June 19th – continuing with the flora, there are lots of these delightful purple flowers in the hedgerows along the Chester Road from Stonnall to the Shire Oak crossroads. At first glance, thy look like a thistle, but are smooth leaved, not prickly. They put me in mind of clover, almost. Anyone any ideas? Is it another type of cornflower, perhaps? Whatever, it’s absolutely divine.
June 13th – Foxglove is one of those odd flowers steeped in half-truth and folklore. I spotted this lone one this evening as I winched myself up Shire Oak Hill near Sandhills.Poisonous? Yes, very. Deadly? Can be, particularly the young leaves. Beautiful? Certainly. I adore foxgloves. They should never be picked, and children should be taught to avoid them, but they have great medicinal use, as well as having the more sinister reputation that once christened them ‘dead mans bells’. Digitalis produces medically active compounds that can be made into cardiac drugs, and also a steroid used in the detection of DNA and RNA. Truly a remarkable plant.
June 6th – The life I mentioned in the last post manifested itself in many ways. Birds sang, flitted and fought in the hedgerows. I saw a fox stalking near Lynn, and there were rabbits and even hares aplenty. After the deluge, nature was busy doing it’s thing. On the footpaths at Sandhills, Shire Oak, there was a profusion of snails, of several different shapes, colours and sizes. It made walking a unexpectedly challenging activity…
June 6th – My luck held. Arriving back at Shenstone far later than I expected, the ride was joyous in a post-rainstorm countryside that thrummed with life. It was a gorgeous, blue-skied evening, somewhat belying the poor weather due tomorrow. As I crawled up Shire Oak Hill, I noticed that the sun setting had cast an odd light behind the flats in Brownhills. Viewed across Home Farm fields, I still hate that new colour scheme. It looks unfinished.
June 1st – In total contrast to my dismay at the arboreal destruction in Stonnall, the roadside verges on the Lichfield Road at Sandhills are, like just about everywhere else at the moment, a delight. A riot of colour and wildflowers, just as one species finishes flowering, it passes the colour baton to another in a delightful natural relay. All of these gorgeous examples were spotted in a hundred yard stretch between Lanes Farm and Shire Oak House.
The dead nettles are a particular delight – lovely to pluck a flower or two and suck the sweet nectar from it’s base. Worth checking they’re out of dog pee reach first, though…
May 25th – Nipping down to the chip shop in Stonnall for a Friday treat, I took a loot at the early summer view towards Lichfield from Shire Oak. Beautiful as ever, the change in foliage and colours perfectly complimenting the elegant spires of the Old Lady of the Vale. I adore this view, and could study it for hours on end.
April 25th – Everywhere you look, nature is getting it on. Trees are bursting into flower and leaf, and spring blooms punctuate the hedgerows and verges. Dripping with life, nature is really going for it now, the greens almost fluorescent in their intensity. The Horse Chestnut trees were barely alive a few days ago, now they are adorned with soft, fresh foliage and sharp stabs of blossom. Cherry and apple blossom dust gardens with pink and white. Lets hope the weather dries out a little and the bees can get to work.
April 24 – the poor weather continued. As I came home on the train we passed through a shower to the south, and I alighted at Shenstone to dry roads and darkening skies. I’d forgotten my waterproof trousers, and this didn’t look good. Conditions became increasingly threatening, and the rain started at Lynn. By the time I’d got to Sandhills, the rain was torrential and I took cowardly refuge in the bus shelter, and watched the storm for 15 minutes. Eventually, bored and cold, I plucked up courage and cycled home. Very wet, very cold and somewhat cheesed off.
April 20th – Mashing up Shire Oak hill at Sandhills, my gaze was snagged by this interesting sight just through the copse at the side of Lane’s Farm fields: a fair quantity of beehives. I’ve never noticed these before. I do hope they’ll see some use this year. There aren’t nearly enough bees kept in this country, and with the twin perils of Veroa and Colony Collapse Disorder ravaging the bee population, they need all the help they can get. Without the bees, we’re stuffed. And I love honey…
April 11 – For a few days, I’ll be up before sunlight. Today, I had to go to Redditch, which meant cycling to Four Oaks to get a through train. It was jolly cold this morning at 6AM, and there was a ground frost in the hollows – but what more than made up for it was an absolutely stunning sunrise, viewed from the best place around here to see it – Shire Oak. As I piled it in down the Chester Road, I caught sight of Grove Hill with a fiery red backdrop, and slammed the anchors on, and pulled out the camera. What a start to the day. These images are untouched and exactly as I took them.
The smudge of rising stem on the horizon to the north east is Radcliffe On Soar power station, between Derby and Nottingham.
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