December 25th – The traditional Christmas Day ride was short this year – not much time, and the wind was somewhat challenging. A dive into Stonnall and back up to Chasewater had me pass these characters outside the converted barn at Stonnall.
They genuinely made me smile. Merry Christmas!
December 24th – Scouting for deer, I came across this pair of bandits on the canal towpath by Clayhanger Common. They normally dwell in the field off Northfields Way at Clayhanger, but keep escaping, the owner apparently at a loss to know how. As a consequence, they roam Clayhanger village and common, and are developing somewhat truculent personalities.
It took some coaxing to move them so I could get past!
December 9th – Spotted as I stopped in Stonnall for a couple of items on the way home.
I’m glad they qualified that – can’t have people thinking the real Michael Jackson was coming to Stonnall. What with him being deceased, and everything.
Seriously though, if you can carry off a tribute to the odder fifth of the Jackson 5, I salute you. That must be a tough gig. Literally.
December 5th – I had to go to Telford, and on the way I bought a ticket from the Arriva Trains Wales conductor, as I usually do.
It appears the staff have been issued new ticket machines. Instead of printing a return on two standard, credit-card sized stuff card tickets, I was awarded this scroll: a twenty inch by three inch piece of thermal paper bog roll. This is the new standard for tickets issued on trains.
So, just as Network Rail adopt automatic barriers at stations, train operators start issuing huge, impractical tickets that won’t operate them.
Well done to everyone concerned. I’m really impressed.
Not.
November 27th – How can this possibly be morally acceptable?
Someone should call a constable, forthwith!
November 24th – Returning late gave me an opportunity to feature something here I mean to every year, but rarely get chance to – the remarkable Christmas lights at the house near Rushall Square.
I usually pass in times of heavy traffic, or frustratingly when they’re not switched fully on but this fiesta of LED light takes place broadly from the end of October until New Year every winter.
It’s not, I have to say, to my taste, but there’s clearly a huge amount of work, time, and no little use of electricity there, so hats off to it and my compliments to the householder.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…
November 17th – It felt a long way from Christmas on this sunny but chilly day, but I found something quite festive in Hortonwood: the holly and the ivy. The holly berries are bright red and plump, this year’s crop, and the holly leaves are so shiny and perfect the look at first glance like they might be made of plastic.
The ivy, creeping up the fence in front, is also rather beautiful.
An odd find on a gorgeous day.
August 25th – Passing through Pleck, I noted the ‘legal name fraud’ posters are appearing again.
To me, it’s inconceivable that someone could have the wealth to pay for these, yet the stupidity and lack of insight to believe the moronic, pseudo-legal claptrap they espouse.
If you’re puzzled, read this article, and note that it’s all related to the Freemen of the Land muppets…
Beware: googling any of this opens a whole world of rambling rubbish.
July 9th – Finally for today, and for TheStymaster, Denis Jones and others, the Newtown One lives, and is still clearly a bit eccentric.
With the Abbey Road white ducks sadly down to two like the bachelor boys in Walsall Wood (the mallard cross group), it was feared the foxes had claimed Mrs. Muscovy, but no, she’s just getting better at hiding.
She’s not a number, she’s a free duck!
June 29th – On the canal near the Black Cock Bridge at Walsall Wood, work appears to have been undertaken today.
I have no idea what. It was clearly over when I came through, which makes the graffiti-style approach to warning about it wrong; how do you know the warning is current? At least you can remove signs when the job is done.
The spelling was very non-conformist, so I decided to preserve it for posterity.
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