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…
February 25th – A day of continual light snow and odd sunny periods, but it was again fiercely bitter.
Returning from Shenstone Station, I stopped to note than in the daylight at last, my commute revealed the twin church towers of Shenstone – one in use, one very much derelict.
Across the rooftops of the village, that’s a lovely sight and one that every year reminds me that although the weather may be bad, spring and warmth are on their way.
February 23rd – If the mist of the previous evening had been beautiful, it was nothing compared to the beauty of the following morning.
I passed through Mill Green on the way to the station heading for an appointment in Telford, and this bitterly cold but sunlit and beautiful morning was quite the tonic I needed.
The ice was challenging in places, but used to the cold after a chilly season I rode carefully, really enjoying the scenery.
Yes, this is definitely why a ride a bike to work…
February 22nd – Frustratingly, I had to pop into Birmingham on my way home, and caught the train back out, but it was gratifying to find myself cycling back from Shenstone in almost daylight, in a misty, lovely sunset.
It’s gone cold again, but this still felt quite spring-like.
February 17th – Out just as the sun went down on an errand in Burntwood, hoping to catch a decent sunset as I returned via Chasewater, and thankfully I wasn’t disappointed. The day hadn’t been great and a number of things had gone wrong for me, but this was a really uplifting thing and I was glad to witness it.
With sunsets this good, can spring be far away?
February 14th – What an awful day.I battled into Walsall against an evil headwind. I had a hospital appointment that took forever, and when I came out there was heavy rain.
I arrived at work soaked and grumpy.
The way home was just as rain-soaked, but at least the wind was assisting me.
Cycling at the moment is a real challenge. I can see spring. I can taste it. It’s in the light, the flowers, the landscape. But this bad weather seems endless.
I will of course hang in there. But my goodness, this is hard going.
February 13th – A horrid, windy, wet day and nipping out in the afternoon on lan errand from work, I passed through Kings Hill Park just as the rain stopped.
Everywhere is sodden, this winter’s weather has been awful. But the flowers here are showing and everything is just waiting for warmth and sun.
Including me. Patience.
February 12th – The miniature daffodils in Kings Hill Park are always early, and after the frost and snow of the previous night had meted away in the afternoon warmth, I popped to take a look.
The park’s spring flowers are really gearing up for a great display now and I was so pleased to see them.
Welcome back, my little yellow flashes of spring. Welcome back.
February 11th – Finally, a decent ride out. But not without challenges – I’d set out of a day with a punishing Westerly to visit a farmer’s market at Buzzards Valley near Middleton. The day was bright, skies blue and my back was warmed by the sun.
I enjoyed the market, then called at Middleton Hall to photograph the birds on the feeding station, and caught an unexpected rat on cleanup duties.
The day was steadily getting colder, and snow started to fall. Very small showers, but it was happening.
I battled up a muddy canal to Fazeley, then returned up the old A5 over Hints – where I scoffed at the GPS app’s forecast for almost continual snow. Then it started.
The ride home – against a bastard wind forged on Satan’s back step and with periodically heavy, driving snow – was a real challenge. But I was glad to be out and in my favourite countryside again, which really is showing signs of spring, as the wallflowers at Bodymoor Heath were keen to point out.
I’m really not into Wyatt’s Old School House painted terracotta pink though. Preferred it white.
A great, but exhausting ride. Real four seasons in one day stuff.
February 7th – A bitterly cold morning with temperatures recorded by the GPS as low as minus five degrees centigrade and a very harsh ride to the station.
There was a fair bit of black ice and concentration was intense.
My longed for spring would seem to be on hold a little, but hopefully the daffodils – now forming buds on the verge outside my destination in Telford- won’t be deterred.
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