A commute from the 26th March, turned to video to go with an article on my main blog noting the first anniversary of this journal. Please read the original article by clicking here – and if the video above is blocked in your country, there’s an alternate version linked in the article.
Here’s to more of the same… and another 365daysofbiking.
February 17th – Riding down into Stonnall from Brownhills for a change, just to stretch the legs a little at dusk, I stopped to take in the view from the entry to Shire Oak landfill – what used to be Sandhills quarry. Watching the lights come on over this landscape is always captivating. I could waste hours here, watching the light change and daylight pass into evening. It’s sad that the view – which is excellent – doesn’t lend itself terribly well to photography.
February 11th – A bitterly cold day, and one for a rest. I had some stuff to do at sundown, so headed up over Lazy Hill to catch what was quite a decent sunset. It’s always been a bit of a disappointment to me that the best views of the countryside below from this spot can only be accessed by trespassing. As with Lanes Farm at Sandhills, most of the ancient rights of way seem to have been removed by more modern landowners. This picture of Castlefort Hill – the hamlet of upmarket houses once known as Castle Gate after the accent earthwork atop the hill – was taken from the fields on the brow of the ridge, after hopping over a field gate. Most access points are blocked by barbed wire.
January 3rd – It was at the southern end of the park I first heard it. An insistent, solid, two-pulse, one note, regular cry. Loud, actually, but until now, lost in the traffic noise and windrush. I dropped down into the base of the park and followed the calling. It was very nearly dusk, only the odd hardy dog walker or two around, and the persistent bird call, coming, as it turned out, from the dense copse in the northern hollow. What I think was a little owl (but I’m no expert on bird calls, it was certainly an owl) was calling out for all it was worth. I was in awe. Days of feeling lower than a snake’s knees, and then to hear such a bird a short ride away. Fabulous.
November 3rd – The Shire Oak pub has stood at this junction for over a hundred years. Forming the bottom – or top, depending on your perspective – of Brownhills, it’s a busy crossing of two arterial routes. The Chester Road crosses the Lichfield Road, and it’s a busy, often difficult proposition to negotiate – particularly if turning right. It doesn’t bother me these days so much, I often cross it twice a day, but getting stuck turning right here can be scary. I once fund myself stranded in the 6 foot void between to lorries travelling in opposite directions. The junction stands near the brow of Shire Oak Hill, itself named after the tree that stood near the old junction with Holly Lane, further downhill to the southwest, as the boundary marker between parishes.
October 28th – In contrast, doubling back over Springhill and Shire Oak down into Walsall Wood, I stopped to admire the lights southwest towards Walsall. Somehow, I didn’t quite capture what I wanted here, but this view is iconic to me, and maybe a camera can’t do it justice. I’ve admired the lights stretching out before me here on many an occasion, and find it engaging and captivating, yet I think it’s a view not many ever notice.
September 5th – In contrast to the Mango Tree half a mile away, nothing remains of the former Shire Oak transport cafe, informally known locally as ‘Greasy Lil’s’. Derelict and decaying for 25 years, the shell was finally demolished a couple of years ago. The patch of land it sat on stands now as a sandstone outcrop into a disused quarry, reborn as a nature reserve. Controversy has surrounded the planning history of this site for years, situated on a bad, inclined bend on the Chester Road once known as ‘Death Mile’, it’s a bad spot to pull out onto a fast road. Permission was granted some time ago for a development of flats, but nothing materialised. It seems someone has a new plan, as although there are no new planning applications, from the evidence of fresh, clean red sand, someone has clearly been drilling to test the bedrock. Whatever happens,the new residents need a head for heights. There’s a 30 foot drop the other side of that fence…
August 30th – The Chester Road between Shire Oak and Stonnall forms quite a steep hill. The sandy soil on this side of the ridge, coupled with the presence of an open demolition site and a landfill access way on the brow of the hill mean that when it rains, sand and detritus is washed into the local drain gullies, most of which are permanently blocked as a result. This one has been in this state for several years, and I think is now beyond recovery. It’s worrying because when it rains, surface water flows down this road like a river as a result, lowering traction, reducing braking and soaking the determined cyclist….
August 30th – Castlefort is a very old hill topped by a recognised ancient hill fort. Forming the south eastern flank of Shire Oak, this green, wooded hillside has a small, very old hamlet of houses. Occasionally referred to as Upper or Over Stonnall, from old maps it seems to have been called Castle Gate at one point. Prospect House, the White three storey classically Staffordshire cottage at the junction of Castlhill and the Chester Road, is a well known landmark for miles around. Pictured from the fields to the south, I doubt that this view has changed much in a century or so.
August 25th – in an attempt to lift the darkness, I headed over Clayhanger Common to check out the view of Shire Oak. It’s an interesting view, and demonstrates the wide range of ages and styles of house that make up this quiet, residential end of Brownhills. This view is only possible due to the mound sculpted during the reclamation of Clayhanger Tip, where I stand was one a cutting full of brackish, dirty water.
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