April 27th – I had to pop into Lichfield on my way home, and took the opportunity to nip to Waitrose for a bit of posh shopping.
In the fields surrounding the bypass and store, to the south of the Darwin Park estate, the fields are full of healthy, plump spring lambs and their mothers.
On a dull Friday afternoon they made for a lovely sight.
June 17th – A ride out to Amerton Farm, the craft centre just off the A51 near Stowe by Chartley was an unexpected delight. A nice new coffee shop run by a Brownhills lad, craft shops and farm animals to fuss over.
Most stunning were the swallows, nesting throughout the building and whose antics as they collected bugs for their young were fascinating.
A lovely place, great coffee and well worth a visit.
I wish my teeth were in as good condition as Mrs. Goat’s there…
April 15th – A good 50 miler over the Chase, Shugborough and around Blithfiield Reservoir rewarded me with sights of deer, rabbits and even a sheep with a curious resemblance to an old-fashioned teddy bear. So good to be out in the spring, despite the gloom, cold and strong winds.
Such a pleasure too to see the fallow deer who’ve been scarce of late, looking scruffy in the moult. Summer is coming for sure!
March 17th – I popped into Lichfield to do some shopping on the way home, and in the failing light, noticed the field of lambs and their mothers on the bypass near Waitrose.
Healthy, happy sheep and their new offspring graze, play and doze contentedly. These guys really do have cute in shedloads, and really are worth stopping to see.
After a really grim, groggy week, seeing this fresh life enjoying being alive was a tonic to the heart and soul.
March 12th – Perhaps unwisely, I continued on a ride I’d done many times – Down through Stonnall, Shenstone Woodend, Canwell, then to Hints, Hopwas and Whittington via the canal; from there back over Common Barn and the heath to Weeford and back home via Shenstone. It’s a short ride. I know it like the back of my hand.
I struggled and fought.
At Shenstone on the way home, it felt like I’d never reach home. When I did get there, I was in bed well before midnight.
All this was a shame, as spring was showing the way; lambs were in the fields, the weeping willows were coming into leaf and daffodils marked every verge, hedgerow and garden. It really was beautiful.
Shame I felt so rotten.
April 16th – Just by the by-pass at Lichfield near the supermarket turn-off, there’s a small paddock. It’s currently home to a small flock of new mums – ewes and their lambs.
They are absolutely gorgeous, and seemed relaxed and well cared for.
A wonderful sight on such a lovely, sunny evening.
April 9th – I passed this tiled mural late this afternoon, and finally recorded it as I’ve been intending to do since starting this journal all those years ago. It’s a simple, tiled inset in an otherwise blank shopfront wall next to AE Poxon Butchers, High Street, Brownhills. It shows, obviously, a bucolic scene of the kind of livestock the proprietor purveys – set in rolling, beautiful countryside.
Curiously, no chickens.
This is old. Really old. Poxon’s is an old company and a very old shop. This has been here certainly as long as I can remember, and much longer than that. I know nothing of who painted it or if it’s significant in anything more than as a local curiosity.
It’s a lovely thing, for sure, and a bit of Brownhills heritage.
May 23rd – Here’s an odd one. Half way up the hill, on the steep, long climb out of the manifold valley to Throwley, there’s a sheep trough on Farewell Lane. It’s a good kilometre in either direction to the nearest dwelling, and this is remote, wind-blown country.
I stopped to lean my bike up against the trough while I got something to eat and admire the view. In it’s depths, I noticed something orange: a 6 inch long, healthy looking goldfish.
People have suggested it is put there by farmers to eat the eggs of some animal parasite – but I have no idea. It’s a very odd place to dump a fish, but I suppose it’s egg could have been transported from another pond on the feet of some bird.
A real oddity. Suggestions welcome.
May 23rd – I needn’t have worried. The first century of the year took place on a warm day that was overcast in the morning, but finished in bright, pleasant spring sunshine with little wind – ideal cycling weather.
The Peak District was as it ever was – beautiful, challenging and in the places I like to ride, surprisingly devoid of people.
A great day – more to come tomorrow on my main blog.
April 9th – Lambs, lots of them. The lambing must be in full swing, and as I headed to Hoar Cross today through Hanch and Tuppenhirst, I spotted these wonderful offspring. Not a bad day to be born, really.
It was the same throughout Staffordshire: Up at Dunstable, the sheep in the avenue was a timeless view I reckon hasn’t changed in centuries.
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