when sunny, was threatening and grey. I was caught out both on the outward journey, and on my return.
It was warm enough though, and bare legs dry quickly. Let’s hope next weekend is a little more temperate.
June 5th – The track around Shire Oak Hill trough Home Farm and Lime Kilns is, sadly, a private road. It would make a great route around the hill for cyclists and the weary wanting to avoid serious hills getting back to Brownhills from Lichfield and the east.
Sadly, it’s not to be and this lovely avenue of trees must only be observed from the Lichfield Road at Sandhills.
In summer and autumn, it’s gorgeous.
May 30th – As is traditional on a day when you have a new camera to try out, the light was crap. It was dull and overcast and less than inspiring – but the views over the Brownhills and Shenstone countryside were green and lush.
That limpid-looking pool is a surface drainage lagoon for the M6 Toll. You’d never know to look at it.
April 28th – I returned gingerly, saddlebag laden with Dhansak, poppadoms and naan, up the Lichfield Road from Sandhills. That view across the fields of home Farm at sunset always makes me catch my breath; Ogley Hay, at it’s centre the 1850 parish Church of St James, in a view that’s changed little in a century.
Beautiful.
April 26th – Out late afternoon for a fast spin out to Hints via Canwell, Weeford and Shenstone. It was a gorgeous day with a grim north wind – but the sun and shade more than made up for it. I didn’t have much time to stop, but the oilseed rape was at full blast, and everything looked fresh and green.
I note with sadness that the magnolia at Hints Church -which is normally stunning – seems to have had a bad year, poor thing.
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