September 25th – From Tixall, a stop for tea and cake, and then back home along the canal from there to Handsacre – a fair trip. This stretch, which runs limpid at the rear of the Shugborough estate and shadows the Trent for much of the way is captivating and tranquil. Even as it passes Colwich and the busy rail junction there it seems miles from anywhere.
All the time I was in a gorgeous, but chilly golden hour.
A wonderful ride that perked up a dreadful day no end.
September 25th – Tixall, the supporting village for the Shugborough Estate, lives in the shadow of its stately brother. But the little hamlet – not much more that a set of converted farm buildings, a huge, folly gatehouse, pepper pot lodge and chapel is beautiful, mores at this time of year.
The grand avenue – stretching across the lane – is still gorgeous, with a sense of sad, melancholy Ichabod as cows browse over the once neatly cut fields around the stone gazebo.
The pepper pot lodge – designed to mimic the towers on the gatehouse – is a lovely, peculiar curiosity.
I haven’t been here for ages. I forgot how lovely it is.
August 11th – It was hard going – I had planned a ride from the Chase, across Staffordshire to Tutbury and back, with the wind behind me. But the wind kept changing direction, and never found my back. Instead, I headed up the canal to Hixon, then through Newton and along the southern periphery of Blithfield Reservoir. The views and countryside were great, but I just didn’t have it in me today. It was a hard 40 miles.
August 10th – Himalayan Balsam is a pain. Lovely to look at, its highly aromatic, metallic-smelling flowers line wetlands, riverbanks and marshes at this time of year. Growing to a couple of meters, it chokes native plants and is considered an invasive species. Sadly, it’s so prolific – this clump was on the banks of the Trent at Shugborough – I don’t think we’ll ever be rid of it.
May 27th – Today was spent cycling up to Cannock Chase via Chasewater, then over Shugborough and back down the canal to Tuppenhurst and back home over Longdon edge. The wind on my return was horrendous, and very hard work, but the sunlight and greenery of the rest of the day more than compensated for it. From atop the old pit mound at Chasewater, the view is stunning, and very hard to capture in a single image. The Chase has a lovely emerald jacket on, and the dandelion meadow at Shugborough was lush and gorgeous.
I was relieved to note at Hanch that the wild garlic, which seems to have had a fairly bad year, seems very prolific at the roadside. It’s the only spot this year that seems up to usual standards.
October 21st – I see lots of sweet chestnut trees about – particularly around Shugborough and Longdon, yet little decent fruit, which has always puzzled me. This year in no exception. Inside these very sharp, defensive husks, the chestnuts are thin and small. I don’t know if they’re just an ornamental strain, or whether the crops need more attention than they get in the wild. Still, the windfalls are always impressively spiky.
October 21st – Up on the The Chase and over Shugborough for an afternoon ride. Autumn has really taken hold now. The pines in Abraham’s valley are a lovely yellow, and everything had an aura from the low sun. Soon, the clocks will go back and I’ll be doing this run at dusk. The year advances, slowly, inexorably… where did it go?
October 7th – up on Cannock Chase for the first decent ride in a while. Due to bad weather and work commitments, I haven’t got out so much this year, which saddens me. But this was worth waiting for. There’s a bigger post from this journey over on my main blog – but the Chase, together with Shugborough and it’s environs, were just pulling on their golden autumn jackets. Superb. I must redouble my resolve to get out more…
May 20th – The greening is now in earnest. All over Cannock Chase and the Shugborough Estate, nature is doing it’s damnedest to get our attention. From Brindley Heath to Severn Springs, Milford to Haywood everything is a fluorescent, vibrant, verdant shade of growth. To be in England: can there be anywhere finer right now?
By the way: Cycling over the Shugborough Estate at 8pm, when all the tourists have gone is the way to see it. Hardly a soul, and very, very peaceful.
December 28th – I hadn’t been up Haywood Warren for a very long time. The steep collection of ridges sit between the Sherbrook and Abraham Valleys, and offer splendid views of Tixall and Shugborough to the north. At dusk, it was haunting. Total peace apart from bird calls and the territorial hooting of an owl somewhere in the woodland behind me. This is a completely different spot with every season. I must return here more often.
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